MAORI ELOQUENCE IN PARLIAMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 3918, 14 September 1875, Page 2

MAORI ELOQUENCE IN PARLIAMENT.

On the 18th ult., says au Auckland con. temporary, during the debate on the aboli. tion of Provincial Governments in j\ew land, Takamoana spoke as follows :

Sir, —I have somewhat to say upon this subject .vhich is now under discussion iu thih House. Although something I may have to say may bo beyond the actual subject of the debate, I trust I may be allowed to say what L mean, even though not upon the point. It is only this House that knows the difforenee betweeu the General Government and the Provi ices. We do not understand the cause of the dispute between the General Government and the Provinces. What is the cause of their anger against each other ? I want to know whether the Provinces are the younger, and the General Government the elder brother, because for many years they have lived very close together; but now I find that the General Government and the Provinces are fighting against each other. The only persons that i have heard accused of doing evil in thi, island was the General Government. It was the General Government who caused fighting among the Maoris, against oth.r Maoris; it was the General Government who bought the land; the General Government set up the Native Land Court. It is true that it was by the General Government that mortgages were introduced; it was the General Government who appointed commissioners to go and purchase the laud from the Maoris. 1 have heard of abolishing the Provinces in the North Island first, and afterwards the Superintendents. I will not say anything oa this question of doing away with the Provinces. Perhaps it has something to do with the Maoris. It may hive something to do with the Maoris, this doing away with the Provinc s. I do not know that this has reference to us or not. Last year it was proposed to do away with the Provinces and Superintendents of this island aloue. There wa3 nothing said about the Provinces in the other island. Therefore, I said that it was something against the Maoris the doing away with the Provinces in this island alone. I said that last year, because I was not aware that we—the Maoris and the Europeansare as one. If I saw a debate going on in this House with a view to make .us one people—the Maoris and the Europeans—then I knew we should be able to discuss the matter together. I am a n;an well acquainted with Maori customs, but I am pre eluded from speaking much in this House, your language being different from mine, if my language were the same as yours I would not get up only once ; I would get up a good many times. 1 should be able then to object to a great many things that take place. Here I am in this Home like a de:tf and dumb man. Therefore, I feel that 1 should consider whether ic is anything against the Maoris, or whether, if lefu to the General Government alone, things might be better. We did not know the difference of the two systems the General Government and the Provinces—but now we find that the General Government is a different man from the Provinces. Therefore, I think - that it is a wise proposition to leave the matter over for another year, btfore abolishing the Provinces altogether, and let the new system be altogether introduced in the next House. Let the Maori representation be increased before this takes place. This is not a matter in which the Provinces have any concern. The introduction of the Maori members is |by the General Government alone : they have introduced four members. Perhaps the Goverument have introduced four Mao;i members to treat them Jike tame kakas. The tame kaka decoys the rest of the flock, and when he get 3 them near he turns away and leaves them to be caught. Therefore, I say to this House it may be a good thing to do away with the Provinces, but let us see one united people. There are many tribes of people in this island with their chiefs and people of knowledge. Let the chiefs of the different tribes come into this House and say what they have to say. If they are wrong, they only express the views of the people who sent them here. Do not let them be sent to represent the opinions of other tribes. If the Provinces are to be done away with, let the Government put an end to the purohasiug of Native lands. Let this Parliament turn its attention to that: that is the cause of trouble to uh. I think that the mischievous man in this islaud is the Government. 1 approve of the words of the hon. member for Auckland City We3t, where he says that great trouble may arise after the Provinces are abolished. I approve of Lis words. The General Government have the management of the purchasing and leasing of r ative lauds. There are a great many lauds in dispute in this island in the name of the Government. Therefore, i t'aO the Governmeut is the bigger man of the two ; the Provinces are not quite so big. .No petitions are sent to the Provinces ; they are sent to the Government. If the Government do not approve of my proposal, and cease their purcuasiug of .Native laud, I will send in a petition asking that taat system should be done away with I was asked, at the time that . was elected, to s'.ato to the electors what I was going to Bay in Parliament. 1 said : 1 do not know yet what I bkill say ; I shall go there and see what is going on. Wheu I came here I saw that your Hou. e was a good f.'Ouse. The only fault was the deafness and dumbness of the Maoris. Another objection is the Government appointing au in terpreter. They did not say, let the House appoint an interpreter. The other fault is the fewness of the people—the small number of Maori members. The Government never agre :d to my firmer proposal to increase the number of Maori members. This is not a matter that will te .d to our union, Now at this time the Superintendent of Auckland is iu this House, and, takes a part

thing more supremely stupid than tbia to bt sent up to the Assembly as the deliberate opinion of a large and influential meeting cilKd for the purpose of considering "the Abolition Bill now under discussion in tho : louse of Pcpreseutatives ?" Whether, in the opinion of t'.<y moßt important City of the Colony, the Bill wan a good liill or a bad Bill; whether the Government was en« title.l to pra-'sc or blajie for introducing it 1 whether, if passed at oil, it should be passed this session or next-, absolutely no cp-.uion at all is expressed, or even implied. Moreover, even as to the members for Dunedin, ab:dlutely no opinion at all was exprcscd as to whether they did right or wrong in recording their votes for f lid snsond ■ cadin:;; neither is the s'iqhtest intimation given how their constituents would like them V.o record their V.)tc9 in the further sucoeßaivo stages of the 1 -ill's progress, to j ■ibsolukdy nothing of th<i kind. The ottljr thing recorded is that, " before " they voted ay tlipy did, they bhould have consulted their constituents. Now, what did the opinion really mean ? Why, if it meant anything at all, it really ir.eaut that, so soon as the Bill was tabled, Measru Heynolde and Wales should have pocketed ft copy and rushed iff to Dunedin to say, (< What dd you th'nk of this? How would you like" us to vote ?" Did it never occur to those who vote-' for thia very Bapient amendment that tho Bill had published in ihc papers, discussed for week afcer week in and out of Parliament, and that the eiuz .-ns of Dunedin remained all the while -dient. If they really hid any opinion at all ibout the matter, surely that waß the time tor the expression of it. But no, they leave theii representatives to pui6ue their owfl course, and then censure them for acting in cccordance with their own unassisted Judgment. We hope the Parliament of New Zealand will never cease to pay becoming respect to the opinion of the people of New Zealand, expressed in a constitutional way ; but, if it amounts simply to such an expression rif opinioA upon a great constitutional question as the one that emanated from I 'sjfcedin, we sha'l not be at all surprised if little or no notice at all is taken of it.