Address of Inhabitants of the Hutt, Province of Wellington.

To His Excellency Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, C.B., Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Colony of New Zealand.

We, the undersigned electors and other inhabitants of the Hutt District, desire to express our entire approbation of the policy of your Excellency, in proceeding to quell by force of arms the insurrection of W. Kingi, in the Province of Taranaki. While we deeply deplore the circumstances which have compelled your Excellency to such an extremity, we are convinced that sooner or later a collision with this turbulent chief was inevitable; and that any further tampering with the question of sovereignty would have been construed by the Natives as an admission of present weakness, and probably eventuated in more wide-spread disaffection. Even had we been less satisfied than we are of the justice of' the war, we should feel that there would be now no other alternative for your Excellency, having in view, not simply the best interests, but the actual existence of the colony, than to prove by vigorous exertion the supremacy of the Queen's power: until a conviction of which is summarily brought home to the Native mind, we fear that your Excellency will be unable to establish a lasting peace, such as may serve for all future ages to cement in one bond the mutual prosperity and happiness of both races.

We offer to your Excellency our most earnest co-operation in bringing the issue to such a termination, and should much regret that any member of the House of Representatives should consent to patching up present tranquillity at the risk of future security.