Conclusion.

The British Government, it is said, only gives up the administration of Native affairs to the Colonists because they cannot be managed with justice from a distance. But surely they ought not to relinquish this duty, unless it is willingly accepted by an united Colony, and unless the Colonial Office is satisfied that the hands to whom it is for the future entrusted are equal to the undertaking. It has been clearly shewn that no such union exists, and that it is a farce for the Weld Ministry to talk about dispensing with the British troops, and making war with Colonial resources.

It is not merely that Mr. Weld's position as Minister is entirely dependent on his leaving the South in the free enjoyment of their territorial revenue, but that the South absolutely refuses to accept the unlimited responsibility of managing native affairs.^*

According to the best informed, further outbreaks are sure to occur if any attempt is made to carry out the new measures of the Weld Ministry, and if they do occur, what would be the resources of the Colony if the South, in addition to the opposition of the North, refused to vote further supplies. The best commentary on the present state of things is the fact that, although the responsible ministry have succeeded in gaining absolute power and moulding the Governor to their own purposes, they will not accept the responsibility of directing him to send away all the troops, and that they are pleased to permit him to write letters to the Home authorities requesting assistance in raising monies, for which, although urged to do so by the Duke of Newcastle, they are not willing to pledge all the resources of the Colony. The dispute between Sir George Grey and Sir Duncan Cameron in truth afforded the

^* Sec Postcript.

page 31 "Weld Ministry an excellent opportunity, of which they have not been slow to avail themselves.^*

The Times may say "that a Colonial Governor is not a mere machine to be played upon by a colonial administration, and that it is his duty to use his authority so as to reconcile opposing forces, and to keep the Government of the Dependency placed under his care within the limits of the law,"^† But Sir George Grey will say that the executive had its own battles to fight, and that "self-preservation is the first law of nature," besides, being now free from Imperial instructions, he may ask with the unhappy colonists, "Pray what is the Law?"

The plain answer seems to be that the Colonists of New Zealand, unless Parliament interferes, are about to be handed over to a state of anarchy, in the shape of an unworkable constitution, with responsibilities never contemplated, and which the majority are unwilling to accept, and that, whether English or Native, they are to be left to fight out their difficulties as best they can.

"When in 1856 the mere chance of the seat of Government being removed from Auckland to "Wellington was adverted to by Governor Browne, the present Lord Taunton, then at the head of the Colonial Office, immediately suggested that "in such a contingency resort must be had to arliament to give the chief of the executive department in the North sufficient independence of action."^‡ How much more is it now necessary that Parliament should be consulted on the whole subject of responsible government in New Zealand, when the North, where the mass of the native population is congregated, is now and has been for the last ten months absolutely left, in a time of war, without any executive establishment or Government at all.

The memorial of the New Zealand Government in 1845, the four

^* See Postscript.

^† Times, 17th November, 1865.

^‡ Despatch 10th December, 1856; New Zealand Papers, July, 1861.

page 32 Petitions of the Provincial Council of Auckland, of the 29th December, 1853, 18th of May, 1855,^* 1858, and 1862, together with the memorial or petition of 7,920 adult male inhabitants of the Province, have distinctly brought before the view of the Home Government the opinion of the Northern settlers that the present Constitution "cannot be made productive of good government to any portion of the Colony."

The evil results predicted by them have been more than realized, and, are now threatening to bring about the absolute ruin of the Colony. A full, searching Parliamentary enquiry into the whole of the affairs of New Zealand—civil as well as military—seems to be the only remedy for the present disasters; but if this be refused, because inconsistent with the "mere political link of Sovereignty" theory of Colonial government, and the whole of the British troops are to be withdrawn, the public as well as the colonists, however reluctant, may soon be con-strained to think with Professor Goldwin Smith, that they must look, elsewhere for a solution of their difficulties, and that it is time "this almost invisible filament of political connection should cease to exist."