The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-29 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND.

Some very interesting information respecting the state
of affairs in New Zealand has just been furnished by Mr.
George Graham, whose name has been closely connected
with the colony for more than thirty years. Mr. Graham
has just revisited Windsor, his native town, bringing with
him many interesting documents. He is deeply interested
in the welfare of the colony, in which he has a large
stake, and is an advocate of the peace party which is
supported by the farmers. Mr. Graham, it will be remem-
bered, volunteered some few years since to mediate
between the colonists and William Thompson, the " King
Maker," and he actually induced the New Zealand
Warwick to meet General Carey and make terms of
peace. Mr. Graham, in his written statement of his
views, remarks that the whole of the facts respecting
New Zealand have not been laid before the English public.
The Colonial Treasurer, on the sth of February, applied
to the Imperial Government for a guarantee for a loan to
New Zealand to the amount of £1,500,000, but the appli-
cation was not granted. Mr. Graham, although a member
of the House of ltepresentatives, and intimately
acquainted with the state of feeling among the
members of the General Assembly, never heard of this
proposed loan until lie reached England. Last session
members on both sides of the House spoke against borrow-
ing more money, and the general feeling is still strongly
opposed to it. This is not surprising,,, as the Provincial
and General Government debts of New Zealand amount
to nearly £7,000,000, more than £3,000,000 of which has
been spent in war. The general Government revenue
may be set down at £1.100,000, which is collected from
about 220,000 people, and the colonists, north and south,
declare that they cannot bear increased taxation. The re-
venue barely meets the ordinary expenditure, and the colony
finds it difficult to pay the public creditor. In suchaposition,
says Mr. Graham, more money ought not to be borrowed
for war. He denies that those who have pressed for the
guarantee represent the feeling of the settlers. The Bank
of New Zealand has profited largely by the war expendi-
ture, and by the £3,000,000 war loan passing through it,
and its shareholders and managers are anxious for similar
profits. To the farmer and settler of New Zealand, how-
ever, increased taxation would be most serious.
Prior to the commencement of the war at Taranaki the
natives in North Island were making great progress in
civilisation. In the Auckland provinces, a few years
since, Maories grew more wheat than the European
population could consume, and some thousands of
bushels were exported to Sydney. When the
Governor of New Zealand visited the Waikato in

1863 he was treated with every kindness by the
natives and welcomed by the King Maker, William
Thompson. On his return preparations were made for
war. The Governor and Ministry decided on invading
Waikato. They borrowed £3,000,000, and confiscated

iarge tracts of the Maori lands. These Maories, Mr.
Graham maintains, had committed no outrages, and were
nn the best of terms with many of the old settlers. Ile
considers they have been very harshly treated, 200 of
them being transported to the Chatham Islands without

trial. They escaped, and returned to New Zealand,
whare they were fired upon and hotly pursued. Mr.
Graham volunteered to go to them, and believes
that if his offer had been accepted much bloodshed would
nave been saved. The natives now look on us as a merci-
less foe, but some of the old settlers might succeed in
restoring confidence if they were empowered to treat with
them honestly and justly. In all New Zealand there are
not more than 4,000 hostile natives, but few will venture
to write in favour of the Maories. Sir G. Grey, the late
governor, declared that the purchase of Waitara,whieh led to
the Taranaki War, was unjust, and he recommended that
the land should be restored to the natives. Prior to th 6
invasion of Waikato, Governor Fitzßoy had encourager
the natives to cultivate the land, and the settle) s
in Auckland Province frequently obtained their
assistance in harvesting. It was not unusual to see
100 Maories working cheerfully on some farms, and
confidence prevailed between the two races. The raid on
the Maories in July 1863 changed all this. About
1,2 )0,000 acres of land were seized by the Governor and
lll:nistry of 1E63, and a great deal of land was taken from
William Barton and other chiefs who will not fight the
settlers. It is stated that many of the natives sent to the
Chatham Islands were originally friendly to us, and Om;
Te Kooti himself never took up arms until after his trans-
portation. Some of the natives wrote to Mr. Graham
from the Chatham Islands, declaring that many of those
seized had always been " Queen's natives," that is, friendly
Maories The natives are now afraid to cultivate the lan•1
to any extent for fear of raids. Many interests aro opposed
to the establishment of peace. One butcher's contract
in the war cleared £lO,OOO in two years ; the flour and
spirit contracts were equally profitable. Of the Europear
population of 220,000 about 1,700 are employed as civil
servants of the Government, and one-third of these could

he dispensed with if there were peace. Besides this, th.
colonial army list chews that nearly 600 men hold com-
missions in the colonial army, and many of these are small
tradesmen, who live chiefly upon Government pay. The
militia whom they command are of a lose or,ler.
Colonel Whitmore, v.ito lately inspected the locc,l
militia at Tauranger, remarked that " they
would do very well in a redoubt with a canteen in
it." The correspondent of the Auckland News states that
an expedition is to be undertaken into the Maori territory,
which is expected to last six weeks. It is probable that
the main body of the cavalry will sc,.ur the Urewera
country. It is said that Colonel Whitmore intends to
adopt a system of head money, offering £lO per head and
rations to native allies not enlisted in armed constabulary,
and to constabulary a bonus of 25 per head for all rebels
killed otherwise than in siege or general action. He
intends also to collect the armed constabulary along the
line of supply, and, it is said, to size the women of
hostile tribes and expatriate them to friendly tribes.
Mr. Graham is highly indignant at this programme, and
asks whether it is wonderful that with such a prospect
before them the spirit of retaliation and revenge should
be aroused among the Maories. As evidence of the
friendly dispositions of the natives when kindly treated,
he mentions some interesting facts coming under his own
observation. On the occasion of the marriage of one of
his sons 2,000 of the tribes assembled in his honour, and
vied with each other in displaying their goodwill. Nearly
twenty years ago Mr. Graham paid a brief visit to Eng-
land, leaving the Maories in charge of his extensive farms,
and entrusted to them his homesteads, his cattle, and
his crops. He has done so on the occasion of his present
visit, with copal confidence. The Maories, he says, will
"give a forest and fight for a leaf.' They will rigidly
adhere to a bargain for thousands of acres, but will fight
to the last to resist the unjust seizure of a single acre.
When driven to desperation by the sense of injustice, they
have recourse to cruel and barbarous revenge. The native
difficulty would, in Mr. Graham's opinion, soon be a thing
of the past if the Imperial Government would assure the
natives that war shall never again be made against them
for land ; that the complaint of the Maories shall be heard
that no more land shall be confiscated, and all which has been
taken shall be restored. Settlers and natives alike desire
peace, though it is not wished for by those who find mili-
tary employment agreeable, and war contracts profitable.
Earl Granville said truly that a number of Englishmen,
without any invitation or encouragement from the English
Government, took it on themselves to form settlements on
the islands of New Zealand. But the Imperial Govern.
ment did also form one or two settlements in the north, and
that land in Auckland Province and City of Auckland
was sold to the first settlers by English Government
agents on the faith that Auckland was to be the seat of
Government. It was so proclaimed by the first Governor to
New Zealand, and confirmed as such by the Secretary of
State. The province of Auckland alone contains seventeen
millions of acres of land. It is confidently believed by the
settlers in that province that if the Imperial Government
had granted a separate government for the North, or for the
provinces that were formed into a settlement, there would
have been no war. The settlers, whose views are repre-
sented by /‘lr. Graham, advocate the maintenance of two
regiments of British soldiers in the colony at the colonial
expense, to prevent unnecessary raids upon the natives
and retaliation on their part. Above all, they ask for a
commission of inquiry, and the petition appears to be a
reasonable one, since it is manifest that those who have
the greatest stake in this fine colony are opposed to the
policy at present pursued in New Zealand.

DEATH OF THE HON. SEYMOUR LIDDELL.-
We regret to announce the death of the lion. Seymour
Liddell, second surviving son of the Right Hon. Lord
Ravensworth, and brother of the lion. G. 11. Liddell,
M.P. for South Northumberland.

GREAT CAPTURE OF WIIALES.-A correspon-
dent of a Glasgow paper, writing frum Stornoway, says

that on Saturday an immense school of " ca'ing
whales" was descried disporting themselves off the
bay. Everyone in the place was on the qui virc
for their destruction, and a fleet of fifty boats.
manned by about 140 men, put out from land;
and, getting to seawards of the shoal, drove them,
after twelve hours' toil, into Stornoway harbour, till the
whole posse were safe in the bay, and were driven on
shore like sheep. The scene which ensued was most
exciting, as these unwieldy leviathans one after another
succumbed. Every description of weapon had been
brought in readiness, and 185 of the leviathans were soon
harpooned and ready for flinching. The whole of them
were sold by public auction, realising £550, which is to be
equally divided amongst the captors. The largest whale
measured 20ft. in length, with a girth of 12ft., and fetched
£l2, the rest averaging about £3 each. The last capture
was in 1859, when over 100 were taken in the bay ; but
about twenty-five years back, on one occasion,
_early
400 were captured in the time manner as on the present
-•—.
occasion,

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