It is no doubt sufficient for the purpose of fixing on the Imperial Government complete technical responsibility for the late Maori outbreak and its consequences, to have shewn the complete exclusion of the colonists from control over matters affecting the native race; an exclusion not more perfect while New Zealand was a Crown colony than after the rights of self-government were conferred upon its white inhabitants. But the settlers of New Zealand page 30 are not so changed by a few years' absence from the mother country as to evade any responsibility that may be morally theirs because they can prove it to be technically another's. They hold fast by the doctrine that a Government is bound to maintain order among1 and to protect those whom it governs, and to provide any force that may be required for these purposes. Yet they will not shelter themselves under that doctrine if they have themselves caused or contributed to ft breach of the peace which requires force to repress it j or if they have been the means of inducing; the governing" power to take steps which have brought about a mischievous result; or even if without their consent or interference any act involving the employment of force has been done either solely or chiefly for their benefit If the colonists have been partly a cause of the disturbances in. New Zealand, it is certain that they are proportionately responsible for the consequences; but the burden of proof that this was so lies now with the other side. The common notion that the colonists are answerable because the affair happened in the colony cannot be sustained. If the New Zealand war has been the result of bad government of the natives, it is only one of many excuses for those whose duty it was to govern well to say that the colonists by their acts made government difficult. If it be argued that the Government was overborne by a pressure from without, and so urged into a mistaken policy, that at most is but an page 31 attempt to divide the responsibility. If, again, an injudicious anxiety on the part of the Government to benefit the colonists be put forward as a main cause of the war, the suggestion only imputes blame to those who so little understood what was the best way of performing their peculiar duty. Now the charge against the colonists of complicity in the war takes one or other of these three forms, or is compounded of them in various proportions. Yet it can be shewn that neither as a body nor through their representatives have the colonists taken such a part in bringing about the native disturbances as can cast upon them a real responsibility for the consequences. To shew this it is not necessary to go into any minute detail or to examine any doubtful evidence on the subject. The case of the colonists in this respect, as is the former, rests on broad facts and obvious inferences.

In the year 1853 the Maori tribes were perfectly peaceful throughout the colony. In 1860 the m war began. All the progressive symptoms of disaffection as well as its more immediate causes are to he sought for during the intervening period. At the end of the former year, Governor Sir George Grey left the colony. His policy towards then natives may be called distinctively one of conciliation, but was not unaccompanied by the operations of active government. Resident magistrates were administering justice in native districts. Arms and warlike stores were denied to the aborigines. Land purchase page 32 operations were conducted with great caution. Maori land was offered to Government more freely than funds could be provided for the purchase. And the tribes were in a singular state of peace among themselves. [See Parl Papers, N. Z., July 1860, p. 28.]

At this time, as before stated, the Colonial Office left shew Zealand without a Governor for eighteen months; and then Governor Gore Browne was appointed. Throughout the seven years which ended with the war, the Papers laid before Parliament shew that no advice as to dealings with the natives was offered by Her Majesty's Government. There are certain formal despatches expressing a simple approval of the Governor's acts and views as detailed by himself. And there are parts of two despatches, already quoted, commanding him to reserve all control over native affairs to the. Crown. But the Colonial Office took no part of this control on itself, and left the government of the natives, which it deemed so delicate and important a duty, to the unassisted discretion of its representative in the colony. The task was thrown upon the Governor, but surely all responsibility was not so got rid of.

Before Governor Browne's time, serious difficulties had already arisen. Governor Grey's processes of conciliation and government had been discontinued together. Hostilities had sprung up between two parties of natives near Taranaki, and they had been dealt with after a new policy which may page 33 be distinctively called one of non-interference. One example among many may be quoted. Katatore quarrelled with Rawiri, killed him, and was left to the vengeance of the murdered man's friends. (See below, p. 39). The two men were intimate with the Europeans, and justice might easily have been done. But it had come to be deemed no part of the duty of the Government to do justice between native and native. For tie origin of this policy see Acting-Governor Wynyard's despatches, 2nd November, 1854, and 5th February, 1855. [Papers, March, 1860, pp. 58, 71]. This policy, and the departmental staff which transacted native affairs, were Governor Browne's inheritance. The amalgamation of the native governing department with that of land purchase, which took place in 185G, has been already mentioned. Government was less efficiently conducted and land purchases were less satisfactorily effected after this step. Promises of hospitals, schools, further payments out of the proceeds of land sales, and other advantages, which had been made to natives when they ceded their land, were forgotten or disregarded. At the same time the restrictions on the disposal of arms and ammunition were relaxed. The natives became almost absolved from control. Dislike to a Government which appeared to them a mere bargainer for their property, joined to a deep-rooted jealousy of European advancement into their territory, roused many to oppose any further cession of page 34 lands. At the same time the want of any governing and restraining power from without moved many thoughtful men among them to attempt the constitution of some authority over themselves from within. The two objects harmonized, and were allied to a thoroughly natural desire for the independence of the race. Though many who aimed at more practical objects were far from desiring to overthrow the Queen's nominal sovereignty within their borders, many others of the ambitious and reckless classes urged on the agitation towards this end. The Land League first, and then the (King' movement, were the result. This was the movement the treatment of which by the Government has been already described. It was left alone, in the hope that it would die out, but it spread and grew and soon bore plentiful fruit.

It was at this time, if at all, that the settlers could be charged with stirring up discontent among the natives, making Government difficult, and so contributing to the coming outbreak. But it is remarkable that no feeling of hostility was ever manifested by the natives towards the colonists. The two races continued on the most friendly terms privately, and even in spite of exceptional though frequent, annoyances from individual Maoris, which the law was unable to punish, the settlers in outlying districts remained guiltless of any misconduct. It cannot be maintained, therefore, for an instant, that the settlers irritated the natives and provoked them to a breach of the peace. But if it be said that Go- page 35 vernment was rendered difficult by false reports, inconsiderate suggestions, and comments injurious to the authorities circulating through the press, these cannot be altogether denied, though their influence may be doubted. The difficulty is one which constantly besets a free Government, and is the price which it pays for at least an equivalent support and sympathy from its more thoughtful subjects.

It must be remembered that the agitation called the King movement was attended by no violence, by no exhibition of forcible resistance to constituted authority, nor even by the display of any such intention. It was confined to the strong tribes in the Waikato district, in the interior of the island. The natives in other districts were either still submissive to the Government, or were influenced similarly with the "Waikato tribes without their organization. The latter state of feeling prevailed in the province of Taranaki, where for several years the peace of the country had been broken by feuds between a minority of natives desirous of selling, and a majority whose object was to prevent sales of laud to the Government.

The Governor, finding the settlers at Taranaki page 36 very desirous for more land, assured them of his earnest desire to meet their views, when he could extinguish the native title to land satisfactorily, and without compromising the neutrality which he had determined to observe in all native quarrels, [p. 1.] No language could be calmer on one side or more cautious on the other than that which is recorded as having passed between them. There is no evidence that the settlers were as yet unduly urgent upon the Governor, or that he gave way in any degree to solicitations from without.

The Governor after meeting" the settlers had an interview with the natives; and here we approach the immediate origin of the war. It is necessary to observe carefully what the opinions and intentions recorded at the time were, for subsequent explanations of motives may be thought open to suspicion as influenced by the event.

The Governor says in his despatch of March 29, 1859, (pp. 1, 2) as follows:—

"After this a chief, named Teira, offered some land for sale, which he and his relatives desired to dispose of to the Government, and which, as being situated at the mouth of the Waitara river, on the south bank, will be a valuable acquisition to the province. He pressed for an immediate answer, and I replied that if he could give a satisfactory title I would accept his offer. Another chief rose to object, but when, asked if he had any claim to the land, admitted that he had not. William King then rose, and while asserting no claim to it, said he would never permit that land to be sold; then, waving his hand to his people, page 37 he and they left the meeting with some want of courtesy to myself.

"Since then progress has been made in ascertaining Teira's right to dispose of the land (of which there seems to be little doubt), and, if proved, the purchase will be completed. Should this be the case it will probably lead to the acquisition of all the land south of the Waitara river, which is essentially necessary for the consolidation of the province, as well as for the use of the settlers.

"It is also most important to vindicate our right to purchase from those who have both the right and the desire to sell.

"The right to sell land belonging to themselves without interference on the part of other chiefs (not having a claim to share in it) is fully admitted by Maori custom; any recognition of such a power as that assumed by William King would therefore be unjust to both races, because it would be the means of keeping millions of acres waste and out of cultivation. I have, however, little fear that William King will venture to resort to violence to maintain his assumed right; but I have made every preparation to enforce obedience should he presume to do so. Copies of the instructions I have given to both the civil and military authorities are herewith enclosed.

"I found the settlers extremely anxious that favour should be shown to Ihaiah, the chief with whom William King is at feud, and who has always been a firm friend to the English. His quarrel with King is chiefly because the latter has some claim on the land which he desires to sell, and which King will neither yield nor sell.

"I have, however, declared my firm determination to remain entirely neutral in this and all other Native feuds, and to purchase no land without the consent of all who have a claim on it."

And that portion of his address to the natives (enclosed in the despatch) which bears on the subject was as follows:—

"The Governor then said, he had but two subjects on which he desired to speak particularly to the tribes living near Taranaki, and they were,—First, in reference to criminal offences; second, in reference to land. He wished these subjects to be considered separately, and as having no sort of reference to each other-He observed that the tribes in the vicinity of Taranaki have greater advantages than most others, as they are much intermixed with the Pakeha, and ought to profit by their intercourse with them. If they chose to live peaceably and cultivate their lands they would grow rich and multiply, instead of which they were constantly at war with each other, and their numbers were decreasing. Their disputes were almost always about matters of little or no importance, or about land which was not worth quarrelling for. The Governor then said that had he been in New Zealand when Katatore slew Rawiri, he would have had him arrested and brought before the Judge, and, if the Judge had sentenced him to be hanged, he would have caused him to be hanged; that he had not thought proper to arrest Ihaiah, because though the murders to which he was a party were horrible and disgraceful, yet they admitted of some extenuation, inasmuch as they were committed in retribution for the murder of Rawiri. All this, however, now belongs to the past; but, for the future, he had determined that every man (whether he be Maori or Pakeha) who may commit any violence or outrage within the European boundaries shall be arrested and taken before the Judge, and the sentence of the Judge, whatever it may be, shall be carried into effect. He was determined that the peace of the settlers should no longer page 39 be disturbed by evil-doers, and that those Maoris who are not content to live in peace among the Pakehas had better go elsewhere. Id reference to the second subject, the Governor said he thought the Maoris would be wise to sell the land they cannot use themselves, as it would make what they could use more valuable than the whole; but that he never would consent to buy laud without an un-disputed title. He would not permit any one to interfere in the sale of land unless he owned part of it; and, on the other hand, he would buy no man's land without his consent,"

In the time of Acting-Governor Wynyard, a piece of land at Taranaki bad been ofered to the Land Purchase Department by a native named Rawiri and his friends. Preliminaries being arranged, and it being known that another part of natives would oppose the sale, the Government officer did not un-dertake the survey, but sent the fellers themselves to lay out the block. "When the survey party went about their work, the opposing natives, headed by their chief Katatore, fired upon them and killed Rawiri. The Government refused to interfere. A bitter feud sprang up between the two parties, lasting several years; during which among other atrocities, Ihaia, the friend of be deceased Kawiri, page 40 plotted and effected the death of the murderer Katatore. [Parl. Papers, July, 1860, pp. 41,72, et seq.]

The Governor as we have seen expressed his views upon Teira's offer at once. He placed first on record an opinion on the point whether the land was worth purchasing" at a price for general purposes: secondly, a desire that as much land as possible should be removed from being" the subject of native quarrels: and thirdly, a determination that, if Teira should prove the real owner, no self-constituted authority should interfere to rob him of his right to sell and receive the value. Therefore the investigation was ordered to proceed.

With the nature of the investigation and the decision arrived at I have no concern, further than that the colonists, from the Ministry downwards, had nothing to say to it; they could not control the officers of the department nor interfere in any way with their work. The decision was to be arrived at on the responsibility of the Imperial Government alone, and therefore the enquiry was left in the hands of its own officers. The investigation was completed by January 1860, and resulted in favour of Teira's claim.

By this time the intentions of the Governor had been submitted to and approved of by the Secretary of State (p. 259). The settlers bad made no demonstration whatever. If they wanted the land they had at least self-control enough to leave the Governor and the department to the execu- page 41 tion of their duties. If it be asserted that any pressure was "brought by the settlers to have the title to the land at the Waitara declared good for purchasing;, the assertion is not true.

The Governor then, satisfied of Teira's right, paid part of the purchase money and ordered a survey (p. 5). Even at that time he so far expected opposition as to prepare for the display of force. It is most important to note that in this very first mention of force the Governor gives his reason for proposing-to employ it. He says—"Though always ready to consider every reasonable objection, I am not the less determined to enforce Her Majesty's right to deal with her own subjects without hindrance from any one not having a legitimate interest in the transaction." The desirability of obtaining a good bit of land, which was a good reason amongst others for entering upon the negotiation, was no reason, actual or professed, for the employment of force. Governor Browne henceforth stated his motive to be the assertion of Her Majesty's authority. The bit of land might be the occasion but it was not to be the cause of war.

Having satisfied himself of the correctness of Teira's title to the land, and believing that the right to sell would be opposed by the chief, Wiremu Kingi, Governor Browne consulted the Executive Council, which included the members of the Colonial Ministry. The minutes of the meeting are on record (p. 6,) and shew that the views of the page 42 Governor were fully concurred in by the Council. The determination was taken to survey the land j to support the survey by a military force if necessary; to hold the land in the same way j and in the event of serious opposition to call out the militia and volunteers, and to proclaim martial law in the district.

It is not necessary to explain the concurrence of the Ministry in this determination. The facts speak for themselves. The Governor had in his own person, a year previously, taken the first steps in the matter, foreseeing-the issue which had now come about. He now took the opinion of his Council, as he was bound to do, and it agreed with his own. There is no doubt about what his own opinion had been all along j and there is as little doubt that had his own opinion been otherwise, and had his Council recommended this course, e mero motu, he would have been as little induced to give way to them as he had been on all former occasions. This was one of many instances, no doubt, of unanimity in opinion. In the present instance it was clearly arrived at by the acquiescence of the Ministry and not by any yielding of the Governor, Whether the determination thus taken was the wisest possible, or an error of judgment on both sides, does not alter their relative positions in any degree. There is no evidence that the Colonial ministry did more than adopt the Governor's plan. They cordially supported his Excellency in asserting the Queen's authority; hoping that the question of sovereignty might be deter- page 43 mined once for all, and order restored and maintained to the ultimate advantage (f both races. That I am not imagining motives for the Ministry is shewn by the following passages from Mr. C. W. Richmond's minute of May 35, 186(, the whole of which is worth reading:—

"The insinuation that the war is one of aggrandisement, that it is undertaken for the sake of acquring territory, is quite untrue. The proceedings which hive led to it were under the immediate superintendence am" control of the Governor. His Excellency will confirm the statement that those proceedings were not, at any stage, urged upon him, or so much as suggested to him, by Ms responsible Ministers. Nor was there, previously to the commencement of the war, any manifestation of public feeling on the subject of the dispute between the Governor and Wm. King. It would be absurd to suppose that his Excellency could be actuated by the motive imputed. And it must appear almost equally improbable, to any person who calmly reflects on the matter, that the colonists, or their representatives, should willingly incur the risks and submit to the sacrifices of a Maori war for the sake of a few hundreds of acres in the least important province of New Zealand. Other motives must be sought for to explain the general support which his Excellency has received in the colony upon the present occasion." * * * *

"On behalf of their fellow settlers, his Excellency's Ministers would represent to Her Majesty's Imperial Government, that the grand desire of the British colonists in respect to the natives is, not the appropriation of the native territory, still less the destruction of the race, but it is to see the Maori people rendered amenable, in their dealings with the settlers, to British law. The restless instinct of page 44 progress, the.love of wealth, the hatred of race, are all no doubt motives at work in the country, and against the indulgence or the excess of these strong passions the Government is bound to be upon its guard. But stronger, and more universal, and more inevitable than all these feelings, is the desire which animates the public mind, that all the inhabitants of New Zealand should be subjected, in their mutual dealings, to the control of one equal law. This is a natural and praiseworthy desire, and, if duly regulated, must be conducive to the good as much of the natives as of the colonists." * * * *

The rest of the story may be briefly told. On the 20th of February, 1860, the survey of Teira's land was attempted by a small unarmed party, under the orders of the District Land Purchase Commissioner, but was put a stop to by a crowd of Kingi's page 45 people. The Governor himself came to Taranaki in consequence, He warned Kingi and all the natives not to attempt to oppose his orders. He finally determined to carry the survey by a military force, and on the 5th of March troops were moved down to the spot from the town of New Plymouth. The next day a small pa (fortification of palisades) was erected by the opposing natives, and some carts carrying; supplies were stopped by them on the road. But on summons the pa was evacuated, and the carts were allowed to pass. The survey was completed, and the boundaries marked out. On the night of the 15th of March, another pa was erected by the insurgents on the purchased land, and the survey sticks pulled up and burnt. On the 17th a summons was sent to the occupants of the new pa, but it was not listened to. Fire was accordingly opened by the troops, and on the 18th the pa was evacuated by the insurgents (pp.21, 22). This was the actual beginning of the war. Kingi obtained reinforcements, and so did the troops; the fighting; went on with little advantage, if any, on the side of the military. Further reinforcements quickly came over from Australia, and Kingi sought and obtained the help of the powerful Waikato tribes, by joining the King movement and handing over the land in dispute to be dealt with by the Maori Confederation. The war now became a national contest, and soon there was scarcely a district in the island where the natives could be relied upon as certain to remain friendly. The consequences exist to this day.

The proceedings of Governor Browne in going to war and in prosecuting" it were approved or by the Secretary of State. [See Despatches, 23, May 1860 26, June 1860 26 Sept. 1860. and 27 Nov., 1860, amongst others.] The policy of the war and the conduct of the Governor have never been objected to: but the expense was condemned as soon as it was felt.

Summing up the results obtained, I assert:—First, that the colonists are not technically responsible for the war and its consequences.