The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1038, 18 February 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1879.

Equal and exaot justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. ***** Hero shall ;the "Press the People's right maintain,," Una-wed by influence and nnhribed by gain. ' i I '

At the preseinc time when Grreat | .Britain is entering upon a native j War for theprotec ion ol h«r African 1 coionists, it may. Be iuterestiiij/ for j our readi-rs to learn 'vhah ia the :origin of "< h y qu^rrnlj all what sort of an ei.emyiLe Cipe colonists and .the uio her c luotry have to contend Avhh. So fat* as-acfcut'l events have taken piaCH, the iabellig-ence is c infused, atid'ooiiflictiii.,'. The unmoor of troops Baid to have faiUn, is .-vaiiously given from 2uo to 560, nut! m onv e»J^ 30 and ia anothe'--60 oiß^ers. Xbe former rHinib«r of «.ffi c: s is move likely to be correct of the two, for a regiment on full strength would not htve anything like Bixty C)mmiß4oned officers att cued to it. The lo>s has, how .eve, been so irreat as .to ftirL arouse the Bricish' nation to action. Like i.he Aliyssinian War, the result will doubtless be speo'ly and decisive. There will he no philo-Zulu t^lemeu to tie the bands of euterpriiting 1 generals or rhfjrler barren the results of victory. Sir Grarnet WoUev, when m Africa, -is said to have insi-.ied upon the advisability Qi disarminvr ;be Zulu people and abolishing tho liing'-hip of Cetewayo —of opeuing-up the country aud rendering it tributary to the State. The o.inion of an ' officer of suoh standing is likely to largely sway the .joyenimt-ut at home. Indeed, the .history of the dispute shows that the British Government has not hesitated to pivoipitate matters, and hassougut, racher than.avoided, the final arbitrament pf war. They have simply tfiken over tho quarrel of the boers or Dutch settlers, and marje it their own. From the best authorities on the j matter, it would seem that the whole question itl dispute has arisen over a portion of territory situated on the bolder of Zululand and the Transvaal. In the time of G^tew,ayo's. father., permission was given to the boers to pasture thsir cattle on this district. The boers went a step further, however, and commenced fencing- m the land and building houses. Uraparade, the then King- of the Zulus, remonstrated, but. did not attempt to forcibly resist these enoroachrnents, and placed himself m communication with tho British at Natal, who expressed sympathy with him. Cetewayo when he brcame King m 1864 waa anxious to have taken forcible measures against the Dutch intruders.'but vainly asked the support of . the Natal Government before going to war with the boers. The British answers, though'friendly to Ceteway >, .deprecated his entering on war' with the.'boers to ivcovor bis rights. Two years ag", when the

Transvaal, which hid fallen into financial and other difficulties, was takeo over by the British Government, Cetewayo expected that the British who had replaced the boors, and had always expressed sympathy with hira m. the matter, would have handed over these lands on the Zulu side of the Transvaal, which had been encroached on by tho boers. Bub instead of doing so, Sir T. Shenstone, who took poosession m 1877 cf the Tiansvaal, on behalf of the British Government, informed Cetewayo that the British had taken over the claim of the boers to the land m dispute, and the quarral then became one between the British and the Zulus. Uetesvayo protested, (hen threatened. The Government then offered to bring the dispute to arbitral ion, but without allowing Cetewayo to appoint tin arbitrator, and so peaceab.e arrangements fell throiiirh, and the matter was allowed to drift into a war, although a commission sent up by the Governor of Natal, to report on the boundary, returned "sirongly convinced that the Dutch had no claim to any part of the territory." The strengi h of the Zulu people was not unknown to the Government, and must therefore have been taken into consideration m counting the cost of conquest. Cetewayo can muster some 40,000 fighting men, and the people are brave aid warlike. lb will be seen by the action of the Governm -nt all through that the subjection of the Zulus has been a foregone onclusion, and, if so, we may look to the vigorous undertaking of one of those little wars which serve m times-of peace to keep the Btitish Lion from becoming altogether blue-mouldy.