IMPERIAL POLICY.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 55, 6 October 1864, Page 3

IMPERIAL POLICY.

(From the 2few Zealand Herald.) The proposal of the Home Government that the Parliament of New Zealand should continue to vote an annual sum of £50,000, for the carrying on of that which has already proved a most complete failure — the New Institutions of Sir George Grey — is a question on which the General Assembly will no doubt give a most unmistakable expression of opinion. It is the miserable policy of 3ir George Grey •which has landed the Colony in the present struggle, and it is this old folly of the " New Institutions" upon which we are recommended to expend £50,000 annually, in return for the one regiment which is to be given to us free of cost. We are not among those who believe, if indeed there be any in the Colony who so think, that we should show a niggardly spirit in providing the means for the future government oi the natives ; but we do most unhesitatingly declare that wo are amongst those who believe that the representatives of the people, which finds the money for the pixrpose, and which is mainly interested in its s wise and legitimate, expenditure, should have the management and control of it, and that not over one farthing Bhould his Excellency be allowed to exercise the slightest control whatever. • Sir George Grey has had his day of opportunity , and has utterly and miserably failed in his attempt to govern the natives. .He came to the countryafter peace Jbad been . formally declared, and established or rather introduced, into native districtatho hybrid institutions, .which, in the words of his admirers, were to prevent another shot from ever (being: fired :in. anger in .New Zealand., The Assembly voted him liberal supplies .of. money^ He had the command of the seryipe of . the whdle tropp^pf pe\iti^ in^inati^e matters^ and^whUe one portion of thV'Press lent" him its powerful aid the other prortion refrained from comment with a f iowio/tthrp^-in-g nff qbstacjesj^the^y^opiisex- { Some tribe&jsojated -the AVNew^^nstotaonslV, altogether. They haano^^enfidonce in them. In others tbdyT^reirecoivedLfor.-tho: sake a of the emoluments of-their office. In others they were te&en, and adopted and work(&d, and here was

"manifest more than^ anywhere else, the utterjfollyi of the system. Let anyone turn to the published records forwarded by the Resident Magistrates oft i Native districts to the Government of the day, autl] ;there read how and in what manner these "newj finstitutions " were used by the paid Maori officials. | ?The runanga became a paid legal engine for work-; ing the old law..' of muru, more oppressively than; ever. The " New Institutions '.' were acknowledged i by the Maories theinselyes, to be adding only to I the want of. law. and order which prevailed general-; ly.. in Maori* districts, and ' the KingVnioiejncjati became strengthened,~as the contempt engendered < for them became general. Mr. ,GTorst himself,'theiri chief 'and 'most activo propagandist, was ihdig-j nantly thrust out of they Waikato,^and the .Maori f declaring in his emphatic language .. that when he. had asked for bread we had given him a stone, turned with more determination than ever to the Maori King, and Ins law, for an escape from the • anarchy which the neglect of the Home Govern- : ment, and the impracticable character of Sir George ; Grey's scheme, had brought amongst them. ; The" truth ofthe matter i 3, the Imperial Government has handed over to the Colony in ordinary times, that is, when the insurrection shall have been quelled, the entire management of native affair b, and the Colony will admit of no interference in its method of ' carrying out these duties. The Colony is too populous,' wealthy, and strong — has too much interest at stake, to -submit t» interference in its administrative details which may embroil it again with the native race. We shoidd be the chief sufferers by Buch an event, even if the Imperial Government assisted us with money and troops, which it will not do. If it intends to insist on the retention of native matters it its own. hands, then it must submit to keep a standing army of at least 10,000 men in New Zealand, such an expense will be none of our own seeking, and not one fraction of its • cost would the Colony consent to pay. We have alluded before to the absurdity of the over- burdened taxpayers of New Zealand expending £50,000 a year for the special benefit of tho race which holds lands, the fee simple of which is worth some ten millions sterling, and who, in addition, possess valuable cultivations, mills, fisheries, and herds of cattle and horses, and other valuable property. The idea is too monstrous, we are sure, to receive the favorable attention of any but the extreme party, in the Legislature. The colonists of New Zealand are willing to place the Maori on an equal footing as themselves, to give him a fair share in tho representation of the colony, to provide him with a fair share of administrative benefits such as the local legislaturc'shall itself deem advisable, and such as it shall itself see carried out by its own officers, but it will never consent to return to the exploded fallacy of the " New Institutions," and to yield up the control of so large a sum to any Governor, even to one which possesses the confidence of either race. This is clearly the intention ofthe Imperial Government when it says : — "This force they purpose to fix at ono regiment, and for that one regiment they do not purpose to charge the Colony of New Zealand with the amount which it is proposed to charge upon the Australian Colonist. They will expect that in consideration of this one regiment being maintained at the charge of the Imperial Treasury, the Colony will continue to devoting the sum of £50,000 per annum to native purposes ofthe nature indicated in Sir G. Grey's despatch of the 6th December, 1861, including the government of native districts, and the moral anil material advancement of the native race, but excluding the maintenance of any military or semi-military force for the suppressionrof disturbance." j It is to carry out the " New Institutions, " I which have not only proved a failure, but have mainly precipitated the present war that we are called upon to vote a sum of £50,000 annually. Wo believe that the Assembly of New Zealand will do nothing of the kind. They will consent no longer to the existence of this quality of I government, and while they will vote ungrudgingi ly whatever sums may be necessary for the joint government of the two races, will vote not one sixpence for the exclusive use of the native. Does the Home Government know how Sir George Grey expended this £50,000 ? How it was flung broadi cast over the Colony, in salaries to every turbulent native chief who showed signs of opposition to the " Now Institutions ;" how it bought up the ! common people with flour, sugar, and tobacco ? The colonists know this full well, and its utter failure too, and it is not likely that they will return again to bo ruinous a system — ruinous, not as viewed pecuniarily, but on account of its demoralising, destroying, effect upon the natives themselves. But what do we want with this British regiment in New Zealand ? £50,000 a year is far too great a price to pay for such a luxury. Fifty thousand pounds would bring out and place upon farms a thousand trainod men from home, and the £50,000 of the second year, if expended in then 1 district on public works, would ensure their successful settlement. A thousand drilled men as settlers, liable to two or three years' military service, if required, would bo of far more profit to the Colony than a regiment of soldiers, because they woidd not only form a corps of defence to the country, but would colonise it too. The proposal is altogether one to which the Assembly is not likely hurriedly to commit itself.