Principle of Confiscation approved of.

I do not disapprove of the principle of this measure. I think that any body of Natives which takes up arms against Her Majesty on such grounds as those which are alleged by the Waikatos may properly be punished by a confiscation of their common property. I think that the lands thus acquired may properly be employed in meeting the expenses of carrying on the war, nor do I see any objection to using them as the sites for military settlements, which, moreover, must soon lose their distinctive character, since, it is probable that the Natives of these districts, unlike those in the Cape Colony and Kaffraria, will soon become an unimportant minority of the inhabitants.