PEACE PROCLAMATION.

Evening Post, Issue 181, 6 September 1865, Page 2

PEACE PROCLAMATION.

The following important proclamation appears in yesterday's General Government Gazette : — The Governor announces to the natives of New Zealand that the war which commenced at Oakura is at an end. The Governor took up arms to protect the European settlements from destruction, and to punish those who refused to settle by peaceful means the difficulties which had arisen, but resorted to violence and plunged the country into war. Upon those tribes sufficient punishment has been inflicted. Their war parties have been beaten; their strongholds captured; and so much of their land confiscated as was thought necessary to deter them from again appealing to arms. The Governor has therefore shown that he will not permit the peace of the colony to be disturbed without inflicting severe chastisement on those who resisWhis authority. The Governor hopes that the natives will now have seen that resistance to the law is hopeless ; he proclaims on behalf of the Queen, that all who up to the present time have been in arms against Her Majesty's authority will never be prosecuted for past offences, excepting only those who have been concerned in the murders of the following persons, because those persons were barbarously and treacherously murdered: The children Parker and Pote, killed at Omata, on the 27th March, 1860; The boy Joseph Sarten, killed at Henui, on the 4th December, 1860 ; The native Ngakoti, who was killed, and his wife, and her daughter, killed at Kaipikari, in December, 1864; Mrs. Margaret Fahey, killed at Kama Rama, on the 16th October, 1863 ; The boys Richard Trust and Nicholas Trust, killed at Kennedy's Farm, on the 24th October, 1863; The Rev. Mr. Volkner, killed at Opotiki, on the 2nd March, 1865 ; Mr. James Fulloon, and his companions, killed at Whakatane, on the 27th July, 1865 ; The Chief Rio Haeaterangi, killed near Wanganui, in January, 1865. The murderers of those persons will be brought to trial as soon they are arrested. The Governor also excepts from this pardon the Chief Te Pehi, because, having taken the Oath of Allegiance to Her Majesty, .he violated his oath, and treacherously attacked the Queen's troops at Pipiriki ; when taken he will be brought to trial for this crime. All others are forgiven. Out, of the lands which have been confiscated in the Waikato, and at Taranaki and Ngatiruanui, the Governor will at once restore considerable quantities to those of the natives who wish to settle down upon their lands, to hold them under Crown grants, and to live under the protection of the law. For this purpose Commissioners will be sent forthwith into the Waikato, and the country about Taranaki, and between that place and Wanganui, who will put the Natives who may desire it upon lands at once, and will mark out the boundaries of the blocks which they are to occupy. Those who do not come in at once to claim the benefit of this arrangement must expect to be excluded. Tne Governor will take no more lands on account of the present war. As regards the prisoners now in custody, the Governor will hold them until it shall be seen those who have been in arms return to peace. If they do so the prisoners will be set at liberty. The Governor is sending an expedition to the Bay of Plenty to arrest the murderers of Mr. Volkner and Mr. Fulloon. If they are given up to justice the Governor will be satisfied ; it not, the Governor will seize a part of the lands of the tribes who conceal these murderers and will use them for the purpose of maintaining peace' in that part of the country, and of providing

for the widows and relatives of the murdered people. The Governor now calls upon all the Chiefs and tribes to assist him in putting a stop to all such acts of violence for the future; for all, whether Europeans or Natives, have a common interest in putting ' an end to such crimes, and, in preserving the peace of the colony. The Governor is about to call a meeting of all the great Chiefs to consult with his Government as to the best means whereby the Maori people may be represented in the General Assembly, so that they may henceforth help to make the laws which they are called on to obey. At that meeting all matters can be discussed, with a view of establishing a general and lasting peace throughout New Zealand. Her Majesty the Queen desires that equal laws and equal rights and liberties may be enjoyed by all her subjects in this Island, and to that end the Governor, in the name of the Queen, publishes this proclamation. Given under my hand, at the Government House, at Wellington, and issued under the Public Seal of the Colony of New Zealand, this second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five. G. Grey