The Globe. FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1879.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1646, 30 May 1879, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1879.

In what lias the boasted Native policy of Sir George Grey resulted ? In whatever direction a man may cast his eye—whether towards the Waikato district, toward Now Plymouth, Wanganui or Napier—he will find the answer in a state of affairs which is most disastrous both to the interests of successful colonization and to the credit of the colony in the home market. The Native mind is thoroughly disturbed; through the absurdly " meddlesome and muddlesome policy" of the present Government the good work of Sir Donald McLean has been almost totally destroyed; the character for irresistible strength that the Colonial Government qnce enjoyed has evaporated, and the Maoris have come to the conclusion that they are the power in the North Island, and they are, in consequence, in parts of the country setting the authorities "at complete defiance. It is true that reports are constantly received that many of the prosent actions committed by tbe Natives are done under the impression that they are proceeding within the limits of the law, and that they are quite willing to refer the disputed matters to the arbitrament of the regularly constituted courts; it is true that sanguine settlers are at times stating that they see no real danger in the presejci state of affairs : but all this cannot blind the public to the true bearings of the present crisis. There can be no donbt whatever but that our influence over the Native mind has of late gone down hill in a manner alarming to contemplate. The vacillation and injudiciousness of the Premier and Native Minister have had the effect which all thinking men know they would have; the ridiculous prominence given to the power of the Maori King has inspired not only the minds of his immediate followers, but the Natives in general with the natural belief that where there is so much smoke there must be fire; that in good truth the Europeans hold that the Maori star is in the ascerdant aud are prepared to give way which reference to many of the points on which they have hitherto insisted. The spectacle of the most powerful man among the whites sneaking, when practically uninvited, into the presence of his dark - skinned majesty, and of his submitting to be snubbed and brow-boaton by that worthy potentate, was not calculated to raise the prestige of the Government, and their acts since that disastrous event have not in any way tended to restore that prestige. The most that even the ardent admirers of Sir George Grey claim to his credit amounts to the assertion that ho has succeeded in causing a rupture between Tawhiao and Rewi, and has withdrawn the offers made to the former at the mooting at Hikurangi. These are the two roastwr »trokcs q£. policy that a?« to

bo set off against the entrance by force into settlors' lands, tbo ploughing up of those lands, tho threats openly made against the lives of peaceable Englishmen, tho stopping of trains, tho breaking into stores, and tho numerous othor outrages, tho dotails of which come to hand with monotonous regularity. The admirers of tho Premier quite burke the fact that no good results have been derived from the boastod rupture, that tho rupturo itself is by no moans proved, and that even if it wore proved, it is singular for a man who declares his intonso lovo for tho Native race, and who at To Kopua assorted that Ins feelings towards Tawhiao were of the most warm and cordial character, to plumo himself on having carried hatred and variance into tho Native camp. Those admirers of the Premier do not caro to see that the wriggling out a bungle made at Hikurangi can hardly bo called a master stroke, and that, moreover, it is by no means certain that Tawhiao ever cared to accept the terms offered, Theso terms wore calculated to give the Maori King an exaggerated idea of his importance, while at the same timo they prepared to turn him into a species of Government pensioner. Tawhiao, inflated by the first idea, may very well have been unwilling to accept the second proposition. Moreover, the Government panegyrists forget one all-important fact. They forget how completely Maori chiefs are under the control of their people, that they uso their power on mere sufferance, and that tho study of the barometer of Native feeling through the actions of Natives is of infinitely more practical value than the scheming and tall talk in which tho present Government so heartily delight. Looking at the present crisis in any way whatsoever the outlook is most gloomy. Tawhiao is represented as surrounded by a body guard of 200 young men, and even if Rewi sidos with us, to utilise his friendship in any way the country must be plunged into war; Te Whiti is encircled by fanatics who openly assert that they will place tho neck of the European under their feet; there is not the slightest chance of the Manawatu block difficulty being satisfactorily settled; in the neighborhood of Wanganui, Kereopi is parading tho country threatening to follow the examplo of Hiroki by murdering the settlors, and the settlers here, as elsewhere, have forwarded memorials to the Government that they may bo supplied with arms; and last, in the Napier District, a most uneasy feeling prevails, for not only has the making of a road at Omarauui, through land in no way belonging to the natives, been prevented, but a chief has presumed to stop the train, has declared his intention of tomakawking a guard, and with what result—why he has been placed under the surveillance of such a remarkable character that he himself has no idea whatever that any is being exercised over him. To sum up —tho Native mind is thoroughly disturbed both on the East and West Coast; the settlers are arming, and the Government is thoroughly nonplussed and cowed. This is the result of tho double-dealing and amazing vacillation of our present rulers. They have shown the same characteristics in their dealings with the white population of these islands, but tho latter they have succeeding in bamboozling by means of specious twaddle and high-sounding bunkum. The Maori is less tolerant of humbug; he calls a stone a stone, and mistrusts the man who says it is an egg. He does not appreciate the tortuous windings of the Greyito policy, which aims at an occasional sparkle, at the expense of all true government; he agrees in fine with Rousseau who declared that he thought it better to possess tho esteem of mankind than occasionally to endeavour to extort their admiration.

We beg to call attention to a letter that appears in another column respecting the calling of a meeting of the Kaitangata Relief Committee by the town clerk. We quite endorse the views contained therein. What right has the City Council to interfere in the matter ? Some time ago when that body was making itself very foolishly busy in the affair, and when the result of its exertions was the passing of a resolution insulting to the Central Committee, wo pointed out that the Kaitangata Relief Committee was not in any way connected with the City Council. It is a simple piece of impertinence for the latter body to arrogate to itself any voice in the disposal of tho funds collected by the Kaitangata Committee.