A MAORI MANIFESTO.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2298, 10 December 1889, Page 2

A MAORI MANIFESTO.

Tawhiao appears to have made" up his mind to show that his Kingship ib not the mere shadow of a name as colonists have hitherto believed, and has given very plain iatimation of his desire to exercise royal authority over the Maori people— -in a word to establish an -mperium m imperio within New Zea land. He has issued a proclamation whereinhe demands that a Maori Parliament be established upon which the xepresentation of the Natives m the General Assembly is to cease, that .Native Assessors and Native Land Courts under the European Law be abolished, that there be no more sales or leases of. Native lands, that the Maories cease to attend public schools, that no more roads be allowed to be constructed, nor goldmining permitted on native lands, that the Maories cease to obey the summonses of the Courts of the colony, that a Maori tribunal be set up to decide cases between Maories, that the Maories refuse to aknowledge the authority of " the inferior Europeans," and that they abandon the Christian religion and embrace Hau-nanism, This is a very pretty programme, and its audacity, and the time of its appearance are apt to lead to the conclusion that the wily old successor of Potatau has waited until Sir Harry Atkinson had turned his back on the colony to try the experiment ofjputting on a pair of big boots, bigger even than those which are generally believed to appertain to the Premier's wardrobe. It "goes without saying that no such demands ds he puts forth can be for a moment entertained, some of them are indeed 'm direct contravention of the Treaty of Waitangi, by which the sovereignty of New Zealand was ceded to the Crown of England, while they are nearly all subversive of the order and good government of the colony. We are not indisposed to concede that m the matter of the administration of Maori lands it may be possible, with advantage, to devise some system under which it may be conferred upon Maori Land Boards elected by the Natives, and managing the disposal oi those lands within limits prescribed by law, and also to provide more completely for the settling of disputes among Maories by tribunals eleotea by, or seleoted from, the Maories themselves. As regards the former there are some ideas set forth ia Sydney Taiwhanga's Maori Land Bill which may be well entertained as pointing out the direction m which to work out a solution of tho matter, and as rogards the latter $he principle is affirmed by the Native Committees Aot which might, with some amendments, be made to accomplish all that Tawhiao can fairly ask m this direction. But we have already indicated the full extent to which the proposals of his manifesto could be entertained, If the Maories desire that they have no special representation m the General Assembly, well and good — that may be granted without any harm j to the white population ; but as to the other demands of Tawhiao they are simply preposterous, The closing of Native (Schools, that is to say schools m Native districts (for we have no objection — nay, it is better that it should be j so— to Maori children attending where possible the same schools as Pakeha children) cannot be dreamt of for a moment, nor can any so-called Maori " King T ' be permitted to lay an embargo upon the sale or leasing of land, still less to interfere with the course of the Queen's writ. We, of course, have no right to enforce the acceptance of the Christian religion, and the Maories can , if they choose revert to Hau-hauism, as long as they do not break the civil law j but the refusal to acknowledge the authority of what Tawhiao is pleased to term " inferior Europeans/ m cases where, even if subordinate officers, that authority is conferred upon them by law or by virtue of their official position, or to obey the summonses of our Courts will be found by those who obey his commands to be a very dangerous proceeding j and it is to be hoped that Mr Mitchelson, as Minister for Native Affairs, will take care that' the very first attempt made to defy the law or duly constituted authority is visited with prompt and exemplary punishment, and for the sake of the Maories generally the sooner the opportunity to do this occurs and the sharper tho lesson given the better. There must be no shilly-shally-ing about it, or there is no knowing what mischief may be done, Mr Mitchelson must not temporise with this business as he m the first instance temporised m tho Te Kooti affair, but he should at once issue a proclamation to the Native people warning them against being led into committing acts whioh will bring them under the penalties of the law, and above all should intimate to Tawhiao himself that unless this mischievous manifesto of his be at once recalled he will be held responsible, together with the actual offenders, for any breach of the law on the part of his people, and that his claims to be re- ■ garded as a " King " will not shield him for a momentr-?but wjli rather I procure for him the more severe punishr mont as the instigator of offences against law and order.

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