The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-29 00:00:00

the natives. were, with few exceptions, loyal and attached
subjects to the Queen ; and that was a representation of a
state of things which would be generally found to exist.
In February,
1851, Governor Williams reported the pros-
perity
of the colony, and the disposition of the natives to
continue friendly relations. In May, 1854, the acting go-
vernor congratulated the colonists on the prosperity of the
colony, and on tho friendly relations which existed between
the two races and the House of Assembly, and the Legis-
lative Council, in their addresses in reply, reciprocated those
expressions. In Sept., 1854, Governor Brown reported that
the natives were well disposed, but he added that they did
not view the Assemblyvery, favourably, because they seemed
less scrupulous in their desire to obtain the possession of
land. In 1856 the existence of this feeling was more clearly
manifested, and it seemed to him to be impossible that it
could be otherwise, for the authority of the governor was
reduced to a mere shadow. And although in matters affect-
ing the natives he appeared to haVe an independent autho-
rity, it was merely nominal, for it was perfectly clear from
the papers on the table that even with regard to native affairs
he had no real power, and had to follow implicitly the ad-
vice of the Executive Council. But the administration of
affairs in the province was still worse. He had no doubt in
his own mind that nothing so much contributed to excite
the Maories against the government as the manner in which
patronage had been used to their detriment for party pur-
poses. They had seen men holding offices in the right dis-
charge of which they were deeply interested replaced, not
by others who were more fitted to discharge the duties of
those offices, but by men who were governed by party inte-
rests. They also felt how miserably inadequate were the
grants made for purposes in which they were interested.
They understood these things very well. It was, perhaps,
impossible to judge, at so greot a distance, of the details of
administration in New Zealand, but if he wore to judge of
the spirit in which the administration was conducted by the
tone of the colonists, from the language they used at public
meetings, from the proceedings of the provincial councils,
and even of the assembly itself—and he knew of none more
certain to which he could have recourse—he must say that
it showed an entire want of consideration for the feelings of
the Maoris and even of their rights. There were many
proofs of this, but he should refer only to the address
of the provincial council of New Plymouth, pre-
sented to the governor in 1856, in which that want of con.
sideration was most painfully manifested. In 1858 the
same council called upon the governor to compel the natives
to sever their tribal tenancies. This fact was most signifi-
cant, especially when one of the representatives of New
Plymmi /Z&Zulvint, WllO neict office as one of
the responsible advisers of the governor—native minister,
he believed, he was called. He believed it was the attempt
to compel the recusants to sell their lands that led to this
war, and he would ask whether Mr. Richmond was an im-
partial and trustworthy adviser of the crown under such
circumstances. Last year the Government themselves pro-
posed a bill having for its object to establish a council en-
tirely independent of the assembly. The only intelligible
ground on which that measure could be put forward was
that the existing Government could not safely be trusted
in matters affecting the natives. The bill passed their lord-
ships' house, but happily it did not pass the other house of
parliament. He said happily, because though the present
evil was real, the remedy proposed would make the new
state of things worse than the first, and bring about a con-
flict of authorities which would make all further Govern-
ment perfectly impossible. It was admitted by her Majesty's
Government themselves that there existed just ground of
complaint amongst the natives, and was their remedy merely
the sending out of troops to compel the natives to submit to a
government which it was admitted was bad and unjust? He
trusted not. Ho implored of them to adopt other mea-
sures. It seemed to him that they ought without delay to
take measures to redress the grievances of the native in-
habitants of New Zealand—that they ought to take every
means in their power to conciliate them and to put
an end to this war. Why not send out Sir G. Grey,
whom they knew and in whom they had confidence,
armed with full and ample powers to meet the emergency ?
lle believed Sir G. Grey was a person of too much public
spirit, and took too deep an interest in the welfare of a
population for whom he had already done so much, to
refuse this sacrifice—great as he believed it would be—if
he was asked to make it. But in the present state of
affairs ho ought to bo armed with very great powers.
Nothing less than a suspension of the representative system
for three years, and depriving the council of the authority
which it derived from the Crown, for the same period,
would be sufficient for this purpose. He believed that the
presence of Sir G. Grey in the colony, armed with full
legislative and executive powers, would be worth the pre-
sence of 10,000 troops, and that at no distant day he would
be enabled to restore peace to the colony. And when peace
was rest'ored the system of representation could be brought
into operation again, but not with those defects which ex-
perience had proved to exist, or without those changes
which were required. He believed those changes were not
numerous, and might be easily accomplished. If the
governor were made responsible for the impartial admini-
stration of the executive government ; if men of experi-
ence in the colony were appointed as his advisers, and
held office as long as they properly discharged their
duties ; if at the same time a moderate and fixed
appropriation were made for the necessary expenses of the
GVYGIIIIIICLb, Loa cLuoc La/Jet:l6 11l when the Maoris were
concerned settled—he believed nothing else would be re-
quired to enable representitive institutions in a compara-
tively short period of time to be re-established with a
prospect of success. If her Majesty's Government declined
to take the more decided course which he pointed out by
suspending during the war the popular government that now
existed, he hoped and trusted they would at least make such
changes and modifications in the government as he had
described, and as he believed would conduce to the restora-
tion of tranquillity. lie knew it might be said that
having once conferred representative government on New
Zeeland, they could not now recall it or modify it. It
was held that no less than 4,000 or 5,000 British soldiers,
kept up at a large expense by the mother country, and two
or three war steamers were absolutely necessary in order
to enable the colonists of New Zealand to defend themselves
against the natives, and he had received communications to
the effect that the colonists were going to push their claims
further and to ask that the pay of their own militia and the
expense of putting their own force into the field might be
defrayed, not from the colonial, but from the imperial tree-
sexy. lie did not deny that in the present state of the
colony it was necessary that the British settlers should be
assisted by the mother country c he was indeed persuaded
that it was absolutely impossible for them to bring the war
to a satisfactory close by their unaided effort, and therefore
he did not object to the employment of a sufficient number
of British troops for the purpose without any charge being
made upon the colony. But if her Majesty's Ministers and
Parliament were to undertake the defence of the settlers
against the natives, they must also undertake the reg,ula-
lion of the policy to be for the future pursued towards the
natives, in order that the generosity of the mother country
should nct he abused, and that the powers given to, the
settlers should not be applied to purposes for which they
were not intended. Could it for a moment be contended
that it was just and reasonable either to the native inhabi-
tant of New Zealand or to the British taxpayer that the I
colonists in the island were on the one hand to retain the
undisputed management of the affairs of the colony, while
on the other they were to be freed from the burden of a war
which their oppression and mismanagement had brought
about? If the colonists were told thatte they must manage
h
their own affairs as well as defendthey would
have the strongest inducement to keep
omeles
nsthve beat terms with
their barbarous neighbours ; but if the mother
nintarnyaugne-.. der took their defence while the colonists
retained ter°
mont of their own affairs, there would net be the same secu-
rity for the maintenance of peaceful relations
na-
tives. If, however, under the partial authority of the
Crown, the government of the colony were administeredtfhe
the benefit of the natives as well as of the Europeans,
jus-
tice and forbearance would be enforced ; but if the Govern-
molt were left to the colonists themselves, they took away
the only effective check upon that selfishness from which he
was afraid human nature was never exempt. These were
the reasons which induced him to complain of the measure
now submitted to their lordships, as one which was entirely
inadequate to meet the present circumstances of the case,
and ho thought the second reading of the bill afforded a
legitimate opportunity for expressing to the house his con-
viction that her Majesty's Government could not safely
leave those matters as they were at present. If the Govern-
ment did not take a more comprehensive view of the ques-
tion than they had hitherto done they might be sure that
before this war was brought to a close hundreds, and per-
haps thousands, of the lives of British soldiers would be
sacrificed, millions of money would be expended, and in all
probability in the end they would be only able to restore
tranquillity by a war of extermination—a struggle which
would bring many English settlers to beggary, and compel
them
to seek in other climes the peace and prosperity which
they could not find in New Zealand.
Lord LYTTELTON was satisfied with the steps the Go-
vernment had taken upon this subject, approved of the de-
spatches they had transmitted to the colony since the out-
break of the war, and did not complain of the bill which the
noble duke had introduced,
gliee,n the however,
evneenrtauirae
assembly
et
mo
b l
ex-
press a hope that the powers iv
would be more guarded than t hey had been hitherto. He
did not concur with the noble earl that the constitution
of
New Zealand was erroneous in principle. He sympathised
with the Governor and Government in the extreme hosti-
lity they had met with for some time past on the part of al-
mostm all the leading ecclesiastical authorities in the colony,
all
t
regarded as a very unfortunate circumstance.
The work of uolonesa' tion and the work of evangelisation, E 0
far from being naturally mutually auxiliary, were sometimes
mutually obstructive' and indeed the best fields for colonise
Lion were where there no naive inhabitants. What a
semi-savage race requiredwas a great deal of government,
but the effect of what we had done in Now Zealand had
been to destroy such govertur antformerly existed, and t
substitute vety government as
at all
of Now Zealand dated from the colonial The colonisation
1
Aug.administration of
Lord Normanby, who in his despatch of
that cannibalism, human saerifice,, warfaforreclesan,tdlB39, Eaid
murder
couvtensioofrasr.
amongst the natives must be put down by
from this policy having been acted upon, the
general had always maintained that force could not be em-
plc} ed with effect in the repression of murder and warfare.
They had notice of these things in the -colony for a long.
tine past, There arose what was called the native king