As the war was not begun for the special benefit of the Colonists still less was it meant for their defence. In fact there was no danger to defend them against: there was no such prospect of invasion as is commonly supposed to attend settlers on the frontiers of savage tribes. What the settlers did feel was the want of power in the law to punish individual native offenders who acted from time to time as evil disposed persons among even civilized nations will act where the law cannot reach them. A policeman and a magistrate were all the force wanted to repress the sort of crime that was committed in the place.

The Government nevertheless would have been blamable had they counted upon this good disposition of the natives as sufficient protection for the country. A small force had been maintained accordingly at Taranaki and at each of the chief settlements in the North Island; but it was never made use of. And even before Taranaki was furnished with a regular force, the settlers were required to organize themselves as volunteers and were rendered liable to be called out as militia. When the war began, the volunteers and militia page 48 of Taranaki were at once called out for active service. Some who have spoken of the colonists with a sneer may perhaps be surprised into a compliment when they learn that these settlers—the whole active male population of the province—flew to arms at the call, and fought side by side with the Queen's troops, not for the defence of their property or their families, but for the support of Her Majesty's authority, Compelled to abandon their homes in the country, to send their women and children away to another province, to serve in the field and in garrison along with but as subservient to the troops of the line, they behaved gallantly through-out, endured danger and hardship willingly, even after their whole property had been sacrificed, and spilled their blood freely with no prospect of better reward than to be turned adrift paupers into the wilderness when the war should end. I cannot resist the temptation to quote here the words of an independent eye-witness. Captain Cracroft, R.N., who, being in command of Her Majesty's ship "Niger" throughout the war, distinguished himself by leading the attack on the Waireka pa., one of the few successes of the British arms during the campaign. In an address to a body of English volunteers, after his return from the Colony, the newspapers report that—

"Captain Cracroft, R.N., said he could not express to them the pleasure he felt in meeting the Volunteers of England, and this was the first time he had had that honour. He page 49 had met Volunteers elsewhere, for wherever the English flag was planted there the noble spirit that had actuated the Volunteers of England was found to exist. There was now no colony which owned England for its parent with out its Volunteers-It had been his privilege to see them brought into action on a late occasion in New Zealand, and when he said they were the first in the field, and the first to face the enemy, and had shown the way to the Regulars and the Militia, he felt he need say no more—that he could award them no higher praise. When called upon they were in their places, as those before him would be, should their hour of trial ever arrive. He (Captain Cracroft) had been brought side by side with the Volunteers in New Zealand, and had found as much honour and bravery among them as among his own men, who regarded them as brothers, and would have done anything for them."

It is absolutely true not only that the New Zealand war was not for the defence or the special benefit of the settlers, but that it converted the settlement where it was carried on into a battle-field held by the enemy; and brought upon that the colonists, who for twenty years had been struggling to build up their fortunes there, the total destruction of their hard-earned property. Whatever annoyance might have been anticipated from the lawless character of individual natives, it is certain that nothing short of the declaration of war could have brought such a catastrophe as this upon the settlement. Nor can it be urged that the colonists of Taranaki entered upon the war without foreseeing its consequences. Before its declaration, but expecting it, they had already page 50 removed their families from the country to the town; and when they applauded and supported with all their vigour Governor Browne's attempt to maintain the Queen's sovereignty, they had already made up their minds to the coming sacrifice. [Parl. Papers, March, 1861, pp. 8-10.] Three weeks be fore the first shot was fired the settlers had left their homes, and presented themselves for enrolment as militia and volunteers..

In Auckland the settlers were charged with the entire defence of the town and settlement. They mustered in great strength, and were quickly available for active service in the field. But throughout the campaign, though the war raged in a neighbouring province, and the ranks of the rebels were recruited from the borders of Auckland, the citizen forces were never called upon to strike a single blow. With remarkable forbearance, the insurgents, savages though they were, and engaged in a bloody and desperate struggle with the Government, left unhurt the persons and property even of the out lying settlers who were all the time completely at their mercy. Only in Taranaki, the authorised battle-field, where martial law (the 'law of fighting' as it was translated to them) had been proclaimed, did the natives think themselves privileged to pillage and kill.

The settlements of Napier, Wellington, and Wanganui, on the eastern and southern shores of the North Island, were similarly exposed to danger, page 51 similarly defended, and in the same manner left unattacked. Though it would have been madness to calculate on such immunity, yet tie result proves the truth of the feeling often expressed by the natives that their hostility was against the Government and not against the settlers. Even the most savage and dastardly of the tribes slewed this feeling._ [See amongst other passages. Parl. Papers, March 1861,p.14.]

As soon as the pressure of probable danger ceased, the movement for self-defence naturally lapsed into that state which it has assumed in other countries under similar conditions. Its vitality would be aroused at the first note of warning, and in real danger it would resume at least its first appearance of vigour. But a whole population in a colony, as elsewhere, cannot always remain under arms. The smallness of their numbers, and the difficulty of mustering any force of consequence at a central point, hinder their general employment as an offensive force. Readiness on the part of the New Zealand colonists to enrol and train themselves cannot be questioned. And with the case of Taranaki as evidence, their willingness and ability to fight even for other purposes than self-defence is well established. It is absurd therefore to assert that the settlers wish to shirk the duty of defending themselves.

So far from the settlers demanding the help of the British troops tor their purposes, it is the fact that they gave their assistance to the Imperial Go- page 52 vernment in the furtherance of its objects. And the Government, having" got their help, would not let it go. Their houses might burn, their families might starve or go into exile, all they were worth in the world might be swept away before their eyes; but they were soldiers of the Crown and might not stir. They were not permitted to take measures for defending their property: they were prevented from disposing of the produce of their lands while it was still removable; and down to the date of the latest news from the colony, they have even been forbidden to go upon their own lands, for fear of embarrassing the Imperial military policy ! By which side then is a debt due to the other for assistance rendered during the war ?

To the assertion that troops are now quartered in New Zealand and maintained there at the expense of the British tax-payer, for the protection of the settlers, the reply is simple. In time of peace their protection is not wanted j and in time of war the troops, judging from the past, are otherwise fully employed. A slender garrison is all that can be alleged to have ever been even intended for defensive purposes.

It will probably be asked, why then are the troops kept there, since now the war is over ? First, because the exhibition of force is needed for the restoration of government among the natives by pacific measures, of which I shall say more hereafter: secondly, because the war begun in 1800 is not yet ended. The practical result of the first cam- page 53 paign is that the rebels took possession of the lands of the Crown and the settlers, and still hold them. Even supposing that it is not thought convenient to punish the rebels, the Imperial Government at least knows that they cannot be permitted to maintain a claim to possession by conquest of part of her Majesty's dominions. As it has been put in the colony i—if the war were for the assertion of her Majesty's sovereignty, it has weakened her authority: if it were for the acquisition of land, land has instead been surrendered. The war will not be at an end till the obvious loss sustained in both these respects shall have been retrieved. The Ngatiruanui tribe hold the district of Tataraimaka, in the province of Taranaki, by right, as they say, of conquest from the Crown, effected in 1860. It is impossible that the Imperial Government can allow this to continue until the natives die off the land. And though the Governor may devise means for recovering the territory without appealing to arms, the greater probability is that the force which must be employed in some shape for ejecting the rebel occupants will light up the flame of war afresh throughout the island. While I write, the problem is very probably in course of solution; solved it must be sooner or later; and if the result should prove to be a recourse to arms on both sides, it must not be called a fresh war, but a renewal and direct consequence of the former. These are the reasons why a force is quartered and maintained in the colony.

To the assertion that the colony desires to throw the whole burden of the war upon the mother country; I reply that New Zealand has undertaken a separate war liability of about £660,000; besides an annual payment of about 825,000 for the troops to be employed, and a further annual sum of £35,000 for pacific means of restoring-order. These amounts are exclusive of appropriations for self-defence. In proportion to population (one hundred thousand to thirty millions), the corresponding1 charges upon Great Britain would be about two hundred millions of debt, and fifteen millions of annual grants from revenue. Reference will be made presently to the condition which the Legislature of the colony has attached to these large grants.

Of the assertion that a state of war is encouraged by the colonists for the sake of the expenditure from the Imperial Treasury which accompanies it, I will not speak with the indignation it deserves-Such a calumny is easily uttered, and is generally hard of disproof. It is commonly repeated without consideration, and comes to be believed on no evidence of facts, but merely because it is probable. Whoever utters such a charge against the people of New Zealand shews not only a want of charity towards the absent but an ignorance of plain facts. The war, I have shewn, was most warmly supported by those who had everything to lose by it, and who undertook to lose all, even to life itself. It was also strongly approved of, from its commencement page 55 to the present time, by the great majority of the settlers in the Middle Island, who had nothing to gain by land purchases, and derived as little benefit from commissariat expenditure in the north as if they had been in Australia. The settlers of Auckland, Wellington, and Napier, to whom done it could be imputed that they profited by a was which did not touch themselves, furnished the whole strength of what was called the "peace party" which vehemently opposed Governor Browne's fighting policy. In the foremost ranks of this party were the leading members of the commercial class. Those, therefore, against whom a primâ facie charge might perhaps be said to lie are an insignificant minority.

In the addresses to the Governor from the people. of the Northern Island, [pp. 5357], it is observable that a state of war is delared to be extremely prejudicial to the material interests of the colony. This feeling has, so far as I can judge, Strengthened with the progress of he war. A true explanation of the views of the colonists is to be found, not in the suggestion contained in the charge now made against them, but more probable in one exactly its opposite.

The British public may there for be quite satisfied that little wars will not be excite by their fellow subjects in New Zealand, for any gain to accrue to them from fighting. If the colonist are found again supporting the prosecution of a war within their borders, it will be because they feel as Eng- page 56 lishmen, that a timely exhibition of strength is sometimes necessary for upholding the right and punishing the wrong.