New Zealand seems to be past its worst hour. The
last tele- gram from the colony announces a considerable defeat of Te Kooti by the friendly natives, with the slaughter of nineteen of his comrades and the capture of 300 more,—but not, unfor- tunately, Te Kooti's capture. What is more extraordinary still, our own Government, alarmed by the resolute tone of the New Zealand Commissioners, who did not conceal their belief that the colony had sickened of the embarrassment of a connection with England which has for so long a time produced only bickerings and cavalier despatches from the Colonial Office full of taunts and good wishes for the enemy, and declined even to recommend the acceptance of the proposed guarantee for half a million, have offered the guarantee of a million, and offered it, moreover, in courteous and even complimentary terms, referring to the "gallantry" displayed by the colony when cast upon its own resources. The Commissioners will advise that this peace- offering shall be accepted ; and we hope the Colony, when it un- derstands the situation, will accept the advice. For the offer means, as we have pointed out in another column, a good deal more than a veering-round of Lord Granville. It means that the Government find the feeling in many of the most powerful constituencies against them, and that a rupture with New Zealand, caused as in this instance it would have been caused, would pro- bably have been their ruin. Under such circumstances, those who have fought heartily in this country for the overburthened colony have some right to express a hope that they will not have fought in vain.
