The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-12 00:00:00

and confidence in the arrangements, and Dr. Fea-
therstone, the peace man par excellence of that day,
the superintendent of the province of Wellington,

one of the most able and honest men in the colony,
by whose influence with the Nga•li•awa the peace
of the South was maintained during the Taranaki

war, also expressed his confidence in the new Mini-
stry. These sentiments are generally echoed by
the press.

The policy of the Ministry was enunciated by Mr.
Fox on the 3d inst. When he took office in 1861,

;hough opposed to the war;and believingit originated

,n an unj ast dealing with the land sold by Taira,

but to which Kingi had substantial claims, he stated
that if peaceable methods proved unsuccessful, if
the natives, rejecting the overtures which should be

made to them, were determined to continue their
armed resistance, he should be found as firm to

strike as he was then disposed to conciliate. Now

he seems to be convinced that to ettrike is the only
course left to the Government. The suppression of
this rebellion is now announced to be the primary

object to which everything else must yield and
minister. As a natural consequence of rebellion

comes punishment, in the shape of confiscation of
land in Waikato and at Taranaki, Indeed, this was

n a measure the foregone conclusion, for Mr. Ball,

a member of the late _Ministry, when here with Col.
Pitt to raise the volunteer corps for service in New
Zealand, plainly told thoee who enlisted that the

lands wherewith to reward them were to be ac-
quired by conquest from the Waikatos. Military
settlements are to be established in the conquered

and confiscated lands throughout the Waikato dis-
tricts, and from New Plymouth to Wanganui. For
this purpose the Ministry proposes a new levy of
5,000 men in Australia, and, " if possible," no less
than 15,000 in Great Britain and Ireland. This
will, of course, be a work of time. The sale of land
is to afford the means of paying whatever loans may
be contracted, in order to carry out this scheme.
Roads are to be steadily pushed forward through
the Waikato country. The outbreak is to be treated
as a " rebellion," and anything in the nature of
belligerent rights is denied to the natives. Indeed,
already a bill has been introduced to establish mar-
tial law in Waikato, Mr. Fox, a barrister, being seem-
ingly well aware that the proclamation of martial
law, as in 1861, is absolutely illegal. This measure is

based upon an Irish statute. When peace is restored
by force of arms it is to be secured by making the
natives give up their arms. In short, the Waikatos
have made conquests a stern necessity to the Go-
vernment. The issue raised by them is, "Which
shall be master ?''

There is one question which is often put, and
which is not easy to answer—Will this war be con-
fined to Waikato and Taranaki ? I have very little
doubt that if the Waikatos, acting more promptly
than they have done when our force in New Z aland
was scanty, had achieved a marked success against
the troops a great number of the "friendly natives"
would have joined in the war. The prestige in favour
of the savage against the soldier would have been
contagious, and hostility to the Pakeha might have
developed itself throughout the northern island.
But latterly, even in bush fighting, the success of
the flying column and of parties of troops in several
encounters with larger parties of natives has turned
the prestige the other way. Some of the natives in
the south entertained for a while considerable alarm
lest the Pakehas should attack them. A few months
ago the Ngaeli-awa of the Wasrarapa Valley, near
Wellington, had a meeting to consider what course
they should adopt. This meeting origivated in the
alarm I have mentioned. They observed that the
settlers were enrolling as militia or volunteers, and
they could not avoid a suspicion that the first blow
might be struck by the Europeans. Very wisely,
one or two of the leading settlers—Mr. Revans and
Mr. Smith, in whom the natives have confidence—
attended the meeting, and explained that the arming
and drilling was not for attack of any kind, but fur
defence in case of any hostile invasion by hostile
natives from other parts. Melial assurances of
support to preserve peace ensued, and I am assured
that in that district Maori and Paiceha no longer
look suspiciously on each other. Tne same
line of policy was also pursued by Dr. Feather-
stone, the superintendent, at some meetings at
Olaki, with the same happy result. The Nga-pui
north of Auckland, who are numerous and intel-
ligent, have on several occasions expressed their
satisfaction with the Government. They are the
old enemies of the Waikato, and many of their chiefs
like Sir G. Grey personally. Whether they might
not have been drawn into hostility if the Waikatos
had been successful is scarcely worth while to specu-
late about, but certainly their " friendly " character
is confirmed by the repeated successes of the troops
in bush encounters. Thus the war is principally
confined to the Waikato country, for even at Tara-
naki it is comparatively insignificant, having only
a certain degree of importance from its acting as a
diversion in favour of the Waikato, by keeping a
body of troops employed there. The Thames natives,
too, are by no means unanimous in favour of Thomp-
son's party. Many natives there call themselves
" friendly," and, although some of the newspapers
look up me their friendliness with a very natural sus-
picion, they may be deemed waiters on Providence,
who will not imperil their lands, if they think, as
they are likely to do, that the troops must prevail
sooner or later. Though the Maories who occupied
Mere-Mere have escaped without loss, the whole
length and breadth of Maoridom wilt understand
this as a sore defeat. Gen. Cameron has the perfect
command of the river, at :least, as far as Rangiriri,
and the possession of Mere-Mere makes the whole
country, as far as Rangiriri untenable to the Maories,
This latter place is so placed as to be liable to be
knocked about their ears from the river, so that in
all probability it will be abandoned on the very
first demonstration of the troops before it. How
long the natives will be able to hold out and
continue to harass the troops without any deci-
sive engagement it would be rash to say, " They
have achieved their eighteenth murder," eays a
private letter, " and must be hunzed like wild
beasts." You will see from the very terms of
the Ministerial policy that continued war is
adopted by the Government and forced upon the
natives, for they can scarcely desire peace in the
terms of confiscation. It should seem that nothing
is left to the natives but despair and vengeance,
while to the settlers the natives have made absolute
conquest a necessity and an instinct.
There has been a good deal of skirmishing,
in which the troops and volunteers are rapidly be
coming accustomed to bush fighting, and in some
instances the Europeans have prevailed against
numbers. One of these encounters deserves notice.
On Saturday, the 17th of October, some firing being
heard at Alauku, a party of 50 volunteers, under
Lieut. Lusk, started for that place. They came
within sight of the natives ; and Lieutenant Lusk,
thinking his party small, sent to the stockade for
more. Twelve men, under Lieut. Percival, left the
stockade, but seem to have missed their way, for
they came upon a large body of natives, and with-
stood an encounter for about half an hour, but,
finding themselves so greatly outnumbered, they
succeeded in retiring and joining the main body.
The whole body of between 60 and 70 men then
marched towards where the natives were firing at
random, when
they were completely surrounded
and fired on in all directions. The men behaved
with great steadiness and gallantry, and the native
loss was considerable ; but, of course, the volunteers
could not prevail against such odds. Lieut. Per-
ceval was shot, and si• I or seven were wounded, of
whom twa have since died. Poor Perceval behaved
with gnat coolness and gallantry. He was well
known in this colony, and was, it is said, a grand-
son of Mr. Perceval who was shot by Bellingham.

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