TE WHITI.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11481, 14 January 1903, Page 4

TE WHITI.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. " .Sir,—Your recent, article,, "The Trutk. about Te Whiti," gives more attention t» Mi- Alpers's inaccuracies than to the trutb.. No doubt the "Parihaka Fiasco" is »; difficult matter to pass judgment upon.. What has been written about it has bets for the most part drawn from the newt papers, and " honest John Bryce's " charac ter has suffered considerably from tit,'. venom of the correspondents, whom it , ' , tried to leave in the lurch upon tJai'-' memorable Guy Fawkes Day. Still, busjV ing all due allowances, one can find bo tfe<' tirely satisfactory justification for his wi \ on Parihaka. Force of any kind ehouW \ not be employed until the law of the Ufif "'. has shown itself inadequate. , t It is unnecessary to repeat whftfc ywjjflarticle told us. In 1865 the Mftoria allowed to continue in their holding*; JajjSn Titokowaru'a rising, three yeara l*ter, wfs\ the operation of a different policy. Ht his hapu were left virtually landless, t*{ ■wander in th« rugged country behind", Waitara—a menace to the people of f" Tarapaki, and a disturbing element amoßtf <, the natives. It was, I take it, to obtain ■ some sort of settlement for bis wadik* ,i! countrymen that Te Whiti stepped into ti»~~\ political arena. At first he appealed to\ Commissioner Parris; it was in vain. Then» '- to prevent the alienation of all the Maoris, land, he removed the surveyor from W«i- ] mate Plains. That action was treated witij, : ! ; contemptuous neglect, and the land already j surveyed was advertised for uk. ' J After this followed a long period , of „"- anxious waiting., which grew so unbeejr«\ able fhat Te .Whiti determined to foror.j matters to a legal issue between and the Government. This—and this —was the motive of his famous plougbia|ifj| campaigns. Again and again 1» stated itPJ —to Mr Parrisj to his friends, to oil enquired of him. It was civil trespass, nothing more. Had war been hi* the political ploughmen—the warriors efWI Jiis tribe —would not have allowed thea*/g| selves to be arrested without MiilrteßC»i*!|j: But his plan failed. The men were topi/jl in prison without the eagerly looked fortsgtrial. IP As for the Commission appointed by tluSn Hall Government, Te Whiti had no to expect any Ibenefit from it, for in thtjj' very first month of its sitting, Native Min-sfl ■? ister Joltn Bryce sent a kige body armed men into tlie disputed temtory taj| make Toads through the Maori cultivatioetp i | almost to the walls of Parihaka. There is another point occasionally ov»*l& looked by Te WhitiVi detractors. Th*Go»»tnt eminent, while continually a sire far an amicable settlement, failed postpone iivcir surveying operation*— divergence of. principle and action perhaps to aruuse distrust in an mind. '•{■£■ No doubt Te Whiti waa a difficult nu*f I to deal with, and Bryce'e action iia.ve been unexceptionable had native reserve* been defined and had iiiw exhausted its powers prior to *to*-li Parihaka raid. He was a fanatic, but patriot—one who tried to exalt his race aaAjp! nobly failed. I suppose one may aav W'S[ij much at this distant period awaking the bitter feelings that existed W the Maori and the pakeha ir«re one.— $*•£ Yours, etc., ' *~»S V. H. GORDON. 'M [We lmve referred to this subject in «e*v,"4 leading column3.--Ed. " The Preu."J '^