THE COAST CARNIVAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 372, 22 March 1902, Page 3

THE COAST CARNIVAL.

THE GREAT GATHERING AT WAIOMATATINI. MAORI PARLIAMENT CONDEMNED 1 , (Times Special Correspondent.) 1 The natives are having splendid weather for their great meeting at Waiomatatini. Everything is being carried out in a most orderly way, and there is intense enthusiasm in all the proceedings. The natives have taken advantage of what they saw at Rotorua in the way of laying out grounds, and a carriage drive has been made to the meeting-house. There are aboutl 500 natives present, including leading chiefs from other centres. The first thing that meets the view is a noble flag flying in the gentle breeze. The flag is a duplicate of the one presented to the natives in 1872 by Sir. Donald McLean. The meeting-house is the most beautiful in the colony. It was erected fourteen years ago, and the choice carving work in it took fourteen years to complete. The arrangements for the gathering have been carried out in an excellent manner, and would reflect credit on any organisation of people. Special attention has been given to sanitation, as is only right when so many people are assembled together, and breaches of the rules are dealt with so promptly that the ordinary Law Courts are but sluggards compared to the dispensers of justice at Waiomatatini. Too much praise cannot be given to the catering arrangements. The visitors are given place of honor by being the first regaled, and then come relays all in order. An idea may be obtained of the magnitude of the catering arrangements when it is said that the consumption is 85 sheep, 5 pigs, 8 bullocks, 21 tons of potatoes, and

tons of flour, and there are ten coppers each holding 18 gallons, which are filled with tea three times a day. One copperMaori holds 15 sheep and two-quarters of beef.

The catering arrangements are in charge of a first-class cuisine, who gives the daily orders, selects the dishes, and whose work would give satisfaction to any epicure. Indeed everything is conducted in a really good style, and there is neither crushing nor misbehavior, and in every way the affair redounds credit on those at the head of affairs and on the Natives generally. The great meeting to-day (Friday) gave a picturesque scene. There was an independence about everything, and yet a complete sense of decorum, the debates being conducted in a most dignified way. There were no formalities, as with Europeans, no chairman, and no conventionalities in the way of manners, but there were good order and such oratorical efforts as would, if the language were understood by the audience, do credit to any assembly in the Empire. The Maoris may not be Daniel O’Connells, but they know how to express themselves in lucid style, with a beauty of imagery that is begotten of the poets, not the evanescent jingles of a Kipling, but the charming style of a Moore or a Tennyson. All around were the Natives, leisurely squatting on mats or whatever of the kind might be handy, the ladies taking no part in the discussions of their “ lords and masters,” but smoking the pipe of peace and giving an occasional ejaculation of assent or approval as if they were not the talkers, but were the real judges when the time came for decision. Some were

in the height of Maori fashion, while others did not make pretence of elegance in the sartorial line. As for the sterner sex our esteemed friend the Hon. James Carroll, clad in trousers and shirt, reclined on a pillow placed against the wall; part of the time he was reading a Maori Testament, and also listening to the orators as each rose to address the meeting. Dr. Fomare is also-a thorough Bohemian, and clad in holiday garb, was lying on a mat reading the latest novel, entitled “ Orchards.” Another leading chief, frofn the West Coast, was reading a novel founded on the Boer war. Other natives were reading copies of the Gisborne Times, which is in great request up this way. The secretary for the meeting, which was attended by about 500, was the able Mr Kohere. That eloquent speaker and incisive debater, Mr Ngata, submitted the question as to whether it would not be wise to do away with the Maori Parliament, in view of the setting up of Maori Councils by rooont legislation. Tho argument was taken up keenly on both sides, and all conceivable points pro and con were threshed out in an analytic and impressive manner, with occasional flights of oratory that could not be listened to unmoved. The opponents in effect said, “ Taihoa 1 taihoa 1 Do not let us be in too big a hurry. Let us see how these Councils are going to turn out. Let us make sure of the new love before we do away with the old one, or wo may be worse off than we were before.” Mr Carroll, whose remarks were listened to with rapt attention, said they would not be doing away with the old love. The Maori Parliament was like an old woman with two sons, one being the Native Lands Administration Act and the other the Maori Council, and through the Council the wants of the Natives would be made known and would carry more weight than the Maori Parliament, which had no legal status. On the motion being put to the meeting, it was decided almost unanimously that the Maori Parliament should be done away with. Mr Carroll’s speeoh 1 occupied about an hour. He gave the Natives muoh good advice, and his remarks were warmly applauded. The only accident so far to mar the success of the gathering is the breaking of a Maori man’s leg by a kick from a horse. The man was catching the horse, which suddenly lashed out.