THE PARIHAKA MEETING.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1894, 19 March 1880, Page 3

THE PARIHAKA MEETING.

[PEE PB3SS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, March 18.

At the Farihaka meeting yesterday, after food had been taken, Te Whiti spoke as follows:—The floods that God sent upon the land, commencing in the days of Cain and Abel, have continued unto this day, but are now subsided. We have stemmed the floods, and from this day tho floods will be decreased, and will not come again after I have dismissed them. That is one thing I have to say. Nothing shall be trodden down of what I say. The place I have measured out shall remain sacred for my talk and for my people. That is the subject of talk this day. The weapons that killed shall not bo held over the heads of any in this place. I assembled you all here, and the place shall never be destroyed by any one. There is no saviour after this day. Red, black, or white, it is settled that this place is a place of safety for all. Every one should stretch out his hand and lay hold of the place of safety. To the wish that you all have I shall not give way. If you stretch forth your hand and take silver you will not obtain a place in the land. I know you have done this, for I have caught you at it. You must not think that the weapons of the Europeans will be upheld, for it is a lie. You may fly under the wings of the Governor for protection, but those wings are lying wings, and will never protect you. I warn you all of this. If any of you wish to let loose a flood from his heart so as to obtain power, he cannot do it in my day. No flood shall come to destroy man. It is not according to law nor. according to custom that evil shall come upon the land, but it will not be known by the words of the mouth whether the things be right or not. lam not talking of the thing that is far away or the things that are coming, but of the war brought before my face. If it were bidden that there might be some doubt in you in consequence of this, it is a cause of rejoicing for me that you have come into this fold of safety. Let no ono have any doubt. The words that I have said about the flood are old, but the truth of them will be shown this generation. Many generations have come and gone since the flood came, and many have wanted to see the day, but they were not permitted, therefore you have cauße to rejoice. Let those who say they are not blind see these things, also those who by drinking spirits abuse their intellect. lam talking about the bayonet that has glistened this day in my face. Ido not mean the guns that are hanging up on the houses, but the guns that are out, so that I do not speak for naught when I say that there is war. Talk of the flaßh of the gun before my eyes and the bayonet that is pointed at my heart, who can deny it ? O Maori, O pakeha, can you tell that lam wrong. What I have said is not a lie. If any great European here to-day says that ho can bring a flood on the land, I say to him " Bring the flood." I say the same to any Maori. I wish to toll the tribes assembled that they will not be lost. If you have taken silver, then, indeed, you will be lost. What good have you got when you stretohed forth your hand for silver ? Did it not all turn into spirituous liquors, and make you drunk ? You (turning to the Europeans) will not succeed in your work. If you had tempered your ardour with kindness and leniency, then a different state of affairs would have resulted ; then perhaps you might have obtained land by offering silver for it. I am sure that they think because I am a small man and a poor man, I am to be treated with contempt; but they are wrong. They have brought their Bwords with the land to kill men with ; they have brought their legions to take the land that is left ; but there is none to take up a weapon in defence. This day, if I allowed the flood in the creek to overflow the banks, then the Europeans and Natives would have their wish, although somo of you in the darkness of your heart seeing your land taken from you might wish to take up arms and kill the aggressors. I say unto you it must not be. If the tall man of arms in the tall hat Btanding there (O >lonel M'Donnell) were again in command to fight, he would be worthless to have a gun to diecharge at you. Oh Carrington (tangi to wi), and all of you Europeans, do not think that because you havo plenty of guns and men that you will succeed. You may be numerous as the sons of Israel and then not succeed. I do not want war, but the pakehas want war. The flashes of their guns have singed your eyelashes, and they say they do not want war. The Governor dare not come and talk here, because he has nothing to say. He goes to secret places, but I talk in the open here bo that everyone may hear. Referring to me what do they say ? They say that I am a fanatic, a fool, and a madman, but I am neither. The land is yours, but what I have seen lately (meaning the occupation of the plains by the Constabulary) is enough to turn the brains within my head into the brains of a fanatic. Still we must not cause more trouble to come on the land by any action of our own. lam not drunk, but it is the anguish of my heart that is turning my head. There are only two things I have to say. First, that the floods have subsided, and secondly that no one shall step outside of that which I have measured. Let the Government and all men of wisdom think of these words. The Government have taken the prisoners and put them in a secret place, but still they are not hidden, they are before you. The6e words do not come from Te Whiti, who eats potatoes, but have been handed down by superior men to me. That is all.

Tohu immediately foUowed Te Whiti, and said—There are two things to be given to this generation, the subsiding of the floods and the measurement of the land. The floods have subsided. Formerly the ground was measured out for us, and we are living upon it. It was not given for two people to stand in the measurement, but wa3 settled by former generations, and no man shall take it from us. This thing would not have been settled today, but the actions done on the land have given it to us this day. The Government have brought guns and bayonots on the land and they say that they h»ve come to make peace, peace. That ;n nonsense. I toll you I am going to s' retch out the measure, making it a little more. If any great Native should get up and say " the land belongs to me," he is wrong. The land belongs to me and my friend (Te Whi'i). The pakehas want to fight you for your land, but as the land belongs to you there is no occasion to fight. The thing will not be settled this day. I own all the land and all the plantations, and I will not let them go. This day everyone io dark and disgunted ; this day is a day of darkness for our hearts and fur utter wretchedness and disgust; this day it has been shown to us that guns have been flashed in our eyes and bayonets presented at our breasts, and I have constantly said that to morrow was to be the day for using the gun and bayonet. Yesterday we knew that today it would bo known whether it was the intention to kill us ; today you Natives a»d Europeans know that you are to be killed. Who brought us to thi9 ? We cannot find out who is the cuuao of it. It would have been a cause lor laughter and rejoicing if anyone of c»r young men had taken up a stick to defend his land, but no one did so j and so this diy is a day of darkness. You must not think the Europeans are only making the road straight. Nothing of the kind ; it is done to provoke war. I say that the two roads now being made will never meet each other. In the strugglo for dominion always going on it was arranged that evil should be judged, but now the Government has twisted and turned about from one side to the other, until at last war is to decide. Different Governments have from time to time put things off, and Pox, the other day even, declared that he had nothing to do with the surveys. You may judge from that what trust can be put in anything they say. There is no need to change anything that has been said to-day. They have brought their gunß and bayonets, and are making roads with their shovels, and all that means war. You may think that because I alone am addressing you, I may be

wrong, but let anyone of the opposite aide stand up and I will soon prove that I am right. It was ordained in this generation that only two should speak and read to you. What will happen after this day will be nothing. You have only to wait patiently for the sword that is uplifted to fall for your death. The korero here broke up for several hours, and feeding recommenced. Late in the afternoon Te Whiti said : —The words spoken this day shall not be left till next month. It has been known for some time past that Taranaki is tho land, and Te Whiti the man who stands upon it. The land is all covered with my blanket, and there it no room for any judge or commission to stand upon it. The blanket is mine, and those who want to know more about it must come to me. The Government, instead of making roads, should have come to me, and then everything else might have followed. They have tried to do without me, and therefore I shall do away with them, and they shall be as nought. From both roads there is a_ space between which belongs to me, and which will not be made. The chances for fighting have been great. The space between the two pieces of road is like a tide which ebbs and flows. Perhaps a strong man will arise who may make a difference, that is to say if he proves himself to be stronger than I. One of us holds in his hand an aggressive weapon, and the other a staff, but there is one lord over both, and I am speaking the word of the Lord of Heaven. That is why the words spoken to-day are not held over. This day the thing is decided upon. The Government want to get all the land in its possession so as to have the strength, but the land is mine. The road-making is a piece of braggadocia on the part of the Government. What I tell you I mean in its entirety. Everything that I have spoken this day will happen, and not pass by. It has come right before. The Government are now outside shooting at flax sticks. In the olden times men took guns to shoot at men, and not at sticks. It was said in September that the things should be left in my hands, and I hold that whatever may be said by the people abroad (meaning the Commission) who are looking into the matter, they cannot do anything. The Government might as well have sent sticks and stones as the great men they have. The good reßts with one. Because the Fakehas are rich men, and great in fancied wisdom, they assume tho power of settling this question, but what I have said this day will not be deferred. The end of my work as a man (I do not say it as a spirit, but as a man) is that the blood of the Natives shall not spill on the ground, and the measured ground shall not be trodden upon by others. I leave it now in the hands of Tohu and the Government to say who is right and wrong. The Government, in the height of their power, are saying, " There, we have done you." That is all I have to say. Tohu did not speak again, and the talk finished.

The last speech of Te Whiti's is considered the most definite he has ever given, and the surrender of the question to Tohu is significant for war. Tohu is looked upon as the man of action, and interference with the road parties is now expected.