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tion in a feud which is at present entirely between themselves.

His Excellency is still of opinion that the introduction of any Military force would be more calculated to do harm than good, and a less force than that which would be equal to any emergency would be ill-advised in the highest degree.

In the absence of Mr McLean, the Government proposes sending Major Nugent, Native Secretary, to Taranaki for the double purpose of seeing the natives and, if possible, of bringing this dispute to a termination, and of ascertaining in the event of the Military occupation of New Plymouth whether any and what accommodation could be provided for from 3 to 500 men with officers and proper equipments, and also to ascertain if the Provincial Government is prepared with the funds necessary for such occupation.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ANDREW SINCLAIR,
Colonial Secretary.
To his Honor
The Superintendent, New Plymouth.

2-84

Superintendent's Office,
New Plymouth, January 8th, 1855.

Sir,—I am requested in a despatch from the Colonial Secretary to give my opinion on a report from Mr Commissioner McLean transmitted therewith which proposes that certain means of defence should be adopted for the security of the European inhabitants and friendly Natives in the Province.

I agree with Mr McLean as to the necessity then existing for protection, a necessity strengthened by recent events, which shew a general lawlessness of the Native population throughout the Province. But I must beg to differ from Mr McLean's opinion that the measures recommended by himself are within the limited resources of this Province. Nor can I admit that these measures are adequate or even expedient in the imminently dangerous position in which the European population is now placed.

The manifest and immediate source of danger lies I consider in the avowed determination of the weaker party in the present feuds, to seek their safety by dragging their quarrel in whatever shape it may assume into the settled portions of the Province. The place is in fact at the mercy of either party in the Native quarrel now lowering. It is impossible too strongly to state its absolute defencelessness.

In such circumstances, I can see no safety, but rather danger, in calling out as a militia an unwarlike and unwilling population, which at the eleventh hour must receive its training under the eyes of jealous tribes, fully armed and accustomed to warfare.

The employment of a native force is an experiment which it is out of the question to try in an emergency like the present.

Concurring therefore in Mr McLean's opinion of the danger, but considering his suggestions as to defence impracticable, I have to express to your Excellency my conviction that the presence of a body of troops has become absolutely necessary.

In this opinion I am supported by the Provincial Council, as will appear by the enclosed resolutions of that body,

I have also the honor to enclose a Memorial in the same sense from the inhabitants of the place.

With reference to your Excellency's inquiry whether the Provincial Government is prepared with the funds necessary for the defrayal of the portion of the Province, I beg to refer your Excellency to the above mentioned resolutions, and to state that I am prepared, if necessary, to recommend to the Provincial Council the requisite enactment for giving effect to its resolutions. At the same time I shall feel it my duty to urge the claims of the Province in justice and equity to be relieved from any charge on its resources in the present emergency.

I have the honor to be, &c.
CHARLES BROWN,
Superintendent.
To his Excellency
Colonel Wynyard, C. B.,
The Officer administering the Government.

[Enclosure 1]
Resolutions of the Provincial Council adopted 6th January 1855.

1. That the location of a body of Troops in this Province during the continuance of the present feuds amongst the neighbouring Native Tribes, is in the opinion of this Council absolutely necessary for the protection of the settlers, and the maintenance of the neutrality of the Government.

2. That a copy of the foregoing Resolution be forwarded to his Honor the Superintendent with a request that he will transmit the same to his Excellency the Officer administering the Government.

Resolutions of the Provincial Council adopted 6th January 1855.

1. That this Council taking into consideration a despatch of the Colonial Secretary addressed to his Honor the Superintendent, under date 26th December 1854, is prepared to guarantee, to the extent presently stated, the repayment of any advances which may be made from the military chest for the erection of a Blockhouse or Stockade and Barracks for a detachment of Troops.

2. That for the purpose above stated, this Council will pass any Bill which shall be recommended to it by the Superintendent charging the revenue of the Province with payment for the next ten years of an annual sum not exceeding £1000 for a detachment of 400 Troops.

3. That compelled by the exigency of the case to consent to the imposition of a heavy burthen on the slender resources of this Province the Council declares its opinion that the proposed guarantee is one from which the Province clearly ought to be relieved—the expense being in fact to be incurred for the preservation of the peace of the Colony at large, and for the prevention of a Maori war—and the imposition of such a charge upon a particular district being quite unprecedented.

4. That in the event of the acceptance by the General Government of the proposed guarantee this Council pledges itself to submit the case to the General Assembly and if necessary to the Home Government with a view to the relief of the Province.

[Enclosure 2]
To his Excellency Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard, C. B., the Officer administering the Government and Commander in Chief of the Islands of New Zealand, &c. &c. &c.

The humble Memorial of the undersigned inhabitants of the settlement of New Plymouth in the Province of New Plymouth, sheweth—

That your Memorialists view with the greatest alarm the lawless condition of the native inhabitants of this province, since the slaughter of Rawiri and his followers by Katatore.

That the natives are well armed and amply supplied with powder and ball, that they greatly outnumber the white population, and that in many recent instances they have shewn an utter disregard for British authority.

That although the local authorities have constantly represented to the natives that the white population cannot take part in native feuds; the natives who have been living amongst your Memorialists, who have sold and are willing to sell land to the Government, have as repeatedly declared that your Memorialists are interested in the questions at issue. That land is the basis of their wars and that they will drag the settlers into the strife whether they are willing or not.