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Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 316, 30 October 1860, Page 2

WILL THE NATIVE WAR EXTEND? The following observations upon the chances of the war extending beyond the limits of the Province of Taranaki, were made by a gentleman who has lately visited New Plymouth, and who took considerable pains to inform himself of the state of affairs there :• —

I think the Government will do all they can to prevent the war extending beyond its present limits. Ido not think an attack on the settlers of Wanganui is likely, as the friendly Maoris have a great deal of property there, and they will therefore use all their influence and force to prevent such an attack; and though an individual Maori may shake his tomahawk at an Englishwoman, as was lately the case south of Auckland, I do Dot think the Maoris will attempt to provoke a war of races. I think the King movement will have to be dealt with by the civil, and not the military government, and that it will gradually die out. I believe that, whatever disturbances may, and probably will, arise in other provinces of the North Island, the war will not extend beyond Taranaki. I think the military will manage to sweep the settled district of Taranaki (not much more than 14 miles by 2§), s0 tnat *^c militia may safely cultivate these lauds; then, as the southern summer advances, the soldiers will be able so to molest the Ngatiruanui tribe, by destroying their crops, &c., that within six or nine months, they, as well as W. King's tribe, will get sick and tired of the war, and ask for terms of peace. I think that satisfactory terms will then be made, and that they will be respected; that the settlers will then go back to their farms, but that for some years they will require a considerable military protection, by means of block-houses in different parts of the district.

If the Ngatiruanui tribe can be really subdued, we may be able to take possession of a large portion of their land, leaving them a sufficient reserve of say 100 acres per man. Also, if Kingi's tribe can be really subdued, he may consent never again to obstruct the sale of land; and thus the land league may fail, and land sales go on in a manner which would give new life to this part of the colony. But these two events hang clearly on the chances of war, and I fear that so long as the bush remains without any large tracks cut through it,' those chances will be so much in favor of the Maoris, that we shall hardly be able to effect what may be termed a complete subjection of a native tribe by force of arms alone. In the midst of much doubt, however, two facts stand forth beyond all question. First, the settlements of New Zealand are so suitable to the English, and the settlers have established themselves there with so much energy and judgment, with so much of that "English perseverance," and in such a business-like manner, that nothing, humanly speaking, can dispossess them. Come what will, the settlements of New Zealand must prosper. Second, that although this war may be followed by other native disturbances, none of them will be of so serious a character, and each succeeding one will probably be more insignificant than the last, until the Maoris assume that peaceful and unimportant, but very happy and useful position, which they occupy in the Middle Island.

In the Taranaki district the Maori population has thriven better than in any other: at one time it seemed to be on the increase. The Taraoaki Maoris were more civilized than any others; but in spite of all that can be done for them, they have decreased in numbers about one-third in the last twelve years, and it is probable that in twenty years they will be practicably extinct.— Wellington Advertiser.