The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3405, 20 January 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1874

A vjbby singular exhibition of wrongheaded. journalism the * WCekly Herald,’ published ;at ; Wanganuij on tihe 10th of this month. It iis ah attack on the Gbvernnient of 'for Tyhi*t’?’; r’tfori seeking’ to give employment to the Maoris. 'This extraordinary specimen of rinij. ignorahce of the’ first principles of political ecgnomy, is headed “An 0 nprincipled Government and thw .epithet is applied : to the Govern-' tiisfit;. of ’Otago,' because our' inibiimated, •thrpugh.. that six months;(Work would be ‘guaranteed’ to' any - Maoris: willing to come and assist in securing the harvest. .Where is the absence . of; what rthe w anganui journal terms “ principle and what “ principle’’is absent 1 Does the wrong consist in seeking "to’’ indued Maoris who are under engagements to "Wanganui farmers to break those contracts, by offering higber wages ? No, tendent. The only, fact aidduced in .support of this ideal absence of “principle’’ is that “one of our was answered by some men. that they .were- thinking of leaving for O.tago Under the inducement 'offered by Mr W,QpN.” That gentleman, we may men-! tion, is Resident the district, and not likely to do anything unjust to either Maoris dr settlers.

'•/- To our thinking.;' l&e absence . of ; is with I ’the pddple of Wanganui, if the ‘ Jerald,’; as their; mouthpiece, utters £heir sentim enta. The; argument l is'-based on the most! mean, and abject selfishness; forifc seeks to obtain Maori labor, on such terms and conditions as will enable the farmers ahd graziers of the district ito secure i their crops at a less cost than other men hte willing to pay, merely because it that Maoris are : living near them. It is quite competent for the settlers in Wanganui to say to those; Natives willing ! to eihigrate, “ Your labor is worth as much to us as to the settlers in Otago; We will therefore give you six months' engagement on .equitable terns,” / If that were done, lower 11 wageathan Otago is prepared to give would have satisfied them* Us they., woyW, ; set against;, ,the I higher mfconSreiience and'dis-

comfort of absence from home. But no such liberality enters the mind of these Wangan ui men. The same grasping selfishness that the general run of Northern settlers have even displayed towards the South breaks ,otit in this'article ; 'the Southern settlers may pay the; cost of their defence, guarantee the value of their public vPorks; and fight their battles, but they may not even enter' into fair and honorable competition for Maori labor. So far as the South is concerned, we have no ijight to know any difference 'between Maori and settler.- - - Had the- offer—been made ta one of the latter, no possible objection could have been raised. It doubted right.that every Briton has. to. sell his labor to the best advantage. Had any Wanganui farmer dared to question that right, even the Wanganui ‘ Weekly Jterald would have felt bound to pretest against such tyranny. But > where is. the; difference ] ; The ~ Maoris are not slaves, and the constant endeavor of the' South has been' to, .bring them, tinder like .lawk’ and social condition witli the fcflow'nq‘>motiy.eito; their recognition?.of the value, of British. law, equal to'that which secufhb to;thmffffee^ S-ri.<3 dh^ling > theiy labCr .to the highest bidder. The great drawback to this has 'been the isolation 6f the Natives frqm, participation in the common , pursuits / and , profits of the inhabitants; qf v the Colony; We- many ,tiraes< ! urged Upon the • fJdvernmhnt, that Mapii. la r bb]h shouldbe rUtilispcl'.l •where 1 , practicable. New 'turns of thpught; hew interests, new motives, are presented-to. them; " To distribute /them, over the Cfclpny is. to render, a,Native war imfor; hfAye' grbV 6ut ; ,pf local misunderstandings with large poncentratedotribeS. They.aretheoffspring of ignorance, idleness, and susjpi^jbn,;. ap'd /this can ( bhly be dissipated by such & ndnglihg of the Nafive. races with the Colonists as wili' tend toimutual confidence and respect. Wei do not wonder at disputes ! growing up in the :Noith, where- sentiments such as the Wanganui f WeeldyHerald ’. .has sq uhblushingly expressed, find acceptance. It must not' be considered merely-ail' individual opinion; for in districts like Wanganui, journals dare r not run" counter' to popular feeling. ' It must, therefore, be regarded ;as an expression of the mind of the settlers regarding the relationship between the two races. It says, in other words, “we look upon the Maoris who live near us as made to serve us”—the Wanganui settler's. They evidently regard them fust as much their property as the soil or the Manuka scrub they have purchased, and would be glad if nature had limited their powers of locomotion to the'r district where they wpre born. ’ This exclusiveness requires breaking through for the benefit of, the Maoris, the advancement of the Colony, and the consolidation of our peaceful relations with the Native race. If,. therefore,', there is an absence of prittbiple ”■ in the dispute, it is on the part of the short-sighted ‘ Wanganui Herald/ the tendency of whose arguments is that the Maoris shall be retained in poverty and barbarism for the special benefit of : .the Wanganui settlers, ; . . . - . N i