«.—No. 5a

PAPERS RELATIVE TO TEE IMPERIAL CLAIM

18

quite exceptional in its character ; yet they shrunk not from the aspect of the possible futur..', when they remembered with gratitude the past exertions of the Crown in suppressing former insurrections against Her Majesty, and when they gathered from abroad that there was not the slightest apprehension that they might be converted into a principal from being only an auxiliary. And what did they find to inspire them with this confidence, and the determination to cordially co-operate with the Imperial Government to the extent of the limited means of the Colony ? They found that the military force in the Colonies in that year amounted to 47,251 men, exclusive of those in the East Indies, and the expenditure to £3,908,599, of which only £378,253 was contributed by the Colonies; or, deducting what may be tamed Military Posts, that 16,000 men were employed, and an expense incurred for defensive purposes of a 1,500,000 ; and further, that at the Cape of Good Hope alone, a Colony which bears a strict resemblance to New Zealand with respect to Native difficulties, the imperial Force amounted to 10,759 regular troop-!, and the Military Expenditure to £830,087, while it refunded only £34,343 ; and this occurred at a time oi exceptional tranquility. They, therefore, felt assured that, though the burden they were about to incur w-as indeed heavy, their efforts would not be unduly taxed. 93. The Colonists entered upon their duty with an earnest desire, by effectual and vigorous co-opera-tion with the Imperial Government, to restore peace and order to the distracted country ; they could not anticipate that in the year 1865-6 the Crown should demand no less than £160,000 with interest' capitalized annually, as a contribution to the Imperial forces ; while, at the same time, the Colony was expending nearly £300,000 on Colonial Forces embodied in aid of Imperial operations. Neither could they conjecture that the time would come when New Zealand, left, as she was, unaided in the face of a formidable armed insurrection, because she woidd not accept impossible conditions, should learn that a Secretary of State for the Colonies could instruct tlie Officer commanding Her Majesty's Forces to remove the solitary Regiment which was to garrison the chief towns, unless certain specified contributions and conditions were immediately guaranteed, and to send it to Australia, where it was not required, and from which he was expressly directed not to ask for any additional contribution. 94. New Zealand does not desire, and has no claim to be placed in the same category with such Military Colonial Posts as Gibraltar and Malta, or, as the West Indies ; but, nevertheless she has a claim to expect that substantial aid shall be forthcoming to meet trials not of her own originating. No one can dispute the right of Great Britain to change her relations with the Colonies on a fair adjustment of existing and entailed liabilities; but it is respectfully submitted that it certainly cannot be regarded as con.-o-nant either with wisdom or generosity, and certainly incompatible with justice, to leave a Colony in the midst of an insurrection, because, after it has willingly paid a certain specified contribution, it declines a proposal to multiply that eightfold, or raise it from £5 to £,40 per man, at a time when the Colony is prostrate with its past exertions, and coupled, too, with conditions which paralyse all hope of successful exertions for the future. 95. But it may perhaps be replied that the year I have chosen by way of illustration was an excep tional year, and does not fairly represent the case. I turn, then, to the Military Estimates for the present year, aud I find the Military Expenditure in the Colonies put down at £3,193,278, while the sum which it is expected will be refunded by the Colonies is stated at £348,700, about one-ninth of which is to be received from the Australasian Colonies, including New Zealand, while the proposed expenditure within the same amounts to onty one-eighteenth. Canada, placed, as it were, on the defensive, is estimated to require an expenditure of £635,604 ; aud at the Cape of Good Hope and Natal, where peace prevails, though liable to interruption from the caprice of the Aborigines, the expenditure is estimated at £1'59,379, of which they only refund £19,500 ; while to the whole of Australasia is apportioned £170,69(5, of which she is expected to return no less than £43,000. In commercial circles there are certain tacitly recognized claims between consumer and supplier, and if this recognition is entitled to any influence in political connections, the commercial ties between Great Britain and the Colonies are not undeserving of consideration. While the United States consumed, in 1863, British exports to the extent of 9s. 10d., and France to 4s. Bd., and Germany, with Prussia, to 7s. 4d. per head, Australasia, including New Zealand, consumed at the rate of £9 4s. Id. per head. To put the case on its lowest grounds, then, it would not be an evidence of wisdom for the Mother Country to crush the credit and wither the resources of one of a group of Colonies which, unitedly, in 1863, when the population was much less than at present, consumed British exports to the value of £12,506,334. 96. Reflections have been made, from time to time, in various public Despatches, depreciatory of the extent of the sacrifices made by the Colony towards the suppression of the rebellion. But, though Mr. Adderley, in his place in the House of Commons was pleased, on the 13th of March last, to state *'• that no Colony had shewn so high a spirit, both in money matters and in undertaking its own defence, as New Zealand had;" yet it is expedient that these exertions should be more prominently brought forward, and somewhat in detail. In illustration of the sacrifices made by the Colony I would refer to the tabulated statement marked G in the Appendix, from which it appears that between the years 1859 and 1867 the Colony had actually expended the sum of £2,725,660 15s. Bd. in connection with the Native rebellion. 1 would also refer to the fact that at one time there were no less than 7330 men of the Colonial forces on active service and pay, exclusive of Militia and Volunteers not in the field, for which latter force the Colony was paying in 1866-7 no less than £24,692. But even this will give no adequate idea of the extent of the exertions made by the Colony, because it does not include the whole outlay for Native auxiliaries; and because, to estimate it aright, it is necessary to add to it other liabilities before the amount can be approximately ascertained. It may, however, be stated in the following abstract form, viz. :— Colonial Treasury Expenditure £2,725,660 15 8 Imperial Claims, as stated by the Treasury ... ... ... 1,304,963 17 1 Total £4,030,624 12 9 Or, as admitted by myself, partly under protest ... ... ... £3,485,282 10 3