E.—No. 2A.

results good or bad, he alone, as the Representative of the Imperial Government, is responsible for them ; and if the effect be indefinitely to prolong the rebellion, and Ministers firmly believe that such consequences must ensue, the Colonists in reason and justice must be acquitted of all share in bringing about such a disaster. Unfortunately alike for Great Britain, the Colonists, and the Natives, Sir George Grey, in his anxiety about the opinions of the world and the judgment of posterity, shrinks from pursuing the wise and just policy which he himself deemed as necessary to ensure a satisfactory termination of the rebellion. In dealing with the Maoris, weakness and vacillation inevitably produce contempt, and will now revive hopes of success which have been abandoned, and the consequence will be an indefinite prolongation of the rebellion. In a Memorandum of the 2nd of August last, Ministers protested against the introduction of a new form of .Government under which Native affairs would be administered partly by His Excellency and partly by his Advisers. Subsequent experience has fully confirmed Ministers in the views they then gave expression to, and it now appears that Sir George Grey means the division between himself and his Advisers to be made by taking to himself all power in matters of importance, and leaving those of little or no moment to them ; for example, while he deals in his own way with confiscation, surrender of arms, and questions of the like vital importance, against the advice of his Ministers, he will permit his Native Minister to fix a Native Policeman's salary, or determine the cut or colour of his official coat, without unreasonable interference; and this is what His Excellency in a recent Memorandum describes as following the advice of his Ministers in all ordinary matters. It is easy for His Excellency to state that the assurance Ministers required as to the extent of territory to be confiscated was vague, but it is not easy to see how that term can be fairly applied. Ministers asked that there should be included in tho " contemplated cession or forfeiture, land to be disposed of by sale, as well as land to be devoted to the purposes of Military Settlements"; and it is remarkable how very clear these words appear to have been to His Excellency's comprehension when used by the Secretary of State, and how vague they became when adopted by His Excellency's Ministers. It is equally remarkable that when His Excellency is askod for anything definite how readily he finds reasons why he should not be explicit, and how little weight similar reasons are permitted by His Excellency to have when advanced by Ministers. His Excellency declines to give any assurance as to the extent of land which he would require to be ceded; he will not say whether it shall be one or one million acres, but with great pertinacity he urges Ministers to state, not only the extent they would desire to have ceded, but even to define its very locality and boundaries. And it would not be surprising if Ministers have occasionally hesitated to commit themselves to anything very definite, as to what they would do at a future time under circumstances still to arise, as they have felt that the only result would be, as in this instance, not to secure a compliance with their wishes, as His Excellency professes to desire, but to give His Excellency scope for exercising his ingenuity in producing plausible objections to their proposals. It is difficult to understand the object with which His Excellency states his thoughts as to what ho should have to do in order to comply with the idea of his Ministers, when he had at the same time before him a direct statement from them showing clearly that his thoughts were supported by no foundation whatever. The Governor, in conforming to those views, even without the modification which Ministers stated further information might render necessary, would not " have to take the entire native territory of friendly natives and all others in that district" —the district between Taranaki and "VVanganui. Ministers did not propose to take from the natives 600,000 acres between Taranaki and Wanganui, but that quantity in the Provinces of Taranaki and Wellington, being about 500,000 acres in the former, and 100,000 in the latter. The map herewith will show the exact nature of the proposal made, and that if it were carried out, upwards of eighteen hundred thousand acres in the Province of Taranaki would be left in the hands of the natives—not one fourth of the area of the province being included in the cession applied for, and not one sixtieth part of the Province of Wellington. Ministers did not ask for troops to be sent to conquer land, with "no direct and certain object," as His Excellency would lead the Secretary of State to believe was involved in the proposal made by them. What they wished was, to use the words of Mr. Cardwell, " that the position of the Maoris^ as defeated rebels, should be unequivocally exhibited" —all the rest would become easy if this were done. It may be quite true that a great deal of land, of which Ministers desired His Excellency to obtain a cession, might not be available for immediate use ; but Ministers fully believe that less available land than a gross area of 500,000 acres would give, would be insufficient for the location of an adequate number of settlers in the Province of Taranaki to secure the permanent peace of the country. How little the Governor's thoughts about "an average distance of nine miles inland" has to do with the proposal made by Ministers will be seen on reference to the accompanying map, and to their Memorandum of the sth of October. If, as His Excellency says, it is " due equally to the European inhabitants of this country and tho Natives that the aim and scope of the war should be determined, and that it should be known what we required, and the acquisition of what country would bring the war to a close," it might reasonably have been expected that His Excellency would have stated with some precision what extent of territory would satisfy him. But when has he made known what territory he will require? If asked even to fix the extent only, to say nothing of site and boundaries, he rejilies, " such territory as may in each instance be fixed by the Governor and the Lieutenant General commanding Her Majesty's forces in New Zealand," which extent, His Excellency believes, will fulfil all reasonable expectations. It is not very intelligible by what rule either Europeans or Maoris are to measure the minds of these gentlemen in acres, or what is the extent that should fulfil reasonable expectations ; and it is very clear to Ministers that the Maoris will not trust to the measure of confiscation proposed to them unless they are driven to submit unconditionally. sth November, 1864. Tbedk. Whitakee.

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FURTHER PAPERS ON NATIVE POLICY, &c, &c.