The Southland Times FRIDAY, JANUARY 23,1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1202, 28 January 1870, Page 2

The Southland Times FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1870.

The history of empires presents no parallel to the page now being acted by Great Britain with reference to her colonies. That a country whose chief glory and boast is that the sun never seta upon her wide dominions, should deliberately propound and unflinchingly execute a policy so evidently suicidal as that the Imperial Government now enforces upon New Zealand, is inexplicable, except upon the supposition that the parent state is impelled by blind fatality upon her own destruction. However ably her statesmen may defend their action ; however theo- , retieally correct the course they follow may be made to appear; though they may demonstrate with logic unanswerable the absolute justice of their conduct as a mere matter of government, the moral aspect of the case remains to be considered, and the most subtle reasoning must fail to convince the colonists that the treatment they are now experiencing is such as they either merit or have a right to expect. Were Britain, apprehensive for the safety of her paternal states, obliged to concentrate her forces to oppose invasion, or placed by some extraordinary national catastrophe in circumstances demanding the immediate massing of her fleets and armies to combat nearer home a powerful rival, the withdrawal of her assistance and protection might be understood. Nay, under those conditions it might be a magnanimous act, wise as merciful, timeously to relieve her. scattered possessions of their allegiance, that under cover of their neutrality, or the shelter of some peaceful state, they might escape the horrors of impending war. The very reverse of this imas^nary situation is, however, the case. Peace is almost universal. Ihe slight alarms of war which occasionally startle continental nations scarcely ruffle the composure of England, certainly they have not yet seriously disturbed her repose, or threatened her with sudden danger. On the contrary, Bhe was never, probably, in a better position for upholding her supremacy, for defying foreign aggression, or maintaining internal tranquility throughout all her dependencies, and yet this is the time she chooses to cast adrift the youngest of her offspring, and that, too, at the unhappy moment of its greatest need. Had our abandonment been chargeable only against a political party, no angry feelings need, nor would, have sprung up between the two countries, but when the cruel mandates of Downing-street are backed up by the popular voice of England, sentiments of hostility between the two peoples must ensue. It certainly affords some slight relief to our w-mnded fraternal inclinations to find that we are not wholly forsaken by "British sympathy, that a section of the press still advocates bur cause, but the very grounds on which that sympathy is expressed justifies the resentment we may entertain. Lord Geastille may fill his mouth with arguments upon the question of who is to blame for originating the colony's troubles, and may satisfy himself, at least, that the colonists alone are guilty, and that consequently on them devolves the duty of first conquering and then keeping the Maories in subjection ; but will such arguments suffice for men whose Hyps are in jeopardy, and who are equally convinced that the evils which have befallen them are traceable to Imperial mismanagement and incompeteacy ? But even admitting the war to have arisen through the errors, or worse, of, the colonists, can that justify the innocent and guilty alike being left to their fate in a struggle for life which we have declared ourselves unequal to sustain ? Writing upon this pha^e of the question, in commenting on Lord Q-ranyille's last despatch, the Saturday Review puts the case thus strongly : — " Lord Granvtlle seems unaccountably to have forgotten that a logical triumph is a poor set-off for the possible slaughter o? British colonists, and the certain alienation of colonial J feeling. Uncompromising logic is never | a safe guide for political action. Lord Granville is a member of a body whose theoretical position is logica'ly inconsistent with the acknowledged limitation of its powers, and there is scarcely any part of the British constitution which could stand for a day if it were tested by the same kind of rigorous reasoning which Lord Geaitvtlle applies to the case of the colonies. The absence, only too conspicuous, of any savour of generosity or sympathy from the ultima- ! turn of Downing-street would, under any circumstances, be most deplorable ; but the possible unintentional harshness of the despatch is grievously aggravated by the peculiar circumstances of the time, and of the particular colony which is the subject of the minister's animadversions. If the tone of Lord , Gbanvtlle's last despatch truly represented the feeling of this country, the duration of our colonial empire would be easily reckoned. A few years of persistency in this disposition would cover half the earth with independent communities hating us with a bitterness beyoud even the bitterness of the United States. And then, perhaps, the '

' an ti- colonial ' party would <*!<"> ry in the fulfilment of their ill-omened prophecies." . We would neither augment nor diminish the aeerimony already engendered in the breasts of the colonists, nor would - we seek to magnify it to the eyes of the English people, but we do not overstate the°fact when we assert that the time allotted by the Bevieio for those feelings to culminate in "bitter hatred," has already well begun. Although there may be no superficial excitement, there is nevertheless a wide-spread feeling of regret, mingled with resentment, at the attitude assumed by the Imperial Govemmpnt towards thi3 country. The expression of this discontent has as yet been confined to half-suppressed mutterings— mitigated by hopeful anticipations of a favorable change in English public opinion— on the part of the colonial press, but there can be no question that j iv this matter the journalists fairly utter , the sentiments of the people. It may be | that the forced severance of the nobler sympathies hitherto uniting the two countries is regarded by New Zealanders more in sorrow than in anger, but it is impossible for them not to feel that they have been treated worse. than aliens in the matter of assistance to suppress; the native insurrection. Chagrin p added to other hostile emotions when they learn that tho release of some dozen or so of well-fed Englishmen from comfortable imprisonment in a foreign land, has beeu promptly paid for by a patriotic Parliament at'the rate of one million sterling per head, while we are denied the aid of a single soldier to preserve our lives and property in our own country. The visit of a powerful fleet to our coasts, for mere purposes of empty show, does little to rekindle expiring loyalty ; it looks too like adding insult to injury to make its presence the occasion of much jubilation. It would have shown some little consideration for our feelings had both Prince Alfred and Admiral Hornby been forbidden to enter our waters. Haying coldly refused to exert her strength, in our be- . half, surely England misht have refrained, from uselessly exhibiting her power within sight of our distress. 1 That some! change mußt ensue in the relations existing between the parent state and this country is evident, that it will be speedilyeffected is not lesß certain, and that it will be radical is almost as sure. If it amounts to a total alienation, political and commercial, and the alliance of this colony with some other powerful state, Great Britain will have herself to blanc for the loss of her most promising dependency. As between individuals, so between states, when quarrels once occur, circumstances, trivial in themselves, may precipitate a climax quicker than the disputants either expect or desire. So far as this colony is concerned, the sooner we ascertain exactly our position the better. We do not " console ourselves with the reflection that we are still a portion of the British Empire," although the Timte generously points us to that comfort, n#e do we believe the " honor of her name" a fair equivalent for the Governor's salary of £4,000 or £5,000 per year, and the question whether we pay it or not may be tested earlier than suits bis Excellency's convenience. The following circular on the subject, which is the constitutional method of bringing the whole question of our relations with the mother country before the Colonial Legislature, has been issued to the press of New Zealand by Mr Ckarles Hulke, of Wanganui, with a view to its being discussed and approved of during the recess : — To the Honorable the House of Tirepresentatives of New Zealand in Parliament assembled. The memorial of the undersigned inhabitants of the Colony respectfully sheweth ; That, whereas the Imperial Government has thought fit to withdraw its troops from this colony, your memorialists are of opinion that the cost of the Governor's salary should for the future be defrayed out of the " Imperial " instead of as at present out of the " Colonial " exchequer. Tour memorialists therefore most respectfully request that your Honorable House will refuse to pass the estimate for the Governor's salary, save for such period as will afford His Excellency ample time to confer with the Imperial Government on the subject, say for 6 months from the commencement of the session. Your memorialists further request that ill the event of the Home authorities declining to sanction the principle indicated above, your Honorable House will not allow itself to be intimidated or cajoled into continuing the payment of the said salary. . . - And your memorialists will ever pray, &c, &c.