NORTHERN JOTTINGS.

Evening Star, Issue 3433, 21 February 1874, Page 3

NORTHERN JOTTINGS.

No. 4. {From our own Correspondent.) MAORIDOM. In the House of Representatives, whenever a question arises, or it is found necessary to pass a law affecting Maori interests or Maori lands, nearly all the Southern members adjourn to Bellamy's, the Stranges’ Vfion}, or to Osgood's. Metropolitan Hotel. Beiuarhing this peculiarity of Southern legislators, I inquired last session from one of the most conscientious men • Otago sends North as a representative, the reason of such non-attendance to questions of such vital importance. The answer I received was the followingMy dear fellow, if we were to interfere on this subject, we should be told to hold our tongues, as we know nothing at all about the merits of the case.” Thus of all the members representing the Southern Island, certainly not more than half-a-dozen take any activo part, or apparent interest in questions concerning the Maori race. The Southern Island has become liable for such large sums of money for war purposes, that peace at any price has been its cry; while the man who could pacify rival tribes and amalgamate recalcitrant interests and ethnological prejudices has been allowed to do what seems best in his own opinion, and has been deemed worthy of There is no doubt as to the success of the policy the Hon. Donald M'Lean has inaugurated. It is generally conceded that it is cheaper to feed than to fight the Maoris of the Worth. Flour has been found to be less costly than blood J and to temporize and to wait preferable to beipg impatient and irritable. An W portant influence in the' present Native policy is the subsidising by the Government of-leading men of disaffected tribes. It seeks to divide the house against itself, and by a judicious expendlta™ o* Public money obtain such influence and fealty amongst portions even of disaffected tribes, as to prevent' concerted action. There is no reasdii; However, why Southern iieopleshould manifest such a lack of interest;! nd attach such a small amount of importance Pf Native policy ‘as they Have ptherto done. A rpw months’ careful attention would place any man of ordinary intelligence in possession ot such information as would qualify him to form opinions on Native mattei-g. Maori possession of Maori lands is the question par excellence that mpinges on nearly all phases of Colonial policy. All our Maori warfares have arisen from two causes, women and land 1 he latter, of course, has been the major cause our bloodshed and expenditure. Unlike other semi-barbaric people, the Maori has always attached value to his domain, and nearly all the intertribal wars of New Zealand have ansen from disputes as to its possession. When Te Whiti declares that all the land acqmred from his race since 1845 has been obtained either by false pretexts or inadequate compensation, he may speak the truth or other’nr * . ’ events, utters an opinion that Maoris of all tribes entertain, whether uttered or unexpressed. The Hawkes Bay jilv. na “ on Commission abundantly qoilgf feeling. ' Tomdana and T-- ■ Ipid. Jins been sojd dt tioo cherip a fate} and'it v»as elicited in evidence that laige percentages of the purchase money had been paid in spirits and clothing. Their landed estates, they say, endure for ever—spirits are drunk, and their brain goes with their estates ; their clothes wear out, and they f}n ir a K ain to-inorrow; so we Ql f r the' ppsaekpn of Mich'wiP ensure pi aft other ■ nebeffies ol IS'fb fe 9 - th9 f^? k V« n Qf league. With their increased bowlpdge, o U r Maori population feel .they have sold their inheritance for a mess of pottage; and suspicion distrust have thus been engendered in the Native mind as to all commercial transactions with the white race. They cannot frem experience they maintain, understand disinterested friend-

ship. Only by increased vigilance, they consider, at the present day, can be prevented a recurrence of analogous wholesale alienation of lands for a nominal price. On the preservation of peace in the Northern Island depend the value of our debentures and our public credit; on obtaining a large landed estate in the Northern Provinces, for which L 500,000 was voted last_ session, can the monetary and landed equilibrium of the two Islands be maintained ; by mitigating Maori prejudices, and filling the North Island with a numerous European population, can our present Public Works policy be brought to a successful issue; and only by cultivating kindly relationship and persistence in a just and humane policy with the Maori people, can we hope to obtain that permanent peace and prosperity for which New Zealand has so many years longed for in vain, i here are, however, several questions deeply agitating the Maori mind at the present time, those who are unacquainted with Maori life have an impression that the aboriginal race is last dying out. _ The next census will most probably refute this unwarranted hypothesis. The ideas now permeating through Maoridom will probably have a deeper and wider significance ten years hence than at the present time. The veriest Hauhau even now is uncertain whether it would not be for his future Interest to endorse the legality of the treaty of Waitangi and acknowledge himself a British subject. K e v™ en “ ls opinion is discussed among them the following ideas are mooted If I am a subject of the Queen, why have I not liberty to sell my land in the open market, by auction, like other British subjects ? and why should the Government have the pre-emptive right to purchase? I have to sell my land to the Government for half-a-crown or five shillings the acre, which land the Government resell at quadruple the price. Doubtless it is necessary that reserves—a sufficient quantity of land for our future maintenance— should be made inalienable, but why debar us from disposing of our surplusage as we please? We believe, after all, others will remark “it is better for us to lease our lands than to sell them at all. ” They are also in a complete fog as to the action of wS K !i^ 0n * v. Lar£e tracts > th *y s ay, confiscated have been returned them—if we hold “ ot others ? Certain lands that were supposed to have been taken from us, the Government now -wish to purchase. If they bet + th u U !, en > wh - v Bhould Government wJ\ bUy , and if the y have be bought, how can they be confiscate ? They tro even further: they inquire whether it is a common practice of the Crown to sell confiscated estates ; thereby precluding the original owners Lir Sa&T 3 roversi “ ot It should also be borne in mind that many of the leading tribes have Europeans to whom tuey give liberal compensation as advisers when in doubt and difficulty; and among these advisers, men can be found as shrewd and wellinformed as the Colony can produce. In one instance 1 know to ensure fealty an European has been formally adopted into a tribe, so that his interests might be identical with their 90000 Jnn Natl Y es still own from 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 acres in the North Island.