The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1889. Te Kooti

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 98, 23 February 1889, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1889. Te Kooti

Although the excitement in Poverty Bay, consequent on the proposed visit of Te Kooti to the scene of his former crimes, may appear unjustifiable to residents in other parts of the colony, yet to those who are acquainted with the hideous realities of the terrible massacre of defenceless men and helpless women and children, of which Te Kooti was the author, such excitement is at once understood. On the other hand we think they have gone too far in threatening to offer armed resistance to the progress of Te Kooti and hi 9 party through the district, because such a line of action would inevitably cause an outbreak of hostilities, the consequences of which no man can foretell. The presence of the Premier, Sir Harry Atkinson, on the spot, and his promise that Te Kooti should not be allowed to come into the district, h is, wa are informed, already done much towards restoring the normal condition of affairs and we hope his wiser counsels will prevail over those of the alarmists whose thoughtlessness might easily involve the colony in a useless and bloody disturbance. Although the settlers in Poverty Bay have, in the past, given ample proofs of courage, and ability to fight the Maoris in their own way and on their own chosen ground, yet, even although they must be victorious in the end, the destruction of valuable stock and property — apart from the mere loss of human lives— would be calamitous to the property of that and the neighboring settled districts for many years to come. We think it was a mistake in the first instance on the part of the Government pardoning Te Kooti, and making him a pensioner of the colony. It is a mistake Te Kooti wanting to visit Poverty Bay, and it is a mistake making such a fuss about a man who is, after all a common murderer. By the Premier's going to Gisborne — although we do not see what else he could do under the circumstances — Ie Kooti will now stand in the estimation of the Maoris as a man of undoubted mana and influence, who is equal to the chief white man in the colony. It will thus be seen that a number of complications are likely to arise from a simple act of mistaken clemency by a noble minded man like the Honorable John Bryce.