A.—No. Ib.
4
DESPATCHES EROM THE SECRETARY OE STATE
this Colony is now maintaining, " on active service and pay," a total European force of one hundred and one (101) officers and two thousand two hundred and forty-five (2,245) non-commissioned officers and men, and one thousand and fiftyfour (1,054) Natives ; in all, three thousand four hundred (3,400) officers and men of all arms. There are now, moreover, in the North Island alone, three thousand one hundred and twenty (3,120) Volunteers of all ranks, while the number of enrolled Militia in this Island amounted, according to the latest Returns furnished to me, to eight thousand six hundred and thirty-two (8,632) officers and men. In other words, the moveable force of the Colony amounts to three thousand four hundred (3,400), while the Volunteers and Militia (available only for the defence of their respective districts) are estimated to exceed eleven thousand (11,000). It will be remembered that the entire European population of the North Island — men, women, and children—little exceeds eighty thousand (80,000) souls, of which number about thirty thousand (30,000) dwell in the five principal towns of Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Taranaki, and Wanganui, while the remaining fifty thousand (50,000) are dispersed in solitary farms or small hamlets, chiefly near a coast line as long as that of Ireland. On the other hand, the hostile Maori clans are principally entrenched (so to speak) in the mountains and forests of the central highlands, whence they can send forth forays in every direction. In fact, during the last twelve months alone, serious outbreaks have occurred in several districts of all the four Provinces (Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki, and Hawke's Bay) into which the North Island is divided. Nor is any portion of this Island, beyond, the neighbourhood of Auckland and Wellington, considered, by those best qualified to form an opinion on the subject, to be absolutely free from the danger of Native disturbances. 5. The strain on the Colonial finances is now very severe, owing to the pressure of the interest of the war loan of Three Millions sterling, and of the very heavy expenditure incurred for the maintenance of the Colonial forces. So far back as at the beginning of last year (1868,) these burdens had already raised the taxation of New Zealand (according to the estimate in the Duke of Buckingham's Despatch No. 34, of April Ist, 1868,) "to more than six pounds five " shillings (£6 55.) per head of the entire population, Native and European; " in other words, to more than double the taxation of the United Kingdom. It is feared that further imposts, or a fresh loan, may soon become unavoidable. These questions will, of course, be fully discussed in the present Session of the New Zealand Parliament. 6. It appears to be a matter of simple justice to give full credit to the Colonial Government and Legislature for the efforts now made to overcome the difficulties with which they are surrounded. At the same time, in pursuance of the general tenor of my instruction from your Lordship, and from your predecessor, the Duke of Buckingham, I lose no opportunity of impressing on the public men of all parties that it is now the settled policy of the Imperial Government to leave this Colony to rely entirely on its own resources and exertions for its internal selfdefence. My previous Despatches will also show that, during the first twelve months of my administration here, I have visited all the friendly Maori tribes throughout this Island —at the Bay of Islands and Mongonui, in the extreme North; at Wairarapa, in the extreme South; at Auckland, Ohinemuri, and the Waikato, in the central districts; at Otaki and Wanganui, on the West Coast; and at Tauranga, Maketu, Opotiki, Poverty Bay, and Napier, on the East Coast — exhorting them all (not without success) to co-operate with the Colonists in the establishment of permanent peace and security. Moreover, although the projected interview between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Maori King did not take place, for the reasons explained in my Despatch No. 64, of the 3rd instant, it is confidently hoped by the Government officers at Auckland, and by other competent judges, looking to the better spirit recently evinced by the Waikato tribes, that Tawhaio and his principal chiefs and councillors will be ready, ere long, to hold a conference with myself and my Ministers, for the purpose of agreeing upon the terms of a general pacification. Nothing, however, can be regarded as certain in dealing with such a people as the Maoris. I have, &c, The Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G. G. E. BOWEN.
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