The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1871.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 763, 14 January 1871, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1871.

It i.s a relief to learn that the reported massacre in the Waikato ia not confirmed by the intelligence received by the Government, but at the same time the attitude of a large and powerful Bection of the native population is formidable and threHtening. It is reported, and the rumor has not beqn contradicted, that Mr M'Leau is about to hand over to the natives, as a peaceoilerinfr,' the wholo of the timber* reserves of TeAwamutu and the con li<;uot:s settlements. However opposed such- a policy vi&f be to the w.tsl>es of the, colonists of New Zealand, it may be excused on the ground ui possible weakness and ineompet-

eucy on tlie part of the Government to adopt any other course than oue of conciliation. We fear that the vaunted preparedness of our defence organisa tion and the effective administration of Native affairs have (alien far ohort of ths representations that have been made to the country, and it would also appear that the sanguine illusions under which a former Governor of .New Zealand labored in respect to the condition of the native population, are being equally entertained by the present Ministry, who it might very reasonably be supposed would have profited by the bitter lessons of experience. It is scarcely probable that a race, who so thoroughly succeeded in blinding Sir Geo ge Grey, whose knowledge of their habits and ways of thought was perhaps greater than that of any other European, should have been less able to disguise their sentiments from Mr M'Lean. The history of Sir George Grey's personal inspection of the disaffected tribes, and upon returning from his tour through the disturbed districts, his confident assurance that the Maori troubles had permanently ended, must be tolerably familiar to the majority of our readers. And yet this assurance of security had scarcely been proclaimed when the major portion of the North Island was ablaze, and once more the scene of native outbreaks. A calamity that so thoroughly took the Colony by surprise at that time is but too easily capable of reproduction. And unfortunately events going forward in Euro))© cannot but exercise an influence upon the disaffected among the natives. Deprived of the moral effect in addition to the active co-operation of a considerable body of Imperial troops, and with the threatened involvement of the mother country in a gigantic war, for the arrest of the aggressive policy of .Russia, the moment would, indeed, be well chosen by the natives for rebellion. And if appearances are to be trusted, they undoubtedly mean war. A temporising policy, which complies with every humor and caprice, may be the means of procrastinating the evil, but grants and concessions can ouly sharpen the appetite for increased and frequent demands, while in the pursuit of such a policy our moral influence must hourly deteriorate. The action of the Defence Minester in respect to the timber reserves admits of no other construction than that the Government are unprepared to meet the emergency in any other manner, and it is this state of unpreparedness which must awaken a wide-spread feeling of uneasiness and distrust. The formation of roads and the introduction and settlement of a large European population are unquestionably the cheapest and the surest means of permanently settling the native difficulty, but until these are effected, and while they are in progress, a sufficient military force is requisite to overcome the turbulent, and to convince the Maori that anv outrage would be surely and speedily avenged.