The Southland Times. TUESDAY, SEPT. 1, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 39, 1 September 1864, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, SEPT. 1, 1864.

The news brought by the Wellington from trie North is scarcely of that encouraging character whii.'h previous events had in some measure led 113 to j expect. The conference of Gkorge j G-eey and General Cameron with the natives was satisfactory, because it proved conclusively that a, section of the rebels was at length convinced that further resistance to the . Queen's authority was utterly useless, and might only lead to the adoption by the Government of far less favorable torms, including the confiscation of a larger proportion o/'native territory. The announcement by Sir Glod&e Grey, that only onefourth of the captured territory would bo ! retained, was received very gratefully by the Maories present, and a wish was expressed that the decision might be carried out as soon as possible. But whilst admitting that this conference will have a beneficial effect on the native mind generally, because, showing that the Crown have no intention or wish to deal more harshly with the natives than circumstances have rendered absolutely necessary, we cannot see that the extravagant hopes expressed by some of the Northern journals are warranted by the facts. It was commonly reported not only that "WilLLnr Thompson was' desirous of peace, but that he had actually solicited an ■ interview with the Governor, in order to ascertain the terms upon which his submission would be accepted. We now learn that no such meeting had taken place, and that Wraiiir Tfroirpso" had not, up to the time the mail left, tendered his submission. We are left altogether in ignorance as to what his intentions for I th cl uture may be, but it certainly strikes i us as strange/that if, as was said, he had determined on making his. peace, and ; submitting to British authority, he did ' not make his appearance -at the conference, which of course, he .was well aware ; was going to" take 'place. It "may be, as ! has been, justly-. pbgeryed. by .a ;contein- [- cbnsider ifc safe to. comelm-";- unless he had in the firtit- 'place* goaranteevfor Ui« s«af-

sonal safety. He,, may ,; have '. f >een/ quite prepared to accept term*,' but „ knowihj? well- the great) influence whioh lie exercised oyer his -fqll^era, an<? a7so the' im-DOTtance^ wKich. yrpyab* tached to that influence by the G'oyernment. he may hnva been under the -inWeKsion<" thnt-his ■-■ appearance » would have been the sisinaVfor-hisTarrest. ..Such coiirse was actually ' proposed-, by, v some -wWmtiflt-*liave ! .beeiu-poßsesae.d«p£^BJ^K* common sense aa judgment,; would-Tiave -been -in -no- ..danger., of. arrest at a meeting of , the, kind- we are, speaking of. His person 1 would 'have been held sacred by the rule in such cases ; but still he may have ; had- fears ■ on the subject. , However that may be,- we have the fact , that he did not make his appearance at ■ the Conference, and that he had not sent' i in his !Bubrniasion lip to the time of the ' departure of the mail. . Nor is there, as , ■far as we cnn. learn, , any conclusive cvi- , dence that he is prepared to submit/ I< or t all that ia known to the contrary, he may - he oreanisine further resistance, and the former renort mny have been altogether ; without foundation. The intelligence , from other nntive districts is not of a cha- , meter to lead us to suppose that ■ the pp : rit of rebellion is effectually crashed. The .snecial correspondent of the New Z*alanJer says that— ''By the , 11 arrival of a vessel from Tokomaru Bay " there ia news of a very unsatisfactory " nature from the East 'Coast. At the 1 " time of the vessel'^ departure from the . " Bay. where the officers were prevented •' from landing in ennaequcnee of the i " heavy surf, both rebel and friendly flags ; " were flying in opposition to each other, ( " and other si^ns of disaffection were ] " n-npnrent from the Bay. A strong : '■ Kincr's Party wis collected, and meetings < "wero" being held all along the coast." The natives had heard of tho fight at ( Tai.ranen., but say that had their side not , been taken unawares the result would i hnve been very different. At Maketu t'no rebels aro 'engaged in strengthening their position, although their chief does . not npvenr to head them. The inhabit- , ants of flavor Island, or Tuhua, are also < snid by the correspondent of the New < ZrnlanJrr to be indisposed for peace— j "No hope is entertained of their sur- 1 " render. Te Tuhua, which they oc- , " cupv, has long been celebrated i " amongst the native tribes as a "place for tho banishment of offending ( | " Maories. and there aro consequently ac- j i " cumulated there some of tho most < "desperate native characters." The j whole Maori population south of Tau- i ranga are apparently inclined to carry on ] the" war, and the Tauranga natives are 1 said to he in dread of an attack from their late allies. We could write at greater ' j length on this subject, but enough has i been said to show that so far from rebel- j lion being at an end them seeim every 1 i probality" 1 that the next intelligence which 1 comes to hand will be that actual hostilities have been renewed. There is certainly < deep cause for regret in all this, and of course there will be attempts in certain ' quarters to throw blarno on the present 1 administration and on the line of policy . which they have adopted. It cannot, . however, be sain, with any show of truth, i either that the conference has not had at ; present a more general effect on the _ natives, owing to any want of management \ on the part of the Governor and his Executive, or that tho ministerial policy ; has failed. Slowly perhaps, but never- ; theless steadily, that policy is accomplish- ; ing all that was expected of it, and ( nothing is wanted for the future but a . firm adherence to tho rules which have hitherto guided Sir George Grey's ad- ( advisers in their conduct towards the i natives, viz : — a vigorous carrying out of < the war while resistance is made, and a ' spirit of mercy aud forbearance whenever \ and wherever there is submission. , In reviewing the events of the past month in the North, our contemporary, , the Otago Daily Times makes what seems to us a very feasible suggestion. ( Taking it for granted that the late Con- , ference will have produced a deep impres- . pion on the rebels generally, the Times < advocates the proclamation of an armistice ' for a reasonable period, and the iuvita-tion . lof the rebel leaders to meet the Governor. , " The Governor ought then to declare, in " the plainest manner, the conditions on " which peace may be secured, and offer to " every tribe, whose representatives are " willing to subscribe to them, a complete "amnesty." Ithas been said, and, generally, we endorse the opinion, that the first steps towards peace should be taken by the natives, but in this case, and bearing in mind that there is a doubt as to how far the natives have been influenced by the late conference, we are prepared to hold with our contemporary that no better plan could be adopted. There is no danger that our motives would be misinterpreted. Our successes have been such that the most i sangiiine of the chiefs could not attribute such a proposal to weakness or a desire to termiuate the war at all hazards. It would at once show the present temper of the rebels, and should no further good result from it — should the Maories still persist in resisting the Queen's authority — the hands of the Government would be strengthened, and the mouths of the Exeter Hall clique etiectually stopped.