THEORY VERSUS PRACTICE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 63, 11 September 1862, Page 5 (Supplement)

THEORY VERSUS PRACTICE.

To the Editor of the Ita wlce's Say Times. Sir,—Mr. James Edward Fitzgerald, of Canterbury, is reported to have made a sublime speech on a question of the highest importance to us as colonists, the amalgamation of the races who hold this land as a joint (?) heritage. (Never mind the fact that one brother takes nine-tenths, and allows the other brother not to inherit, but to purchase, the one-tenth ; that stands for nothing !) I might ask, what does Mr. Fitzgerald know of the race whose champion he aspires to be ? In the Province of Canterbury, where he resides when in the colony, there are probably not more than five or six hundred New Zealanders, men, women, and children, and these the remnants of a conquered tribe. Does a slight acquaintance, nay, does an intimate acquaintance with these entitle a man to assume the high office of chief Maori doctor for the whole colony ? If J. E. Fitzgerald, Esq., &c., was a humble tiller of the soil in the native province of Hawke's Bay, and had been robbed of his cattle and assaulted into the bargain, would he be so anxious to have a Maori judge sitting to decide his cause ? Would he be eager to have the plaintiff to be judge in a case where J. E. F., Esq., was the defendant ? I trow not. But there is more in the doctrine he advocates than appears at first sight. Is he prepared to admit the New Zealanders to terms of perfect equality ? Are the ecclesiastics ■who preach the same doctrine prepared to practise it ? Example goes before precept. Amalgamation of races on terms of perfect equality can only be carried out by adopting the plan of mutual reciprocity. What said the men of Shechem to Jacob’s sons ? Was it, give us your daughter, only ? No ; it was give us your daughters to wife, and we will give our daughters to you. This was fair, and an offer of becoming one people on equal terms. Are any of our doctrinaires prepared to adopt this course ? If they are, then we may admit their sincerity. How well it would look, if we were able to send home scraps of news to this or a similar purport. Marriage in High Life. —On Monday last, by his Lordship the Bishop, etc., George Selwyn Te Waharoa, eldest son of Tarapipi, and grandson of the celebrated chief Te Waharoa of Matamata, to Adeliza, eldest daughter of the Very Lev. James Howard, Archdeacon of Taupo, New Zealand. Or again,— n Tuesday last, Rosamond, daughter of W. Fox, Esq., M.H.R., etc., etc., to Hcneri, eldest son of Taraia, chief of Ngatima.ru and Hanraki. ’1 here is one method of amalgamation, but not on equality of footing; that is the taking their daughters to wife, but not returning the compliment; some white faces have done this, but they are not the men who preach the equality of the races. Will our Hadfields and Williams, our Foxs and Fitzgeralds, adopt this method, partial and one-sided as it is, to prove they are sincere in their opinion of equality of personal status ? I trow not. Few indeed are the white men who, having made this trial, will advocate the doctrine of equality. Much less are our “ Maori doctors” willing to practise what they preach. We may admit the sons of Maui to be strong and warlike, cunning at fence, excellent tacticians in peace or war ; but few indeed of us would practically admit them to terms of perfect equality, above all give them the office of legislating for us, and judging us. Yet this is what two Middle Island gentlemen have the audacity to propose for our adoption and benefit, themselves being fortunately clear of the annoyance. Why don’t they try the experiment in their own Province ? To assert by resolution that all men are entitled to have an equal voice in the legislation of the country, is a step that Chartists might be expected to take, but could any one expect an aristocrat by education and ideas, as is Mr. Fitzgerald, to propose such a democratic doctrine ? Would not he be one of the first to shrink from establishing universal suffrage of our own race—our own countrymen ; yet his resolutions, if carried, would have pledged the legislature of the colony to manhood suffrage, and much more. What the New Zealanders are entitled to is, equal justice with ourselves, not a share in matters they do not understand ; justice between us and them, not one-sided as at present, in their favour or to suit their caprice ; justice, not favour ; not the taxing one race for the benefit of or to please the other ; not tly3 laying all the expense of opening up the country on the “younger brother,” while the eider obtains four-fifths of the advantage, gratis. No more millbuilding at the cost of the pakeha, no more salarying Maori doctors from the same funds, no maintaining a staff of Maori protectors to

take care of those who are considered so well able to take care of themselves. Yours, &c., A Saxon. Ahuriri, 30th August, 1862.