A FRATERNAL UNION

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 110, 7 February 1928, Page 8

A FRATERNAL UNION

EFFECT OF TREATY OF WAITANGI INTERPRETING THE TRUE SPIRIT TRIBUTE TO PRESENT GOVERNMENT . Yesterday was the eighty, eighth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, by which the representative chiefs of the Maori tribes of New Zea. land ceded to the Queen of England all their rights of sovereignty, and by which Her Majesty extended to the Maoris her royal protection and imparted to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. Some of the beneficial results of that compact were mentioned by the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) in an address broadcast from station 2YA last night, reference being made also to the valant way in which the Natives proved their loyalty during the Great War. The historical aspects of the treaty were dealt with in a speech by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, who also paid a tribute to the manner in which the present Government had interpreted the true spirit of the compact. “The amicable relations and complete understanding now existing between the Maori and pakeha races resident in this Dominion have been brought about by the Treaty of Waitangi,” said the Prime Minister. "The continued recognition by various Governments of the moral rights reserved to the Maoris under that compact lias been largely responsible for this fraternal union of the two peoples. Of this there can be no question. At no time lias the Legislature of New Zealand been callously unmindful, or even indifferent to the true spirit of the treaty. Never has it been careless of the great trust imposed upon it as the guardian of Native rigtits. “This commendable endeavour to observe that ‘justice which is the paramount interest of all men and all commonwealths’ has finally led to the universal acceptance of the treaty by the Native race as the basis cf their civil and political privileges. In Defence of Empire. “When, therefore, the Great War broke out, the Maori tribes throughout New Zealand, recognising their responsibilities ns British subjects by virtue of that treaty and without hesitation, voluntarily offered the services of their sons to fight the common foe in defence of the Empire. This wonderful response was their generous recognition in 1911 of the protection given them. by Britain in 1840. . , . The acceptance of their services on Gallipoli satisfied the intense desire of this Maori manhood to prove to his pakeha fellow-subjects that the moral tie which held them to the British Crown under the Treaty of Waitangi was not one in name only. “Our Maori brethren,” concluded the Prime • Minister, “have written the name of their race large on our set oil of fame, and it is fitting that we, who escaped their glorious fate in defence of King and Empire, should keep their memories green in our hearts and recollections, as their own people have done in the touching lament ‘Piko nei te Matengn’ (When our heads are bowed with woe).” MAORIS’ MAGNA CHARTA TRUE SPIRIT INTERPRETED s Historical aspects of the famous compact were dealt with by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, who also referred to two of three instances of how the present Government had interpreted the true spirit of the “simple scrap of paper.’’ “This week 88 years ago was a momentous week for New Zealand,” said Sir Maui Pomare. “It was, in fact, the most important period in our history. This is the anniversary of Captain Hobson’s proclamation at Kororareka of the assumption of the duties of the office of Lieutcnant-Gevernor; the next step was to present to the Maori chiefs the draft of the Treaty of Waitangi for their signature. The treaty’ provided: Firstly, that the Native chiefs should cede their sovereignty to the Queen of England; secondly, that the lands, forests, fisheries, and food places of the Natives should remain theirs inviolate, but that the right of pre-emptive purchase of their lands should vest in the Crown; and thirdly, that in return for these concessions Her Majesty the Queen of England would afford the Native race her roval protection, and impart to them all the rights and privileges oi British subjects. “On February 6, 1840, forty-five chiefs of Ngapiihi signed the treaty. Sheets of the treaty were taken from one end of the colony to the other, and so very nearly every chief of importance had a hand in its ratification. It was in this manner that New Zealand became a dependency of the British Empire. "A Purely Voluntary Act.’’

“That piece of paper—the Treaty of Waitangi—is our New Zealand Maoris’ Magna Charta. But let it always be remembered that it was a purely voluntary act, this handing over of the superior mana of New Zealand to the British Queen. The Maoris did not take that step without careful deliberation. They weighed every word; some of Ngapuhi were suspicious of the pakeha’s intentions, and it was only through the efforts of two eminent men that they consented to accept the Queen’s mana. The names of those two men should never be forgotten. One was the Ven. Archdeacon Henry Williams, a very gallant man, who before he became a missionary had been a British naval officer, and had served against the French and the Americans. The other champion of the treaty was Tamati Waka Nene, the great Ngapuhi chief. Had it not been for such men, and had it not been for the benevolence and hospitality of the Maoris generally, the British flag might not be flying over New Zealand to-day. Rigid Adherence. “Remember the nakeha was only here on sufferance. The Maori population in 1810 was probably marly a hundred thousand, and most of the men possessed guns, and, furthermore, knew how to use them. It was not possible to take this country by force, and that > s why the treaty was entered into. Through thick and thin the Maoris have stuck to it. There have been wars, it is true, but the first infraction of the treaty was not by the Maoris. It is rather extraordinary when we look back to realise that if British legislators of the

past had had their way the treaty would have been scrapped. “One of the causes of the distrust among the Maoris that led up to Hone Heke’s war at the Bay of Islands in 1815 was the belief that the pakehas, so soon as they became strong enough, intended to seize the Maori lands. I Ins was the result of the attitude of British members of Parliament. “The treaty is as much the charter of Maori liberty and nationalism as it was eighty years ago. I would like to refer to two or three instances of how the present Government of the Dominion interpreted the true spirit of that treaty. One is the arrangement made with’ the Arawa tribe by which the Maori rights to their famous fishing waters, the Lakes of Rotorua, Rotoiti, and all other lakes in that district have been acknowledged. Similar recognition was accorded the right of the Maoris in regard to their Taupo waters. Another instance is the searching inquiry which was recently made by a Royal Commission in regard to the longstanding grievances concerning the confiscation of Native lands.

To-day we can say that -u-ur troubles are at an end. The Maoris and Europeans are now as one, and we feel that the happy position tfie Maori occupies in this beaut ful land of ours is due in a very great degree to that simple little ‘scrap of paper’ signed by the grand old chiefs eighty-eight years ago—the Treaty of Waitangi. Kia wa.”-