POLITICAL—GENERAL.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 83, 16 December 1864, Page 3

POLITICAL— GENERAL.

Our (Novembercjmmmary contained a, notification of the proclamation of Sir George Grey, and also. an intimation that the WMtaker had tendered their resignation,/ arid' that the General j .Assembly had been summoned to meet at an early date in Auckland. The proclamation of Sir George Grey provided that a full pardon would be granted to all persons implicated in the rebellion who came in on or before the 10th of December, took'the oath of-allegiance, and made the cession of such territory as might m each instance be fixed by the Governor and the'Lieutenant-General commanding Her Majesty's- forces in New Zealand. It does not 'seem i that up to ! the present time there has-been any general tendency on the part of <the rebels io avail themselves . o£ the' proffered clemency. ; indeed our j latest" advices from' the North indicate &| most .unsatisfactory state_ ' of • things. Jn the Province of Taranaki, there can be no ' doubt that before security can be restored a -severe lesson musti be administered to the' rebel -tribes. The limit allowed in tHe proclamation having expired, we suppose no time will' elapse before active measures, are adopted by^ the General. The following paragraph from, a Northern contemporary J sufficiently indicates- -the Bpirit which is abroad :— " The first fruits ofr the,P.eace"Proclamation of Sir Ge'orgo Grey have appeared in. one of those exhi- J "bifcions of saTfage ferocity- -which, have. characterised the natives -of the South. All New 'Zealand was ,thrill.cd with horror - w£en'it read 'of the atrocities perpetrated on. the body of poor Captain Lloyd. A similar7 r 'arid; ' if -possible, more brutal, outrage has now been- perpetrated upon tEe^Dody-of'a-soldier of tlie Hegiment/stationed at Mataitawa. A. hastily, written account of the frceurrence will 'be found in the letter of our^New Plymouth correspondent; - published elsewhere, - but ■we learn from a gentleman who arrived from '.Taranaki, that not only was the head 'of ihe unfortunate man, with as much of 'the flesh of the breast and neck as could' be cut away v with it; taken from the'Body,_but thehands were also cut off and fakeh'Way'with the head/ ' '^'relief party was atonce sent out and scoured the, '.country, but no trace of the rebe-Tcould^be found; the trunk of the unfortunate man was brought into camp. Weiare alsp informed that another man was wounded^ by the attacking party of nativeerbut ' that he was able' to make good his escape." "We may also mention that the escaped MaorV prisoners; to whom we alluded in outlast summary, are still at large,, and no efforts, so far as we are informed, have "been .made to re-capture them. Meanwhile they continue a regular system of extortion from the setters, who are powerles* to protect "themselves: ' .' ' TheGfeneral Assembly, , waa opened

on •fehe 24tli ult.^ 'tliia^teßignatioii of the Whitakei^ viously &o&pi,e&. "MeJ /Weld ' was fseirt , for by His Excellency J and succeeded in ; a Ministry, as follows : — ;lsr.. "Weld, Coloniar Secretary; t^itlisie;supervision of "Native affairs ; Mr. , J^tzherberjb, Colonial Treasurer ; Major B-ichardspn, Postmaster- G-eneral ;fahd"Mr. Aitldnsony Minister for Colonial Defence. vThe speech of : His Excellency states . that steps liave been taken " to • secur^/! the future; : j>eape " of the country, by setting :a,pavt; defined " portions •'ofthe^and of the rebel natives " for . the _pui'pose.:of satisfying .the..en- .".' gagements with military and other per- ■";' mpient - settlers? and indemnifying^ "the " Colony^ a: rißasonable extent, by ;■ %h$ " sale of portions thereof, for expenditure " in-ffche suppression of thepresentrebel- " lion." Sir G-eorge'Grrey assumes the entire responsibility of >; the peace proclamation ; 'he briefly-" notices the' question of; the, advisability, of ;replacing,.the : Impe-, rial troops "by^aOol^ that the , ooverttor.m giiicled " entirely "by the recommendations " of his constitutional advisers; in native " jas-well as in ordinary matters ;" and proposes immediately to remove the seat ofj government W' Wellington/- The address in reply to the speech, was of the ordinary character,'' and was adopted with some ;few :^aTOendments: : ~ The policy- t>f the new Ministry will probably meet with general approval, that is to say, so far as, up..tdithe present ftime,lij} Ims' been manifested. A few of its leading points are, ;';} the] "withdrawal ■-"' of f , the; vlmpef i al troops, and the substitution oT a small standing coloniaj.; : fpree ; _ mich Imperial troops as .may in the meanwhile bo actually employed : by the Gdlony, to be paid for at the rate proposed by the Ilome Government. The speedy opening up . of ?the , unse fctled - and native < districts by 'the uialring. ,of trunk : lines .of. .rqads is recogQised as a necessitry 1 hy " " J^lJiiisters, and;is to;be- effected but the co-operat'on of. the native 'race is to be iavited. A bill is to be introduced iuto^the House for the : purpose of-, carryiiig out Mr. "Ward's Panama contract -tilth, certaia modifications. The seat ot"'GtqYev.a:weJit is ho be remorecl forthwith, but it 'is proposed' to .appoint ai I)eputy r jGrpvernor.i vfbr^ of Auckland, such an appointment, being we should imagine, only of a temporary chavacter. .The financial condition of the . Golony has' not as yet been, "dealt with, and, .after all, this is- the most perpiexiug question of : the day. ■ ,We. do not believe that the Assembly will accept the Imperial guarantee for the oue million of the three- mill.! on loan^ on -the- terms -offered. Mr. Weld's government have nob intimated what course they purpose pursuing with regard to the Provincial loans, but the discussion of the subject cannot much longer be delayed. Daring the month a lengthy correspondence beitveeu His Sxeelleiiey Sir G-eorge Grey and the Whittaker Ministry on tire subject, of the escape of the Maori prisoners has been published. It is 'still undecided with whom rested the responsibility of their safe-keeping. It was ou this p'oiut that the final break between His Excellency -.and Ministers took place.