THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. “Verite sans peur.” WAMGANUI,JUNE 18, 1863.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 348, 18 June 1863, Page 3

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. “ Verite sans peur.” WAMGANUI,JUNE 18, 1863.

It is very much to be regretted that the .confiscation system, which Sir George Grey lately seemed about to inaugurate, should present the appearance of being 'abandoned ; or, if, hot abandoned, should ' be suffered to remain in any doubt. ; Imj mediately after the murders of the 4th May Sir George resolved to confiscate the land on which they were perpetrated.

In doing, so he was acting in a way perfectly tika in native eyes. “ Should a chief of one tribe be killed by another tribe, the tribe of the murdered man claims the land in the vicinity where the murder took place ; for instance, a chief who' had lost his canoe by drifting to sea, went along the coast to the settlement of a tribe who had been at variance with his tribe for many years, and found his canoe there, but was murdered by them. His tribe collected a' war party, P r °- /ceeded to i;he settlement, and brought awav the body of the deceased chief, andjn the following year went and cultivated the land ; the block whereof this

cultivation formed part was after waivte sold by the original owners* I 'and the ablatives of the murdered chief received payment for the portion they had cultivated.”— White's Lectures , p. 38. But whether tiled- of not in L native eyes, the time has arrived when the natives must learn to : feel that war is not the “ milk and attar of roses” which it has hitherto been to; tliem r . Hitherto they have fought when they liked and left off when they liked, using the opportunity afforded them in the meanwhile to drive off such df the settlers’ stock as they thought fit. The only, species of property which they could in return lose has been safe from reprisals. They possess nothing convertible to our use excepting land, and their land ought therefore to be made a spoil of war. The letter whieh ' Mr. Domett wrote to the Superintendent of Otago led to the expectation that “ confiscation ” was to be a great featiire in the war upon which we have now entered. The intimation he has'since given that the letter was not intended for publication —not intended to be responded to by - the Otagonian diggers—but was only written > with a view to elicit the opinions : of his- Honor, seems to imply that confiscation is not to be resorted to at present, or at any . rate hot to be abted upon in that-- tangible manner which would make it appear a reality in native eyes.

; We khow it may be said that the question is surrounded by difficulties. So it may. be ; but if we are to leave untouched whatever is difficult, there will never be an end of our troubles! Whose land, it is asked, will you confiscate —that of the tribes only on which you make war, or that also of those who furnish contingents for their support V ' We are not iii the Executive, a lid not called upon therefore to give Our advice ; but if advice gratis is of any value, we should cut the gordian knot by acting Upon those simple principles of justice which guide the dealings of European warfare; we should certainly lay down the’ broad rule that the country of the tribes who made war upon us was absolutely confiscated, and we should act .upon .that rule to - the fullest, extent j we do not say that the lands of every tribe from whom contingents were received by the bpemy should be forfeited, or the lands of those through whom ammunition or general supplies were convej’ed ; we Would, for the present at any rate, lay down no exact rule in any case except as regards those tribes with whom we are at open war. At this moment we are at war with the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes. The land of these tribes should’ be declared forfeited. We would not declare the lands of the Waitotarad and Wanganui natives : for feited simply because contingents have gone therefrom. Those contingents in ay have gone by direction of the tribes, or. they, may have gone on their owii hook. They may have 1 gone, as the Pope’s Legion went to 'ltaly from Ireland lately, accompanied by the shouts of tlieir countrymen on the,' quays, but without involving any other than their owii individual interests ; while We would punish to the full extent the law would allow, those who, by ’the purchase of warlike stores, rendered themselves amenable to the law ; yet, while we protect the builders iand outfitters of. the’ Alabamd and Florida from the personal wrath of the ’Federate, so long as they keep within strictly legal bounds, we cannot in justice urge the confiscation of the la rids of those natives who merely pass oh the ordinary ■ supplies received from ourselves. But while we would not lay down the rule, that • confiscation, ’ should apply in such cases, we would be very severe on those tribes who. exceeded a reasonable latitude in the help afforded to the enemy. Whenever the help afforded by a tribe became more than that of a comparatively few individuals proceeding thither- on. their own. responsibility—became in fact the alliance of the tribe-—then. ; confiscation should most certainly be made to apply.. We are disposed to make every allowance for Sir George Grey that we possibly can. :It is our duty to do so. He has a responsibility on his shoulders which should make us pause before we either refuse support or actually condemn. Large reinforcements,have been sent for ; they will be' here, .say, in the spring. Anything calculated to make the war spread beyond its Taranaki limits is certainly not expedient (whatever else it may be) until those reinforcements arrive, The attitude assumed by the Waikato and otherpowerful .-tribes, may make it very desirable not to import.into the struggle, at its present stage, any elements that would precipitate a more extended warfare than can possibly be helped. “ There is no point,” says Mr. White, in his lectures before quoted, “on which a New : Zealander’s indignation can be more effectually roused, than by disputing, liis title to land.” Probably, when the means which the General believes to be necessary to carry out his, Excellency’s plans shall have arrived, we shall have “ confiscation ”, proclaimed clearly enough; meanwhile Sir George Grey stands pledged to confiscate the land on which the murders took place, and also that of the \Vaitara if the natives do not remain peaceable—which, from the, last accounts, they appear determined not to do.. We :cannot help thinking that it would be a wise plan for him to declare, at once and in writing, that such lands, have actually been confiscated-—that ail right, title, and interest have been absolutely forfeited to the Queen. At any rate, if it is desired to keep all reference to the Waitara in the background until reinforcements arrive* let the? declaration! of the confiscation of the land on which the murders .took place, be ;publicly notified. We shall feel satisfied then that the,thin, edge of the wedge is inserted—that the beginning of a system of confiscation has? I been irrevocably decided upon. , .

The ’ Compensation ‘"question possesses a..peculiar * interest Tor' us in : Wanganui. Mr.-Harrison did the best that could be done for his.constituents, when’he supported the vote; for cofripensatingllie Taranaki settlers on the ground that it might possibly, be the lot of some future representative of Wanganui to ask for a similar vote. It would have been, indeed a reproach to the Assembly, if the Taranaki settlers had been 'allowed to bear the brunt of war; at their own charges. The colony never would, for a moment, have suffered such a blot on their fellbw feeling.; ■' Deny, as they justly might, that it was tlieir' duty to com pen sate ; yet, if the Imperial Government refused, the colony felt-that it must.; The Astembly voted compensation last year—riot niggardly, but with full estimates before them; They coupledwith it one condition, and one condition only. The compensation was to be final, i.e. for the purpose of reinstating tlie- settlers on their farms. This condition was perfectly •understood by members. It; meant that the money was to be paidi whenever the settlers' could go off to arid cultivate their farms again. It appears, however, that Sir George Grey understood it differently. He has looked ...upon, . the-, £200,000 vote as so. much, placed at liis disposal, for road making, German Immigration, or any other, plan that he thought would tend to the restoration of order, and thereby enable him to “ reinstate ” the settlers. The Attorney-General has taken this view also, and. declared that the money could not be handed over to the settlers:— the wording of the ’Loan' Act 1 preventing it. Just previously to the murder of the Escort,, when Governor and Ministers: considered the tiriie opportune for resuming tlieir farms, the settlers' asked, for their compensation. Ministers Very probably agreed to give, to them. ’ They knew the intention of the Assembly, and they assumed the responsibility of acting contrary to the technicalities of the Loan Act. The settlers considered the promise of Ministers “:as .sate as the Bank,” and nutnerbus engagements were made on the faith of the' money being forthcoming speedily. Meanwhile tlie murder of the escort , took place, arid all chance of resuming farming .operations was gone. Ministers thereupon said we can’t give the compensation money 1 now.” The settlers replied “ some Of us liave entered into engagements on the strength of your promise, 1 and therefore ; you must.” Ministers have now taken time to consider. They are on tlie horns of a very awkward dilemma. They must either break their promise to the settlers, or misappropriate the Assembly’s vote. “ A fellow feeling makes the whole world kin,” and we naturally sympathise with the settlers at Taranaki, tnough we are bound to admit tliat'Ministers have, legality on tlieir side. If they witli-hold the promised compensation 1 they will get into sad trouble f arid if they grant it, they will certainly be called upon to answer for making promises which, obliged them to resoit to misappropriation to fulfil. It strikes us that ; tlie only solution is this—to give .the compensation to such ris will declare that they have entered into ‘ engagements which make its receipt necessary, taking their acquittance from all further demands. In this way alone’ does it seem to us that the conflicting duty to settlers and Assembly can in any way be reconciled. The aim of the Assembly, in the condition it imposed, was clearly to prevent the ’ compensation' being expended. for purposes of subsistence while in a forced condition of inactivity. The Assembly assumed that employment of some kind would in suoli base be found for all who needed it; that everyman’s daily wants would be supplied. We are afraid that in many instances they are but, scantily so. Independently of compensation this ought riot to be. . From whatever source: 'the mori'ey may : ! crime, it is the duty of; the Government to see that every settler in Taranaki is properly clothed and fed, without breaking in upon the vote which the Assembly generously made to start them in life! again When the war is over. . !

Since the above was written we have received the Taranaki Herald of the 30th ult., containing the following “We are authorised to state that the £50,000; raised at the suggestion of the . Colonial Secretary on Provincial Debentures to pay the part of tlie compensation claims not covered by the £90,00% will be distributed on the arrival of the debentures expected from Auckland on tlie Bth June. 'J he question of paying -Jie £90,000 is to be finally decided, we hear, at an executive Ceuiicil to be held in Auckland.”

Elsewhere - in our present issue will be found. all the essential portions of the “ Wanganui Bridge Bill ” W e are sorry we cannot compliment our legislators, upon this specimen of their handiwork. Passing the technical objections, first, that the Superintendent is left at’-liberty “ to do, or not to do,” as he may see fit .; and, second, that the committee, if appointed, ai’e at liberty -to “ fix the site,” <fec. at Pipiriki ; we come to what we consider a more important matter. The Superintendent in his opening address, informs ;us, that the inhabitants of Wanganui had expressed their willingness to form a Company to build the bridge.” By substituting the issue of debentures for the organization of a company, the principle of the projected bill is entirely altered, and the proposers, as a matter of Course, liberated from their implied promise to invest in the .concern. Not a word need be wasted in explanation of the difference.betweeh “ debentures” and ‘‘ shares.” There is no doubt that this bridge forms part of the Great North-western road, and that as' such it is the business

of the Provincial Government to build it-; thei'e is n(K,doubt, further, that the proposition of our ' leading n.eu to assist the Government:.‘in: its erection was dictated as much by kindliness and real patriotism'as by self-interest ; and* consequently, there is no;doubt that this Bill ought st6 have a distinct provision that, on the i termination of all liabilities in connection with the bridge, all tolls should cease,—-it should become free. We do nob like the- omission of this important clause. By leaving all property in the bridge vested iu. the Superintendent, it seems as though it were intended that the tolls should, in the end, become Provincial revenue. -

.• Exception has ;also been taken,as to the scale of tolls, because foot-passengers are to be free. Now, when by the liberality of the legishjt.uie the Provincial, revenues are pledged for ■ the- interest of the; mbney required, and foot-passengers are by that means allowed the use of the bridge free, it seems at first rather singular that they should bq those who find fault with VYet this objection derives eoiisiderable weight from the very anxiety !we all feel to see this bridge completed ; and as a moderate toll on foot-passengers would bring a considerable revenuey.and would be cheerful!}' paid, and, by-increasing the value.of the security, would facilitate the raising of the funds required, we consider it would have been judicious to have included the footpassengers. But all this criticism would be beside the mark-;—too late—if it were nob for what, follows. Sections 7 to; 10 empower the coinmittee to raise the money, and the Superintendent co issue the deben tures, but piit vo limit on the amount. It is useless to multiply words on this point. As our readers are aware this Bill .is left for .the .Governor’s assent, and we can ; hardly expect indeed, we can scarcely desire—that our General Government shbuld .be so -careless as to allow the a felhtik'chequh like this. We cannot but -think that this Bill will be disallowed by ..the Governor, and by the expression of this ~opinion our readers will be prepared for a'possible disappointment. We shall be most thankful to be found; in-error. :

The “ Native Lands act 1862 ” has re ceived .the sanction of her Majesty, and now only awaits the Governor’s proclamation, defining the districts within which it shall apply, to bring it into operation. . No contract for a sale or lease of native land iutered into previously to the issuing of a “ certificate of title ” will.be valid or enforceable at law, but all those who have entered into such contracts for runs, , Ac., will shortly be enabled to obtain a legal status in respect of such holdings ; and it will also be possible for all who want -land to buy it safely froirf any native owners who may be willing to sell. We hope, therefore, that from this time forward the free-trade system now being inaugurated will bear its legitimate fruits in the peace and prosperity of both races in this island.