The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1861.

THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

The following letter appears in a contemporary,
dated Canterbury, New Zealand, March 19 :
" My dear A—,—After our successful struggle
to defeat the Bill of last Session for the manage-
ment of native affairs, you will be anxious to hear
something from me as to the state of the question
at present. It is true my opinion will not carry
much weight with those who think that an inti-
mate acquaintaince with Maori language, customs,
and traditions is essential to any power of govern-
ing or criticizing the government of a native
race. I appeal against this idea, because human
nature is much the same, in all savage races, and
because our Maori authorities here have truly done
nothing—absolutely not propounded an idea, Tuclii.
less enunciated a system for the government of the
natives. I have, however, read all the • itdportant
facts of the case, and have had the opportunity of
conversing with three of the present Ministers acid
others on the subject of this miserable war ; and
certainly, with the strongest disposition to believe
that everything done by Governor-General Gore
Browne and my old friends Mr. Tancred and Mr.
Weld is right, I can only express my sorrow and
dismay at the complicated folly and wickedness of
the present war. I daresay you have paid suffi-
cient attention to the case to know the immediate
cause of the outbreak. Teira wants to sell a piece
of land, only 600 acres, to the Crown ; other natives,
who do not deny Teira's individual title to the laud,
assert their having a sufficient interest to entitle
-them to say he shall not sell his land without their
consent. The Governor asserts his right to buy the
land, and, when the natives try to occupy the land
by force, endeavours to seize it by force. But to
determine the policy of this act, we must look fur-
ther round and to remoter causes. It is not this
miserable patch of land at, the Waitara which has
brought in the noble tribes of the Waikato, or which
is gradually sucking in the whole native race of
New Zealand in a deadly hatred against the Gover-
nor to join in a combined resistance to the Queen's
authority. It is now some three or four years ago
that two distinct movements arose in the native
mind—one, The Land League ;' the other, The
King Movement.' The former had for its object a
combination of all the native chiefs of the Northern
Island to prevent the alienation of any more land
to Europeans, or at least to the Crown. The latter
attempted to set up a Maori king to rule over the
Maori race. The two movements were the emana-
tion of the same feeling in the native mind—a
growing consciousness of the decay of their
race, and a sense of the fact that their lands
were the only means left of holding their own
against the European. All the authorities witness
to a most remarkable desire having arisen in the
native mind for something like social and politi-
cal institutions—some civil organisation which
should save the race from extinction. Now this re-
markable state of mind in a savage race is, so far as
I know, unprecedented; and the first most important
fact to be noticed is that it was from the first re-
garded with hostility by the Governor and the
Native Department. It is quite painful to read the
despatches of Governor Browne on this subject, and
most difficult to understand how men who pretended
to understand and guide the native mind could stand
idly and stupidly gazing at the menacing meteor
which blackened all the horizon,' and should have
regarded that with dislike and fear which they
ought at once to have seized as the hope and pro-
mise of new life for this noble and gallant race.
They ought to have welcomed this longing for social
order as the signal for the most strenuous efforts to
introduce some sort of government among the
Maoris. You are no doubt not aware, as lam sure
the English generally are not, that what we have
actually done for the natives amounts to almost
nothing. There is nothing in the shape of law or
government throughout the greater part of the
North Island. The Queen's writ will not run, nor
would any magistrate attempt to issue a writ in the
greater part of the native districts. There is no
power to stop, nor any attempt to stop, native wars
or native murders. And the only law is the law of
the old native justice of revenge, modified by the
local and personal influence of the resident mission-
aries. Now, I say the remarkable rise of these
leagues among the natives indicated a longing for a
higher species of justice, which the English Govern
ment ought to have hailed and sprung at as the
occasion for extending English law and social dis-
cipline.

" Now, I urge this point on you because when
the Government is anxious to prove that the
struggle is not a land question, but a question of
the Queen's supremacy, it should be known that
the Queen's supremacy was really little under-
stood, and indeed had no existence. We have sub-
mitted to the Queen's supremacy being disputed
and insulted in every way. We never interfered
when our old ally, Rawin, was murdered for mea-
suring out land which he had sold to the Crown.
On the contrary, the acting Governor actually
shook hands with Katalow, his murderer. Again,
we did not interfere when Katalow was murdered ;
on the contrary, his murderer is the right hand
man of the army at Taranaki at this moment—so
I hear. We stood by unmoved when old Potatu
was elected King, and never intimated that such a
step was an invasion of the rights of the Crown.
But the moment the case is one in which our inte-
rests are affected—a question of whether we shall
have land or not—then, for the first time, we awake
to a sense of the importance of the Queen's supre-
macy, and make war to assert our loyalty and pro-
tect our pockets.
" Looking back, therefore, to the origin, not of
the war itself, but of the state of the native mind,
which-has resulted in war, I can but lament over
the sad feebleness and incompetence which have
landed us in a position out of which war was the
only honourable egress. You must clearly realise
this, that the land quarrel at the Waitara is a mere
hook on which the war hangs, all the tribes and
chiefs flocking now into the war, for it is painfully
true now that there is every likelihood of its be-
coming general ; they all care nothing about the
mere Waitara question. The root of the matter is
that the Governor has persuaded them during the
last few years that it cares nothing for them ; that
the Governor is for the European, and the Maori
may die out and get out of the way as soon as he
likes. It is indisputable that that is the conviction
on the native mind, and so he says, with mournful
gallantry—' It is a good death to die on the field
of battle,' better that than see his race rot away. I
cannot say how, but I do say that is the result of
Governor Browne's policy ; and yet this war has
shown that the Maori possesses every noble virtue
which should have rendered war impossible by ren-
dering him fit to amalgamate with the higher race
—love of race, love of country, undeniable courage,
perseverance, endurance, and great intelligence.
One cannot but feel that as countrymen one ought
to be proud of them; but if we had really joined
them to us they would be better defenders to the
island than a host of English troops. As labourers
and consumers they would be equivalent to
50,000 immigrants. And I am quite certain
that these natives might have been united and
civilised easier and more cheaply than they will be
conquered or destroyed. You will ask me What
remedy ?' I say, Make peace, if peace can be made
on honourable terms.' You say, 'On what terms ?'
First, I say this war ought to be removed from the
miserable Waitara quarrel. The Government here
has never explained its policy to the natives. For
all it has ever said is, as soon as it has got this dirty
little 600 acres and fortified it the war ought to be
at an end on one side. But the state of affairs would
justify the Government in makinglhe war the oc-
casion of a large policy. I would say, I offer you
ylfoupreoawcen,
dlisgtirvioetsyouusththeeEpuorwopeuranosf
You shall have native provinces, with
nlnmenta ; and if you choose to prohibit
peacendoat makingiinve
tohur
el
oai wrirws
ea laws

the sale of land to the Europeans, you shall have

full power to do so; your laws, like the Europeans,

being subject to veto by the Governor. But you
shall agree to have law—English law—administered

,hrough the whole districts, and magistrates ap-

pointed, who shall execute justice. But on the other
hand, if war, then we no longer fight as if we were
beating the air. By your own laws the conquered
party forfeits his lands. By English law subjects

_ ..
who make war on the Queen forfeit their property.

Any tribe found in arms against the Queen will
forfeit all its lands; we will take them, and drive

out the natives, and, if necessary, exterminate them.
To fight about these lands first and buy them after-
wards is an absurdity.' Above all, I believe it ab-

solutely necessary to change that abominable policy

of making the Government the sole purchaser of
lands from the natives. Whenever it is proposed

tallow individuals to buy from the natives directly,
the answer always is, The native titles are so com-
plicated that disputes and wars would result.' The
answer is complete—the natives never have disputed
the titles to land sold or given by them to the old
settlers, while the Government system has twice
landed us in a native war. The system of individual

purchase could not act more unfortunately than the
Government system. The evils of the present sys-
tem are manifold. Foremost, the Government is

mainly known to the natives, not as the symbol
of power and honour and social law and order, but
as a touter for land. The Commissioner, who is
the representative of Government, is always going
about the country, poking his nose into every na-
tive dispute, in the hope that it may result in his

being able to buy some land of them. And so the

attitude of Government towards the natives is That

of a perpetual suppliant for land. Again, the Go-
vernment is trying to buy this land for pence per
acre, and selling it for shillings and pounds an acre.
The natives are most justly dissatisfied with this,

and think it odd and hard that the European Go-
vernment shall get their land and the greatest part
of its price at the same time. Of course there is an
explanation of this, but what I am saying is, it is
not one patent or satisfactory to the native mind.
Again, and this is the feature of the Waitara case,
where the Government is the purchaser and the

native the seller, where is the court or arbitrator,

or third independent party, in case of dispute ? This
is exactly the position the Crown ought to fill, and

cannot fill. If individuals bought land of the na-
tives, getting a Crown grant of course when the
purchase was complete, the Governor would occupy
the position of being arbitrator in the case, and of

standing by and seeing fair play. I can see no
difficulty ,in having courts for the purpose of inves‘
tigating and allowing all such sales, and registering
them; and if the natives were, as they ought to be,

truly represented in such courts, you would hear no
more of Land Leagues and Ring Movements. I

venture to suggest, then, the remedies for New
Zealand. First, native provinces, with a govern-

ment by chiefs and councils, with a European resi-

dent at each government, something similar to the
residents at the Indian Courts ; these governments
direct sales and the land
sales of land to
to have
if talunisy,disspeoeseahl
dolyf the lands,
Europeans, with courts, partly native, to investi-
gate and register such sales and issue Crown
grants. Thirdly, the establishment of native ma-
gistrates' courts to administer the law, with a small
military force, if necessary. I will notice one fea-

ture in this policy which would make it palatable
to the European, and would probably obtain it the

assent of the Assembly. I think many English
who are well known to the natives, and liked by
them, would go and settle in the far interior of the

country, and would buy land there, so that in time
the whole island would be dotted over by English
settlers, and the race would become gradually but
rapidly mixed, and the ' native provinces' would
gradually become European. That process which

went on all round .the New Zealand coasts when
the old whalere and settlers lived on the closest
terms of friendship with the Maoris would go on in
every pah in the country. The operation of the
present law is to maintain a barrier between the
two races. Sound policy would aim at amalgama-
ting them.

" But, to come down to the present war. lam
not satisfied of its justice or its policy. First, of its
justice. The validity of the purchase is doubtful.
It is by no means certain that the tribe and the
chiefs have not such an interest in land as to pro-
hibit the sale even where the title is admitted to
belong to an individual. At all events, there was
a'case of doubt, and it is solved by the purchaser
by brute fort 3, not by any independent Court. That
is very foreign to my notions of justice.
Secondly, I am not satisfied that, pending the

time when British law is actually introduced into
any part of the island, the natives have not a right
to make laws and regulations for themselves. It is
not sufficient to proclaim English law. It must be
actually introduced. The most similar case I know
of is that of Ireland. For centuries after the nomi-
nal introduction:of English law, the Brehon law
practically was the law of the land over a great
portion of the island. Here we allow Maori
custom and law full rule. We allow of the
justice of revenge, of open murder, right
enough under Maori law, and do not interfere,
showing that English law has never been intro-
duced. Now, if this be so, lam not satisfied that
the chiefs of the tribes, or of clusters of tribes,

have not power to make a rule restraining the in-
dividuals of the tribe from alienating their lands.
Is it, then, ever right to raise up these devils of war
in a case admittedly doubtful? If war is always a
sad remedy even in the best of causes, surely in a
doubtful case like this it becomes a dreadful crime.
But as a matter of policy it was not necessary. We
all know how fluctuating are the natives in these
matters. The 600 acres, which will cost the British
nation now about £2,000 or £3,000 an acre, might

have been bought next year, perhaps for a tenth
part of as many farthings, and the work of civilisa-

tion remained unimpeded. I should go down to the
grave with a heavy heart had I made such a war in
such a cause.

" But, above all change of policy, let us do away
with this abomination of allowing the Governor to
manage native affairs. Can you believe for a mo-
ment that, if the Assembly had had uncontrolled
power in native affairs, and had to pay the whole of
the expenses, this wicked war would ever have hap-
pened? It is most amazing to me how the English
can for one instant stand the intolerable grievance
of allowing a Governor on a distant station to ex-
tract one or two millions of money out of their
pockets at his own caprice. Do we govern the na-
tive policy, or do you ? If we de, I venture to say
we would not allow the Governor one sixpence
until we had counted the cost, and unless he had
consulted the Assembly before he dragged it into a
war. If you do really direct the native policy, why
don't you compel your Governor to write home
for instructions before taking the step which in-
duces the war? But ycu let him do that which
is actually a commencement of war at his own dis-
cretion. He gets the British flag insulted, and then
you are compelled to avenge the insult. The Go-
vernor ought to have written home distinctly and
said, The military occupation of the Waitara will
lead to a war costing two or three millions; shall I
occupy it or not P' While, then, you must in justice
pay for this war, it would serve us right to make
us pay for it. The whole colony is for war, war,
war- But really their voices go for nothing unless
they are aware at the time of voting that they will
pay for it. It is a cheap way of being very gal-
lant and warlike when poor Torn, Jack, and Harry,
already overburdened with taxes at home, have to
pay the bill. I should be curious to see the faces of
the House of Representatives if a new Governor
announced to them that they might do as they liked
about native affairs, but that no further funds would
be forthcoming from home. And, indeed, to take
higher grounds, I mourn over the youth of this
nation, which can by no possibility lead to great-

ness. War—that great ordeal of Providence for
culling out the weeds among nations—war is close
to our doors, and with it none of its discipline or its
benefits. Somebody else is fighting, not we; some-
body else pays, not we. It is our cause, but we
fight by proxy, and pay by deputy ; truly, if we
become great we shall have been rocked and dandled
into power."