CONTEMPORARY OPINION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2073, 26 February 1889, Page 3

CONTEMPORARY OPINION.

A correspondent slgolng with the foltUle " W.R. " writes as followi to the " New Zealand Times ": - The great danger In the present case Is not so mnoh on aoeoont of what Europeans may attempt m what the friendly Maoris rosy think fit to do. It cannot be expeoted that the Utter, who bare equal mottoes t*e revenge with the Europeans, ihoald 4m able to look at the whole tl to at lon with that o»lm jadlolal eye whtob some newspaper writers affect, and If fe Kooti fee allowed to re-vlsit Poverty Bay the ••rait may be that the friendly Natives, ffegardlaes as they naturally ate of Interference or advloe In such matters, may ■eek to oppose his progress, and thus plonge that part of the eonntry into war, Should any laoh struggle between the two Maotl factions ensue, the Te Kooti party might avenge themselves (m acoord•noe, M »• have been told, with Maori custom) on any that crossed their path — Maori enemies or ontlylng European settlers. That la the danger, and that no doubt Is the way the Poverty Bay people look at the matter. The Napier " Dally Telegraph " writes : The* <: New Zealand Times " hrn aiaamed the rdfe" P* apologist for Te Kootl. Ao•ordlng to that paper Te Kooti is a nice affable gentlemSQi who merely desires to visit his old haunts a!*d friends. AH we oen lay li that If Te Koti'i Intentions areas Innocent as the "Tlmsa" would make oat, why In the nams of common tense doe* he travel with a retinue the numbers of whloh are a menace to the peace of the oouotry ? Tbe faot Is Te j£ootl wants to make a triumphal entry Into the land he desolated ; he wants to •Mime the character fit a victorious «tnetai of whom the Government !■ fffftfe A B 4 tbM |9t( of (hjog wpo't do,

and should not bo permitted, for It is »n Insult to the loyal tribes who helped us In • nr trcuble io ohaoe Te Kootl like a wild p'g through the bush till the cowardly murderer found refuge m tbe King Oc.uo.try.