REPORT BY MR. HANSON TURTON RESPECTING THE RUNANGA MAORI.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 69, 23 October 1862, Page 3

REPORT BY MR. HANSON TURTON RESPECTING THE RUNANGA MAORI.

(ContinuedJ'aom our lasi) At Opotiki there was a very extensive Eunanga —indeed there were two,onefortheyoungincn,aud the other for the adults this latter one comprising 70 members ; I saw them all, and made provisional arrangements with them to accept our better system in lieu of this objectionable and unwieldy one. They chose a very intelligent Chief called Poihipi as Assessor (subject to the Governor’s approval), and two sets of Ltl each, to actas rnnanga for corporate purposes ; and £ took care that the Protestants and Homan Catholics should be well intermixed in each set. At first they wished for an Assescor to be appointed for each Church, but finally agreed to unite in choosing Poiiiipi, which they would not have done for any other man in the tribe. The people of this place had thirteen vessels, ten of which were in the river; they had upwards of fifty ploughs, and fit) drays and carts and other implements in proportion. They have miles of good roads, leading to a water mill in the centre, which cost them £BOO ; and some of the bridges, entirely of Maori workmanship, are equal to many on the South Hoad. The fact of this having been formerly the station of the Eev. Messrs Wilson and Davis, will partly account for this advancement; in addition to which they receive counsel and encouragement from the Europeans living amongst them and especially from the Homan Catholic Priest (Kev. J. Alletage), who seems to advise them in their worldly affairs with great zeal and judgment. And yet for want of a few mechanics their agricultural implements and coasting vessels were falling into a sad state of unrepair; and the Government could do no better service to these industrious but isolated people (as well as to those of Tauranga) than by encouraging a few tradesmen, such as a miller, a wheclright, a baker, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a shoemaker (partly for rcpairing'.their harness, to go down and settle amongst them. The Eunanga promised mo to give small sections of land to

such parties as might agree tto go and occupy themselves partly in their own trades. Few better places could ,b e chosen then Opotiki for working out such a system, nor could Government assistance be rendered them in a more useful or unobjectionable manner; and from such an example the whole of the Fay of Plenty and the East Cape would soon be sensibly affected. Whereas, if allowed to run, as they are’at present in the mischievous work of “Runanga whakawas,” all their other and more important affairs will be neglected and the whole of the Whakatohea ami Urewcra tribes thrown into a state of internal discord. Their great Council of 70 members actually sat during live long nights, in adjudicating a case which ended aflor ail in a verdict oi* Bs. and yet, Ishould think, these are men capable of .being raised to anything within the scope of Maori capacity. At W'airoa, on the Tarawera Lake, I'found a model runanga, acting under a very excellent chief called Te Kepa, and in cooperation with Parakaia, the Government Assessor of that place, but“then ; they have the rare advantage of being advised in everything by their missionarv, the Rev. Mr. Spencer and his intelligent and' indefatigable lady. These Natives give hearty attention to improvements of many kinds in houses, fences, roads, bridges and mills ; and if Te Kepa, who is a Church teacher, could be obtained from Archdeacon Brown, and appointed as chief Assessor, this district would soon feel the effect of the change; for old men like Parakaia are not suitable for that office, however well they might do as the head of the; - runanga. I wrote a note to Tanranga to that effect, but the Venerable the Archdeacon declined !o part with so useful a teacher. And yet on the opposite side of the lake, amongst the Ngatirangihihi 1 found the runanga all at fault meddling, and judging, and fining on all hands; and it took me two whole days and nights in goting them into order, and re-adjusting the most unreasonable of cases. At Eotorno, I met the Arawa and Ncatiwhakaue tribes, to whom I explained the whole of our English system (as far as suitable to them-selves);-and after due discussion, they wrote a letter of proposal to ilis Excellency the Governor for the appointment of a Resident Magistrate, when their Runanga Maori would bo given up. In consequence of this, and of the general state of good feeling throughout the Bay of Plenty, Mr. Clarke was’gazetted for that circuit. At Patatere, each village had its runanga ; but all subject, more or less, to the influence of their head Chief, Paora Te Uatai, who lost his life at Taranaki. I spent a night with him on tiic Thames, and found him to be a very intelligent and agreeable old man. At Maungatautari, our Assessor, Tioriori, sat with me on a ease of dispute between some of the Arawa and Ngatihana, and I could not but admire the judicious and straightforward maunoriu which he acted. The termer party were cast in a sum of £5, which was cheerfully paid on the spot. But here also was a runanga silling independently of flic Assessor, and widen recently mulcted a resident Pakeha to a very unreasonable amount, but, after explanation, they allowed me to overrule the judgment. Tioriori is a man of powerful influence in the whole of that and the Fpper Waikato district, and should not he allowed bv the Government to lapse away into the Maori King party, as he seems at present to he doing. And yet, in this ease, a circumstance occurred showing how strongly the head Chiefs objected to (he law being carried out when against themselves. At his own instance a stockyard had been erected for the impounding of all cattle found trespassing ; when, as chance would have it ,five of his own herd were amongst the first to be impounded, nor would the keeper let them go unless the fees were paid. On this, the Chief made a long blustering speech on the unreasonableness, Ac., of impounding bis cattle with the rest, and suceoded with his hatchet in opening out a way of escape, and so let them go. This was at once the means of breaking up a good system, well adapted to the place, ami to which all the people had given their consent. On the Upper Waikato and Waipa rivers, there were Runangas every were, but none in such full and active exercise as about Rangiawhia and Mohoanui, and strange work they seemed to bo making of it in many instances. Each hapu had its own leading Runanga, and all those bodies were continually being brought into collision with caeli other ; so much so, (hat on my arrival at Rangiawhia, one of these misunderstandings had very nearly terminated in bloodshed. Ilori Te Warn, with his son Taati and many others broke olf from the system whilst I was there, submitted their cases to my Court, and joined in requesting that a Resident Magistrate should bo appointed to Otawhao, the former official residence of Dr. llarsant. My visit to Waikato being professedly not so much of an official as of a friendly character, and the collection of such information, precluded me fron seeing so mud) of the Runangas as I otherwise should have done. But from all that I did see and hear, I came to the same conclusion as in other places, namely, that the Government should leave no step untried to bring the whole of these councils under its own central management, if ever anything like order and efficient control is expected to result from them. But if, as hitherto, each tribe or village is allowed to receive or reject the direction of the Government according to its own will, then I cannot see how any system whatever can be made to work efiliciently, or anything like proper order be maintained in the country. The mere spirit of opposition alone, and the love of notoriety, will breed dissentients against the most perfect of institutions, if the Maorios once know that the final decision will rest with themselves. At Napier, the native Council seems to be getting louder in its pretensions, which is not to be wondered at, considering all the reports they have received fron Waikato and Taranaki during the last eighteen months. I had the good fortune to meet about sixty of (hem together at the erection of their mill, near Clive, and I could not but think, as I listened to them, what good stuff was theic for all (he purposes of life, if their energies could only be dircctcs and sustained in a right channel. And the same observation

I made at Wairarapa, Kapiti, Wanganui, and other districts, in each of which are to be found many Native Chiefs of middle age, who only require to know that insubordination to law will not be tolerated, to mate them the most submissive of subjects and the most effectual of coadjutors. Most of the Runangas contain men who are constantly advising the rest’to act with caution and decency, and in some cases their counsel is adopted and peace reigns throughout the district, but in other cases (and by far the most numerous) a lew of the more thoughtless and energetic will seize the reins, and bring disgrace upon their brethren by proceedings of the most irregulardescription. And it requires a man to be con stanily moving amongst them and that too in the character of a Magistrate, to feel the full effects ot such proceedings in the obstacles which they oppose to the general efficiency of his work. In many of tiie Runangas there is a strong determination evinced to interfere with the Europeans residing in the district. But for this, the latter have in a great measure to thank themselves, by frequently appealing to the Runangas in the first instance for the collection of their debts, &e. Then, when in return they are cited to appear before the Council for some debt or trespass of tbeir own, they complain loudly the interlereueo. and decline to comply, leaving the Maoris to take by force what is refused to ttheir authority : and in so doing many of them are satisfied that they are doing right. Some of the Europeans also will make use of the Resident Magistrate or Maori Runauga, just as it suits their convenience, and then, in their turn, the Natives will often refuse to appear, saying that they do not acknowledge our jurisdiction. For this, in the present state of things, there appears to be no remedy but patience. In the foregoing observations, I have purposely omitted to notice the great waste of time, unnecessary consumption of food and irregularity of behaviour, especially' amongst the younger people attending the too frequent recurrence of these Eunangas. Most of the Missionaries have given up the old system ot holding <t huis” or general assemblies, because of the evil which accompanied them : and 1 am satisfied that much of the popularity which attaches to these miscellaneous gatherings ot both sexes (unattended either by their Ministers or Monitors) is attributable to the opportunity which theya fiord of undiscovered indulgence in secret sin; though I am sorry' to say that alter thirty years of Missionary' instruction the Native people generally' do not appear to feel that such connection amongst the youn" or unmarried is in anywise sinful. But it °is to he hoped that on the adoption of a more regular system, such evils would in time be extracted,land nothing but the good remain. In conclusion, I must again apologize for the length and tediousness of my remarks, which nothing but a painful experience of the difficulties described, could have induced me to make. H. 11. Turtojt, Resident Magistrate. Auckland, November 20th, 18G1.