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Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 426, 27 May 1902, Page 2

WHITE-WASHING TE KOOTI. In a letter to the Auckland Herald, Mr Reweti T. Mokena declares that “the Poverty Bay massacre would not he so glaring if ail the circumstances of the episode were taken into consideration. lam inclined to think that Te Kooti would not have become the rebel he was, and would not have done what he did, if ire had not been unduly provoked to lake vengeance. He was unlawfully transported to the ChatIrams, for he was never tried, and he was arrested only on suspicion. Had the advice of my grandfather, the late Mokena Ivohere, who fought lovally for the Queen, been taken, not to transport te Kooti, lives might have been saved and much bloodshed averted.” Mr Mokena has a good case when he seeks to show that tire Maorrs as a whole were not bloodthirsty fighters. On the whole, they acted in a most chivalrous manner; and many incidents can be given to bear out that statement But we are much astonished that Mr Kohere, or anybody else, should seek to palliate the awful butchery perpetrated by Te Kooti, and wt, have no hesitation in saying that “ A f r Kohere really means what he slates in print, he ought to he ashamed of himself. Probably the advice of ins grandfather was sound—we are not going to argue that-but we do say Kooti was a villain of the deepest dye. It would only awaken painful memories to refer to that sad night when 1 c Kooti descended upon the Gisborne plain, and if Mr Kohere wishes to uphold the cause of the Maoris as fighters IIG Would do well not to attempt to white-wash the black deeds of the cold blooded ruffian Te Kooti