IMPERIAL V. COLONIAL TROOPS QUESTION.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 74, 18 November 1864, Page 3

IMPERIAL V. COLONIAL TROOPS QUE STION.

(From the SoT7THiA2TD TiaiES, Oct. 31.) The decision of the Imperial Grovernment with regard to the terms on which military aid will for the future 'be afibrded to the Colony, naturally leads us to; consider whether the presence .of British troops is at all desirable in New Zealand— whether a purely Colonial force would , not more efficiently prosecute the ', war, , and render the continuance of peace when, once obtained, more certain. The sum, • which, up to the present time the Odlony; has paid for the service of the regular, soldiers introduced for the purpose of subduing the Maori rebellion, has been £5 ; a year per head for every such soldier, but after the Ist of . January, § 1865, the Colonial subsidy will be increased to £40 perhead. One regiment is, however, to be maintained by the Imperial Groveniment, ? on condition that the colony expends a sum of £50,000 per annum on native requirements. "What those requirements may Joe is . not exactly pointed out by Mr. Card well ; but the obvious intention is that the money shall be spent, as a great deal has been spent before, in keeping the natives ■ in good humor by presents ; in other words, by the continuance of the " flour and sugar " policy, of which Sir George G-rky has been such a staunch advocate. This latter portion of the offer of Great Britain can be dismissed in a very few words. The time has passed for bribing the natives to remain quiet, and any funds which may be from time to time required for their government, or which it may be advisable for the Colony to expend in improving their social condition, must be voted by the Assembly, and expended precisely in the manner it may dictate, and not as though in fulfilment of an agreement with the Colonial Office. The presence of any body of soldiers, whether great or small, must not be trammeled with any conditions bearing upon the method of dealing with the native tribes. The Assembly will doubtless take that, view of the matter ; but whether it would be better that the system of securing the tranqvulhty of the Colony by Imperial troops should be abandoned, is another question, and one not very easily answered. A great cause of complaint during the present struggle has been the divided authority on matters of Colonial Government j but more especially there have been disagreements with regard to the f control of the army. In the first place, there is the War Office and the Horse Guards, to which the General in the Colony of course holds himself chiefly responsible ; secondly, there is the Governor, who has also certain, or uncertain powers entrusted to him by the Crown, with reference to directing the operations of the troops ; and thirdly, there is the Colonial Ministry for the time being, which is responsible to the Assembly for the general conduct of the war (as being a part of its policy), although, in reality, it has no power to control the movements of the General in the slightest degree. The Assembly authorised the ! war, and unavoidably plunged the Colony . into debt, to ensure its vigorous prosecution ; but there its influence in a great measure ended. England provided the troops, and, as far as the army is concerned, her chief representative in the Colony is Sir Duncan Cameron. It will; : be apparent to all that this more-tban-double Government was not likely tp be very successful in its endeavors tc» bring the M.aori difficulty to ; a satisfactory termination. Sir Duncan Cameron is, we - all know, a splendid soldier, and had the matter been left in his hands, unfettered : by more than the most general iristrucr^ tions from the War Office; the- 'King I. movement might and probably would .b^ this time have been a , thing of the past. ' ; But unfortunately for the Colony in this, instance, such aniode of delegating power, was not to be thought of ; 7 Neither : General Cameeon nor tha Colonial" ' Ministry was to be; entrusted <with full authority, and the' has been that the objects for which the war was begun :hswe not been carried, .out, an<T~a jeeilly sure peace seems almost as / distant" aa ", ever:' : It has' been by no means unusuaPfor hitches; to occur between the different departments^ of^th'e l 'lmperialGoverninent,-in^thß ! management of troops during a^ war;- -The 1 - machinery is considered and: it is reasonable^ to suppose; that this:, divided authority has frequently had an.; j -effect not conducive to Success j^^but how;, 'much greater is; the difficulty, how largely are the, chances : of failure increased^ to the; disagreemeiita of ?Athe;; Imperial .. authorities are added those of the. Colonial Ministry, the General eomman<png, and His ExceUency^the^QverpQrr- ■ ;\ {■ , $$$ $&0$ wsp Wa, suspgrit}y ; ; tfe| fe|B||gitf Of -ft $P§l ft W& W%* s !

and the conditions imposed by the Im-\ perial 'Government,- on the ■troops.being allowed to remain in the. Colony, would seem to afford the opportunity for determining how this can best be effected." In order that the operations of the troops may be thoroughly successful they must be under an undivided authority. The power must either lie entirely with the British Government, in which case it should pay the expense of the war j or it should lie with the Colonial Ministry; and when wo say the power, we mean the whole supervision of the troops, , and the appointing and' removal of officers. In no other way can success be ensured. The General must know distinctly to wHom he is look for directions, ' and" what work he is called on- to perform, and must not be liable to receive instructions and recommendations from "several quarters, as has been the case' in New Zealand, with what results is well known. Now whether England' pays for her troops in the Colony or not, she 'will cer tainly retain the right of controlling their movements, and will never' entrust it in any considerable degree to a Colonial Legislature. But if the troops remain the ' colony must pay for their services, and, according to the number at present in New Zealand, the subsidy would be at least £300,000. The question is, whether that money might not be better expended on troops raised for Colonial service, and entirely under the control and in the pay of the Colony. The work of raising and maintaining an army of sufficient magnitude for the defence of' the Colony is certainly no light matter, but it is by no means impossible, and the nndivided authority to which such a force would be subject, and its superior knowledge of the country, and of the native mode of Warfare, would enable a smaller number to do well what an- army of 10>000 men have hitherto failed to accomplish. A Northern contemporary, in commenting on this subject, suggests that a force of Maoris might be employed,officered principally by Europeans, and alludes to the numerous instances where a like course has been successfully pursued. The idea is well Avorth consideration. Such a force could be easily enrolled, and, if selected carefully and well officered, would j>rove invaluable.' Of the danger of the men deserting their colors, and joining the enemy when called into active service, it can be shown that irregular troops, in similar circumstances, rarely prove traitors to their employers. So far as we can discover, public opinion is very strongly in favor of the withdrawal of the Imperial troops, and the formation of a Colonial army, as nearly as possible on the same footing, but entirely under the control of the Colonial Legislature.

A well-attended meeting of persons; favorable to the formation of a volunteer corps for Campbelltown, took place at the Court-house . there on . the 19 th ultimo. Mr. C.F-. .G'Toble occupied the chair. After a few. introductory remarks from the chairman, Mr. Watt addressed the: meeting, after which Mr. J. A. Bonar moved and. Mr. Burrows seconded a motion to the effect that an artillery corps he formed. The motion being carried unanimously, the necessary memorial was then drawn up, and signed by; upwards of fifty, to be forwarded to His Excellency the Governor through Capt. Junor, the acting-adjutant of the volunteer and militia forces for the district. At the Oyster Saloon of Messrs. M'Donald and Co., Arcade, may be "inspected a splendid sample of whalebone recently brought over iroin Stewart's Island. It is what might : be called whalebone proper, being a portion of those organsintho humpback species of whale, which serve in the. place of teeth. We are informed that there ig this peculiar difference betwixt the : humpback and sperm whales, that while the latter are provided with regular sets of teeth, the former, being of totally different habits, and living on what is usually denominated suction, are merely furnished with lamince or plates through or between which the fish- inhales the water, which is affcer- . wards expelled into the air in the form of spout* This whalebone is the most expensive of any, and fetches extreme prices, the -present- value in the London market being, we are told, something like £160 per ton. On. the extremities of the plates referred to are long whalebone bristles, which may be seen frequently: made use of in. the manufacture of brushes of various kinds. :.: : ...i.. By the City of Hobart Mr. Basstian, of this Province, has received a consignment of superior rams front Melbourne, for the purpose of improving the breedjof his sheep, and we think his example one worthy of every consideration at the hands of flockowners generally. The rams referred to were bred by Messrs. Degraves and Co., of Melbourne, at Colibau Park, out of .picked ewes (selected from the flock of the late John Aitken) by imported Rambouillet rams, selected at the Imperial Farm of Rambouillet, by Monsieur Aube, who is acknowledged to be one of the best judges of sheep, and wool in France. The Provincial Government Gazette of 20th inst., contains a return of the cattle slaughtered for sale during the month of September, from which we glean the following particulars : — ln the Jnvereargill district there were slaughtered 78 great cattle, 352 sheep, 12 pigs, total 442 j Campbelltown district, 10 great cattle, 80 sheep, 2 pigs, 92 ; Lowther District, I_ great cattle, 5 sheep, total 6 ; Winton District;, 5 great cattle, 3 sheep, total 7 ; Biverton District, 8 .great cattle. ' The grand totals, therefore, stand as follows :— 102 great cattle, 439 sheep, 14 pigs, in all, 555. A meeting of gentlemen favorable tothe formation of a Volunteer Cavalry Corps was held in the Southland Club Hotel, on the 22nd ultimo, when a resolution was passed to' the effect that a corps to be called the " Southland Volunteer Cavalry Corps "be established. Immediate steps are to be taken for the enrolment of, members. A lecture on " Agricultural Chemistry " was delivered on the Ist inst. by Mr, Samuel Beaven in. the lecture hall of the Mechanics' Institnte. Mr. S. M. South presided on the occasion, "and introduced the lecturer, at same time remarking that he regretted to see so few persons present Mr. Beaven likewise was sorry to observe so thin an attendance. He had chosen the subject of "Agricultural Chemistry" not so much on account of farmers in the country — many of whom could not be expected ,to be present — but as tke same principles of chemistry applied in tibe one case as the oth&r, ho had hoped all who eulfcU vafced gardens or who took. an interest in such pursuits, would have been induced to attend. He then proceeded to deliver. a most instructive essay on the- science of chemistry as applied to agriculture or horticulture, which was listened to by all present with great attention and evident interest. At the conclusion, a vote of thanks was warmly accorded to the.lectnrer, and to Mr. South for presiding. The proceedings then terminated, . > <, ' . . , A man, named Lennie, 'employed at the sair mill of Mr. Chalmers, at,Waikivi Bush,'jnefc with an accident on the 7th,instant, \riiile engaged in repacking one of tho circular .saws, vli?reby his left hand was so injured, that amputation of the four fingers,- below the second joint, was rendered necessary, He was conveyed to town at onoe bj J£r, Chalmers, and fta operation, waa skilfully , pesfwpiitci bjr p*, M**nw» % tatpttti vmaZ>