The Evening Star TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1873

Evening Star, Issue 3108, 4 February 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1873

Very little has been latterly hoard of Native affairs ; so little that were it not for occasional telegrams telling of large gatherings at which huge quantities of potatoes and pigs arc eaten, wc in the South would almost forget that the population of tho North Island comprises thirty or forty thousand Maorics within its numbers. Nor do wc in this part of the Colony really understand what these large meetings are about. They must not be looked upon as mere social gatherings, although so much attention is given to the commissariat department. They are true Maori parliaments, in which tribes meet to discuss systems of policy from the Native point of view. They canvass the doings of the whites in relation to themselves ; calculate, after their fashion, the advisability of throwing districts of country open to European occupation, and discuss the policy by which they ought to bo guided in relation to the tribal interests commingled. A telegram published by us on Monday gives an account of tho proceedings at one of those meetings, at which the Hon. J. M'Lhan, the Native Minister, was present. Wc need not repeat what every Colonist must know, that the legacy of evil bequeathed by the defunct Stafford administration, which it has fallen to the lot of Mr M‘Lean to remedy, was the Native question, It was not, perhaps, so much Mr Stafford’s policy that brought about those evils. In fact, Mr MXean did the Stafford Ministry the justice of saying, “ I admit that a great deal was done by our predecessors in office, in the wsv.of settling some of the then existing difficulties.” But so partial had their efforts been to reconcile the Natives to the Colonuts that he added, “ A large section of the Native race were becoming more and more estrange*!, so that a war of races appeared almost inevitable,” The military arrangements of the two first Ministries, of which Mr M‘Liun lias bee# a member, have done much for the protec? tion of the Colonists. They have been almost uniformly successful, at least so fer as asserting the superiority of the white man over the Maori is concerned; and this is a most important point. Conciliation on the part of a victor carries with it the character of cofileposs, generosity, and sincerity; it is not %.file to he misinterpreted. It is stripped of all appearance of hypocrisy, because unallied with suspicion of fear. When victory formerly threw the opportunity into tho hands of the Colonial Government, jt was not used to shw that the only object of tho war they had carried on was the establishment of order, so th#t; pot only the Europeans, but the aborigines %opi' selves might benefit by it. The Govern? meuts of tho past, instead of conciliation, adopted the wretched policy of retaliation, They made a Native quarrel a mercantile speculation, and like tho barbarous Kings of Africa, who wage war in order that they may make slaves of conquered peoples, our Government volpd a war loan to bo reimbursed by land wrenched from the Maoris. Were the barbarous prototypes of Africa^saddled with a large number of captives for which they could not find a market, they would be just in the position of New Zealand, buf>f]pped with hundreds of thousands of acres of land, which they are strong enough to sicze, but which no one will buy. Mr M’Lean describes confiscated lands as " a very expensive luxury.” They proved expensive on many grounds: there were the expenses of seizing, holding, and defending the lands ihojpselves, and the interests of the few European# and Natives who had had them granted and occupied any portion of them. The contrast between the Stafford and tho FqxV oof.l policies is, that up to last session no change oC system iu regard to these lands was proposed by Mr Stafford. It was still a policy of the strongest: a demonstration to rule by force, rather than by justice ; to conquer ,a peace; to add, in fact, to already existing difficulties, the cost of maintaining a peace when conquered. The triumph of conciliation, backed by strength, is now manifesting itself. AP tho meeting held on the last day of January, tho present Government, through Mr M‘Le|N, expressed their intention to provide out of the confiscated lands for those liberated prisoners who rendered s'uch good service to us in (f Duuedin, while confined in the gaol here. And the manner in which this has hewadonc forms

an equally stinking contrast to Mr Stafford’s imprudent and open bidding in Parliament when he stated broadly that ho was prepared to make concessions apparently to secure Maou suppoi to his Ministry. Again, the same union of strength, conciliation, and lirmness have been displayed by the Extxu tire. The offer of Mr Stafford was made at a wrong time, and under wrong circumstances. He wanted support for his Administration, and the Maori votes were of consequence to him. His motive, therefore, even if pure, was liable to misinterpretation. So far from such a com sc bebm one of conciliation, it was calculated to incite to demands on the part of .Jic Natives which no Government could comply with. The result must have been dissatisfaction-perhaps rebellion. The Natives, as of old, would have esteemed themselves masters of the situation, and would have concluded they ha( only to ask to have. Mr MvLean has chosen a time for restoring confiscated lands where possible, when no immediate political end is to he answered by the -nfts. He has apparently considered cacti claim, and dealt with it according to i s merits. He has avoided all appearance of favoritism, all chance of being charged with bidding for support. He has withheld the gifts long enough to show that the Government has power to retain the land, and that therefore its restoration must be accepted as an earnest that the Administration is guided by justice, not by greed. The fruits of peace will follow those who ensue peace.