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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 67, 9 October 1862, Page 3

To the Editor of the Hawlce's Bay Times.

Sir, —We have some exceedingly “smart” men in the colony. We have men in Wellington who can talk hy the hour for or against a measure as the necessities of party dictates. A Fox in opposition is a wonderfully clever fellow, but overdoes the thing altogether when he opposes measures that he had consented to when in office. His lieutenant Fitzherhert is an invaluable joint to his tail, as he can argue that black is white, or vice versa, from noon to midnight, when his chiefs game requires it. But of all our clever men, give me the Canterbury Representatives. A Fitz Gerald can propose a theory that he would shrink from practising on the equality of the two races, although practically he knows nothing of one of them, and not a deal of the other. When assuming the position of “ chief priest” of the mystery of Maori necromancy, his eloquence carries the hearts of his auditors away, till they vote that to be a reality which is but a shadow. Not having had the advantage of either hearing or readiug that famous speech of his on the Native equality resolutions, I cannot be a fair judge of its value; but to my mind, one speech recorded in the local papers lately possesses more value, present or prospective, than all the eloquence of Mr. FitzGerald, even though (as is quite possible) his language was as sublime as his theory was ridiculous. I allude, Sir, to the plain unvarnished tale told by Mr. Atkinson of Taranaki, on some of the wrongs suffered by his constituents. Yes, Sir, the homely tale of the misfortunes suffered by our fellow-countrymen at Taranaki, of the injustice with which they were treated, is in ray opinion worth fifty speeches from a theorist, although possessed of the talents of a Fitz Gerald. Mr. Atkinson could speak of facts which he had seen and heard, —ay, felt. Can any practical man hesitate for a moment to decide between the

claims of Fitz Gerald the theorist and Atkinson the practical. But Canterbury supplies the Colony with other talents besides her ex-Superintendent. There is Mr. Crosbie Ward, who has resided a few years in the quiet town of Lyttelton, and thence stepped into office as lacquey for Governor Grey, and a great man among Maori doctors. He appears to possess a great deal of Maori knowledge, although he has had no Maori experience. He shows his judgment by deciding that all the ideas of former Maori doctors were all wrong. Other men have thought, and have worked hard to effect the object, that the sooner tribal title is extinguished, or at any rate individualized, the better for all parties, Maori and Pakeha. He decides that individualizing of title is not desirable, that the Government should refrain from attempting it, and quite off-hand feels certain that all the difficulties of the native question can be overcome by his method only He introduces the Hapsburgh plan of appointing special officers to adjudicate special cases, having first duly impressed them with the necessity, or at least desirability, of deciding the way he considered requisite; he has openly gloried in having established a precedent, and so far forgot his tools as to state that appointing interested parties to sit and adjudicate in no way affected the decision of the Court ! Can we wonder at the decision of such a Court ? Or at the compliments for forbearance shown addressed by, the Court to men who had taken the law into their own hands, and added robbery to assault and battery ? His precedent has been followed in a quarter where it could scarcely be expected; for the Hawke’s Bay Member, who moved for a Committee to investigate a complaint by the public of Hawke’s Bay against the Government and their agents, actually put the head of that Government on the Committee to sit and condemn (or excuse) himself and his colleagues. The decision of the Committee, like that of the Court above alluded to, was what may be expected when men judge their own cause, a sort of hush up, with a very mild reference to the unconstitutional practice of packing a Court, and to there being a danger of that practice being abused. Clever as Mr. Crosbie Ward is, he could not discover a method of enforcing laws against Luropean lawbreakers, without encountering the whole fraternity ! Good Mr. Ward ! What a pity you could not prosecute and get convicted a few obnoxious fellows of the lower classes, at the same time as your high class men were breaking the law with impunity, and even rewarded for so doing by Government appointments and salaries from the public purse ! It appears that New Zealand laws are made to be broken or enforced as suits political schemers ! Yours, &c., A Saxon*. Ahuriri, 27th September, 18G3.