The Evening Star THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3484, 23 April 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1874

The Native meeting, that was looked forward to with curiosity by some and with apprehension by others, passed off to the disappointment of all. It turned out merely an occasion |for a carousal, in which the majoaity of those present took occasion to enjoy themselves after the most approved Maori fashion; with the addition of such ei’eature comforts as the art of civilized man has engrafted in their aboidginal habits. It is difficult to say what the Natives expected of their King. If European settlers believed he would declare exclusiveness from intercourse with the isolated tribes at an end, they were disappointed; and equally so must those Natives have felt who hoped to see in the result of the meeting a reunion of Maori tribes. The King was expected to “ speak,” but he remained silent. Possibly he had not much to say. If he declared the cordon di’awn

around his territory by the disaffected tribes at an end, there was an end of his sovereignty: if he declared it maintained, he condemned his own acts, for he was the first to pass it. Evidently Borne of the old Chiefs were angry. They looked forward to a time of consultation, of solemn deliberation, of concerted action on the part of the tribes • they seemed to consider that he who had been constituted King should still prove a central pillar around which all might rally, and become powerful through unity of purpose. But it proved otherwise. No chivalric words or actions on the part of the old Chiefs could rouse the King to business or shame the people from their pleasure. The glory of Maoridom has departed—peace has been sown, and the fruits of peace are in course of being reaped. Without parade, quietly and silently, but surely, Maori customs and habits of thought are changing. Those tribes that sought to retain them, and to shut out Europeans from all intercourse, have evidently felt that they were

sacrificing their own comfort and advancement in prosperity for the sake of those who were not willing to suffer like privations. They give evidence of feeling that their object has failed, and instead of enlisting the sympathies of the majority of their own race by their voluntary refusal to share in tho benefits of trade with Kuropeans, they are merely consigning themselves to a social position from which they

would gladly emerge. They appear to see that all hope of establishing a Maori Kingdom has passed away; that all other tribes, through accepting European rule, are advancing in temporal wealth; and that the institutions which they have done so much to perpetuate and retain intact, are not calculated to improve their condition or advance their cause. The feeling at the meeting seemed to be, in fact, that Tawhiao and his people were forsaken by the rest of the Maoris; and, therefore, to prolong their isolation was useless.

We do not think it strange that the ideas that pervaded the meeting were not expressed. It was, on the whole, better that it passed off as it did. Very possibly the Maori King felt unwilling to express an opinion that would sound like an abdication of his position. It would have been equivalent to saying, “ My reign is over ; henceforth Queen Victoria is the Maoris’ Monarch.” Still more.probable is it, that he is incapable of such far-sightedness; that the Natives were mistaken in their estimate oftheman; that he has always loved ease more than effort, and has preferred allowing matters to take their course, rather than endeavor to control events and give direction to them. In some respects he was compelled to this quiet course. Surrounded by a people richer and more powerful than themselves, the isolated tribes could not commit aggressions without bringing upon themselves certain defeat. Nor was it any punishment to Europeans to withdraw friendly relations. The Maoris could inflict no injury by so doing; they could scarcely cause inconvenience. The Europeans are not*de-

pendent upon them for supplies of any description: even their trade is not so valuable as to render their refusal to exchange of any importance. They placed themselves in the foolish position of a poor man withdrawing his custom from a well-to-do merchant, who could very quietly say, “Very well, I can do without your trade; but mind—you shall not buy elsewhere.” In all such cases the capitalist has the best of it. .If he cannot sell to his sulky neighbor he can find another market: but the consumer cannot get his wants supplied elsewhere. There was, therefore, the very element of non-success in the exclusive system of the King tribes. No war was needed to bring them to ultimate subjection. It was merely a question of time. The elder people might retain their enmity against those who had defeated them, and long to return to the conditions of their childhood ; but the very causes of past bitterness are scarcely realized by the young men and women now reaching maturity. They have acquired tastes for what the Colonists can supply, and which they cannot obtain excepting from them. They have neither means nor skill to manufacture for themselves; they know that all other Maoris are enjoying privileges from which “the antiquated opinions of their fathers have debarred them. None of the consequences of British rule that were predicted by

those of old have come upon them: person and property are protected; even those settlers who would play the tyrant if they could, are restrained by law from oppressing the Natives : what advantage do they reap from isolation ? Their King is but a Monarch in name, and is old, perhaps imbecile ; the whole system is based on a fallacy, from which they alone suffer. No wonder, with such self-evident truths before them, that they are ready to relinquish it. We are not surprised that its abandonment has not been formally stated: it is evident no agreement could be negotiated between the representative of her Majesty and one claiming joint dominion with hex-. The Ministry have taken the right course : they have left the Maori kingdom to die a natural death, and we think the late meeting may be looked upon as one of its dying struggles. Peace has conquered a peace.