CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume I, Issue 12, 19 September 1861, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the HaivJce's Hay Times. Sir, —That it is no new thing that men cry peace where there is no peace is daily exemplified in our relations with our very amiable Maori neighbours, that a day scarcely passes that we do not hear fresh instances of their rapacity, and insolent defiance of law, exhibited by their capricious and inconsistent claims for compensation for grass on open, uncultivated, unfenced lands, but still more by the daring manner in which they take they law into their oven hands, and seize the property of their pakeha friends. Our good natured R.M., it is true, does all he can to rectify these violent proceedings, by writing letters of remonstrance to the chiefs ; but beyond this moral appeal he does not venture to go. Who can blame him, under ex-

isting circumstances ? One thing is transparent —that until the Government can bend the Maories to submission to the majesty of the law, all other proceedings must be utterly futile, and our intercourse with them daily become more irritating and dangerous to the peace of the colony. See the case of Mr. AUey; he is the owner of upwards of 500 acres of freehold land, with a river for his boundary, yet because his cattle sometimes pass that natural line of demarcation, and crop the herbage on Maori wastes, they claim exhorbitant damages, refusing to receive from him a compensation for & his involuntary trespass fully equal to what others are paying by express arrangement with the Maories. Surely such a condition of affairs cannot much longer exist without leading to the most disastrous results. However deplorable such a state of things may be, can it be a matter of great surprise to us after witnessing the imbecile manner in which our own Provincial affairs have been managed, and also the lax and unconstitutional way- in-* which the General Government dispense their patronage, appointing men to judicial and i other responsible positions who are livino- in flagrant violation of the laivs (vide the magisterial appointments), and who appear to°be indebted for the honors and emoluments showered upon them for every consideration other than their fitness and capacity to fulfil the duties of their position. Trusting, ere it be too late, that something approaching to common sense and common honesty may be exhibited by our rulers in their appointments of men to responsible positions, I remain, sir. Obediently yours, Cato. Napier, Sept. 14th, 1861.