THE MAORI WAR.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 109, 10 March 1870, Page 5

THE MAORI WAR.

Any one who reads the Northern correspondent's letters to the various newspapers, and who keeps himself posted up in the latest war telegrams, must have before now decided in his mind that Mr.. Fox's defence policy is a complete failure^ The defence consists in an expensive and fruitless gt^eirillst -wnr- 7 whicK sKows no sign whatever of termination. The one day we hear of M'Donnell being within gunshot of Te Kooti ; the other, they are hundreds of miles apart. The next appearance of the rebels is in attacking McDonnell's camp unawares, and through our troops oversleeping themselves, he escapes, carrying the laurels of victory with him. The next telegram informs us that Te Kooti has disappeared in the bush, and M'Donuell is quite in a fix whese to follow or what to do. Meanwhile rumours, are afloat that the King party feel uncomfortable at the presence of our troops, in their- country, and will not lend any hand in attempting to secure the rebel;.. From the last intelligence to hand we find Te Kooti has escaped to the fastnesses of the Uriwera Mountains, where he. successfully sought protection last year, and where Whitmore would

have followed him had not Fox and his party made a political stalking-horse of the expensive war policy of the Government, and so thwarted his plans. All this naturally leads one to the conclusion that Te Kooti cannot be captured. He asks to be let alone, but if they hunt him down, he will fight, and commit similar murders to those he has already committed. As so many unsuccessful efforts have been made to secure him, perhaps the best policy would be to let him alone. That he is a murderer and knows it, there can be little doubt, and that the forces, military and constabulary, or we might say, trained and untrained, are quite unequal for the disaffected Maori in hi 3 own native mountains and jungle — recent events have shown there is as little doubt. But to come to a still more important part of the subject, viz., the expense of this so-called defence policy. Of this we shall hear something that will open our eyes at the next meeting of the . General Assembly. If the estimate of the present cost of military operations given by a correspondent of the " Daily Times," which we append to this article, is a correct one, or even an approximation to correctness, the colony is at present paying £1500 a-day, or something over half a million a-year for the support of that policy. Truly this a yoke upon our necks, which it is impossible for us to bear. No doubt the capture and hanging of Te Kooti would have a wonderfully pacific influence on the turbulent Maori mind, but it strikea us we are purchasing that influence at a ruinous price. Better surely for us to hold a really defensive position, and nurse our means, than to squander our substanoe on a fruitless war, and reduce ourselves to abject poverty. THE WHEREABOUTS OF TE KOOTI, AND THE EXPENSE IT COSTS TO FOLLOW HIM. A Napier correspondent of the "Daily Times " furnishes the following account of Te Kooti with some interesting calculations of what ie costs the country to pursue him :—: — To Kooti is again in the mountains, to dislodge him from which was the occasion of large muster of forces of last May which Mr. Fox so loudly condemned. Apparently a new effort is about to be made to get him out of the hills and once more into the open country. The Uriwei'a mountains, besides being exceedingly rugged, are entirely clothed with densest jungle, so that unless Te Kooti is entrapped or shot by some special interposition" of Providence, there is almost no chance of scouring him by an expedition in pursuit. All that can be done, besides partial encounters, is to destroy the foot! ; and if the Uriweras, unwarned by the destruction of their crops last year-, plant them again about their best known villages, this may be accomplished. When the potatoes are destroyed Te Kooti may come out again to some more favourable locality, and may then be once nn>re pursued with more or less luck. But it is evident he is too smart for those who for the past eight months have directed the operations against him, and at best, if successful, we shall only find ourselves again where wo were last year when Mr. Fox took office. Unfortanately we shall no longer possess the same men, or the same prestige- that we then possessed amongst the Natives, and shall be the worse by nearly half a million of money. Though difficult to ascertain exact numbers, I think you may rely on the following as bein^ near the mark. The numbers include all on pay in the Island, whatever may be their stations :—: — Old A .C. Whitmore's men 850 New do., Branigan's, say 150 All Europeans ... ... 1000 Kemp and Topia, friendlies (hired by Mr. Fox) 600 Taupo Natives 200 Arawas (to include those with Fraser and Mair), say 500 Bay of Plenty Natives, Ngaiterangi, Ngatipukeko, &c. (believed to be holding posts), say 150 Ngatiporou, including those at Patea (100 at Patea, the other figure is guess work) 500 Hamlin's Natives and Volunteers (more or less) 400 3350 Add to these- the persons employed in transport and commissariat. Opotiki Volunteers, and Militia everywhere on pay — not less than 350 3700 Now, of this force, not less than 3000 are actually drawing field rations, which, from the mode of supply being by packhorses, cannot cost less; than 2s. 6d., for the men get still the ration and a half each given them during la^, winter for road work. The daily pay of the private will therefore be, including his ration, 65. ; and making due allowance for the different grades, and for Mr. Branigan's men at high pay, perhaps 7s. 6d. per head for the 3000 and 6s. for the 700 will represent one ite-in of tl*e daily cost. At these rates we have the former costing £1125, and the latter £210 ; or in all, a daily sum of about £1335. To this must be added a considerable amount of horse-flesh and other items ; so that the country is just now paying somewhere about £1500 daily for it 3 " economy," and unfortunately, without the least encouragement to hope for any solution of its difficulties.