THE ABORIGINES’ PROTECTION SOCIETY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 177, 3 June 1864, Page 3

THE ABORIGINES’ PROTECTION SOCIETY.

Thb following is the memorandum addres

set! to bis Excellincy the Governor by his responsible advisers, and a copy of which has been forwarded to the Right Hon. Earl Chichester. Another copy is to be forwarded by his Excellency the Governor to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. MEMORANDUM for his Excellency the Governor. 1. Ministers have received a copy of the letter addressed to His Excellency the Governor by Lord Chichester and several other gentlemen connected with the “Aborigines Protection Society” in London, relative to the war which is now raging in NeW Zealand between the Maories and “their English rulers,” on which they beg to make the following remarks. 2, The only two points in the letter which appear to call for any remark arc ; First, the hope expressed by his Excellency the Governor “.would avail himself of the first, favorable opportunity of endeavoring to terminate the war by negotiation, and especially that he would listen* to any overtures of peace which any of the natives who have taken up arms might make, and Second, a protest against the confiscation of the lands of the rebel tribes.

3. With regard to the First of these points, Ministers regret to state that down to this date, the rebels have not as a body, nor have any Heading tribes, made the smallest overture of peace. At the commencement of the present unhappy struggle, they appear to have entertained a firm conviction that they could drive the Europeans out of the island, and they commenced by a desperate attack upon Auckland, the seat of Government. Early in the struggle, Thompson, who may be regarded as the leader of the rebel, party, announced in writing, under his own hand, his determination to carry the war to the utmost extremity, not even sparing unarmed persons. Acting in this spirit, the Maoris throw themselves into the heart of the settled districts of the Province of Auckland, murdering and destroying the settlers within 17 miles of the town, cutting down the Government flagstaff at the Manukau, the western harbor of the City of Auckland itself, and driving from their farms and homesteads a tolerably dense population of agricultural settlers over a space of some twenty miles square. So sudden was their onslaught, and so completely did they succeed in getting possession of the country close around Auckland, that it was not until after 'the fall of Rangiriri, five months at least after the struggle commenced, that they were driven back and routed out of the wooded ranges to such an extent that even the city and the immediate suburbs of Auckland could be considered safe. Since that period they have been driven or escaped from one stronghold after another till they have been compelled to evacuate the whole of tbe Waikato proper ; they have retreated before our troops to a distance of i2O miles from Auckland, and their main body is understood to ’be broken into two or three sections, the principal of which appears to have descended upon Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, where with the resident rebels of that district they are again defying the British troops and throwing up aggressive works within a distance of three miles from our posts. During all this time they have not as a body sh own the smallest symptom of any desire to terminate the war, nor have made anv over'tures of peace. On the contrary, they continue to make the most strenuous efforts to recruit their forces by enlistment among the East Coast tribes, whom they encourage to join them by the most monstrous falsehoods, which arc circulated by express authority of Thompson and the other leaders, and by means of which they have hitherto succeeded in deluding considerable numbers into a belief that the rebellion has been successful, and that they have only to join it to see the final establishment in triumph of the Maori Xing. (See Appendix A). It is a well-known fact that in their inter-tribal wars, the natives invariably regarded any overtures of peace as a sign that the party who makes it is beaten, that it is an acknowledgment of defeat. It is a matter, therefore, of the utmost delicacy to initiate snch negotiations, as nothing could ho more fatal to the prospect of actual peace than that the rebels should be able to announce to the distant or non-committcd tribes that we had placed ourselves in that position. Such tentative efforts in that direction as (ho Go vermnent have deemed it prudent to make, have at once been seized upon by Thompson as indications of weakness, and he has on other occasions encouraged his followers (and no doubt it lias operated to keep them in arms) by assurance that “ the Governor and General are now suing for peace.” The time, however, has now arrived, when by the fall of Maungatautari, the last of the fortified strongholds of Waikato, the conquest of that district and its inhabitants is practically complete, though the hitter may, no doubt, still carry the war into the other parts of the island, as they arc doing at Tnuranga. Still the event referred to seemed to Ministers to afford a fair opportunity for making a general announcement of the term’s on which the rebellion might be terminated, by the issue by bis Excellency the Governor of a proclamation, and Ministers have accordingly advised Ids Excellency to issue one, the terms of which have been settled hy them after much earnest thought and discussion.

While such has been the action of the Government in reference to the rebels as a body, the door has never been closer! against such individuals as might be desirous of laying down their arms and returning to their allegiance, without any personal punishment whatever. Numerous efforts have been made by the Government to induce them to do so. On the IGth December last, immediately after the capture of Ngaruawahia (the King’s palace) a document was sent to the rebels, in which their principal chiefs were invited to visit the Governor, in order that they might learn the future intentions of the Government towards them, and they were distinctly assured under the hand of the Governor, that if the rebels would give up their arms, they would not be made prisoners, nor be in any way molested in their persons for any part they may have taken in the present or any former war. On the 6th January last, the Colonial Secretary issued instructions to the Resident Magistrates as to the course to be pursued towards re-

bels who might surrender, and an abstract of these instructions was circulated, tnd has been kept before the eyes of the natives in every 1 part of the island. The terms have been generally admitted, at least by those not actually come in under the terms offered, given up their arms, and signed a declaration of allegiance. On the 30th March last, immediately previous to the evacuation of Maungatautari, William Nero, a friendly chief of the highest rank, closely allied to the leading rebels, informed the Colonial Secretary personally and by letter that he had reason to believe that the rebels were desirous of making peace, but were deterred by the fear that the leaders would be hung; and he suggested that he might be allowed to proceed to the rebel camp in order to disabuse their minds of this supposition. The Colouial Secretary at once acquiesced in the proposal. (See correspondence appended—Appendix B.) Nero proceeded on his mission, but entirely failed, not even an interview being granted with the leading chiefs. Two or three men of rank whom he persuaded to come in and sign a declaration that in two days they ivould bring in all their tribe, left again on the following day under pretence that they would return with all their people, amounting to some two hundred souls. They did not, however, even return themselves, but very adroitly contrived to thrust upon us some sixty or seventy women, children, and decrepid old men, who were a burden on their commissariat and an impediment to their movements. This was all that was gained on our side by this well-intentioned but certainly not very successful attempt to remove what was believed by some to be the only obstacle to the restoration of peace. It should bo observed also that during those negotiations, Thompson, by letter addressed to Nero, affected a great desire to see peace established, yet at the very moment he was. writing such letters he appears to have been organizing a new campaign.

Ministers repeat that iu their opinion the very greatest caution ought to be exercised in pressing the natives to come to terms. Every one -who knows the Maori must know that, even in the ordinary business of life, any exhibition of anxiety to get him to do anything 'is the certain way to make him hang back from doing it—his mind, cunning and suspicious beyond that of most races,, inferring at once that such anxiety is a sign of weakness on the part of him who shows it, and that by standing out lie can obtain his own terms,'however extravagant and unreasonable. On the other hand, Ministers have entire faith in the natural results of an actual defeat of the rebel armies enforced with prudence, with mercy, and in such broad general principles as may operate not on the mind of one“one individual here and there, but iu the feelings and sentiments of the entire nation, both that part which has engaged in active hostilities, and that which has not.

And it must be borne in mind that this latter portion of the native community is to be considered in what is done equally with the actual rebel. I t would be of little benefit to patch up peace in Waikato if rebellion were by that to be encouraged in Cook’s Straits’ or at Alutriri. Waikato lias been and is the bead of the rebellion, and the neck of it must be broken there. If a final, permanent, and complete subjugation of M aikato is elfected, this will 1 in all human probability, be Ihe last instance width will occur of of any combined resistance to Eritish authority and liritish law. ~{ in our anxiety to spare the erring Maori race, we press and persuade them to come to terms before they are really convinced of our superiority, and before wo have taken those material guarantees for the future which it is contemplated to take, we shall to a certainty have at some future day to repeat the lesson which we are now endeavouring to teach. If the present struggle shoiud be terminated without convincing the natives all throughout A r cw Zealand of the folly of trying their strength against the Europeans, and without a sufficient material guarantee being taken, now outbreaks will undoubtedly occur from time to time which can only end in chronic hostility of the race and in wars of extermination. Ihe only hope of saving a remnant of the Maori race is the termination of the present struggle by their full acknowledgment of their mistake, their full acceptance of its consequences, and submission to the supremacy of law. It will not be done by treaties of peace which might leave the impression that they are independent people, and at liberty in any future imaginary casus belli to take up the sword. In concluding this part of their remarks, Ministers would observe that no time lias yet been allowed for the results of the late campaign to bear their natural fruits. It is only three wrecks since the final blow was struck in Waikato by the capture of Orakau and evacuation of Maungataufari, the mind ol the rebel cannot yet have fully realized to itself the magnitude of the defeat ‘and its consequences ; at all events it does not appear to to have done so. A little patience on our side may, and there is little doubt will, enable ns to reap the fruit of the late costly military operations while, as already hinted, undue pressure brought to bear on the natives to induce them to como°to terms, or undue anxiety exhibited on our part to escape the’prolongation of the war, will probably have exactly the reverse effect to that which is intended.

One thing must be borne in mind. This is not a war between two independent nations living on separate territory, perhaps a hundred [miles apart. When this rebellion is put down, we have to govern the Maori, to reinstate him in our community, to live with him, to come under numerous mutual responsibilities social and political. A war simply betwccnindcpendentnationsinvolvesno such consequences, and may be terminated on a very different basis, while its termination may be brought about by negotiations which would be very unsuitable means by which to terminate a struggle of the sort which exists in this colony. 4. As regards the question of the confiscation of Maori lands, against which a protest is raised Ministers beg to make the following observations:

In the first place, it is a custom which has been always recognised by the Maories themselves. In their wars, a conquered tribe not only forfeited its lands, but the vanquished survivors were reduced to a tributary position, and large numbers to per-

sonal slavery. The Government of New Zealand has always recognised such a title as valid. Tho Waikatos themselves are paid by Governor Hobson for such a proprietary right over the district of Taranaki; and a very large proportion, if not an absolute majority, of the purchases of land from the Maories in various parts of the island; have been made on the basis of a recognition of this right of conquest. There is therefore nothing in the course proposed abhorrent to tho moral sense or previous habits of thought of the Maori race. (See Appended C.) In tho second place, they never do consider themselves conquered unless their lands are taken. In previous wars between the British Government and the Maori, which were not followed by confiscation, friendly Maories have expressed their surprise at our moderation. “ What is the good,” they have said, “of taking the man ? You should have taken his land, then that work would have been finished. In the third place, when this struggle began, the Maories openly avowed their intention of taking the land and farms of the Europeans when they should have driven us into the sea. It was not uncommon, even before the war commenced, for some of the more insolent to come to a settler’s house, and after looking the place over to say, “ Ah, this house will suit we very well; that room will do for my wife, that shall be my bed ; wait a little ;by and by you will see.” An instance of this is within the personal knowledge of a Minister. The feeling was general among the tribes whicli engaged in, or sympathised with, the King movement, after it assumed an aggreasive character, hostile towards the European occupants of this country. Fourthly, the chief object of the Government is, however, neither punishment nor retaliation, but simply to provide a material guarantee against the recurrence of these uprisings against the authority of law and the legitimate progress of colonisation which are certain to occur if the rebel is allowed to retain his lands after involving the colony in so much peril, disaster, and loss. The natives are fond of war, as almost their only source of excitement. The practice of incessant hostilities with each other for centuries has become a second nature, and though circumstances have to a great extent suspended the operation of their military repulses for some few years, they have neither lost their skill in fighting, nor their taste for it. If they can have the excitement and many advantages of a summer’s campaign when it pleases them, with liberty to retain their • lands when it is over without suffering any losses except their wretched dwellings and a season’s crops, while the colony is nearly broken down by the losses and cost of the war, they will not easily be deterred from renewing hostilities. Mere defeat in the field will not deter them. There must be some more substantial and material guarantee. The guarantee which the Government has proposed, is to introduce colonists chiefly direct from Great Britain into those districts now sparsely inhabited by the rebels, and from which they make their inroads into settled districts. It is only on the lands of the rebels, at least in Waikato, that population can be so established. But it is not and never has been proposed to leave them without an ample quantity of land for their future occupation. A quantity much larger per head than the average occupation of Europeans in this island, is proposed to be set apart them, on a graduated scale, according to rank and other circumstances. These lands would no longer be held under the pernicious system of tribal right, but as individualized properties under the security to each proprietor as a crown grant. Ministers believe that nothing has been or can be more pernicious to the native race than the possession of large territories under tribal titles which they neither use, know how to use, nor can bo induced to use. It has, in the opinion of tho Ministers, been the principal cause of the slow progress, and in some respects (particularly their physical condition) of the actual retrogression and decay of the race. And though, while, the Maoris acknowledged the supremacy of a protecting Government, and professed submission toi’law, it was just to respect these semi-feudal proprietary rights which they declined to surrender, yet now that they have abandoned their allegiance, renounced all submission to law, and staked their all against our all, there seems no longer any reason for respecting privileges which are believed to be equally injurious to their moral, social, and political condition. In the present state of the colony it it is not a question to be argued by reference to the rights of tho Maori in times past, when as an independent people, they were recognized as competent to surrender or retain whatever power or property they might please. It can scarcely be held that, after the events of the last year, the rebel Maori is entitled to take this position. On the other hand, the struggle has become one for the bare existence of the colony, which, though now apparently secured for the time by the results of the late campaign, but still only held by military posts, it is no less the duty of the Government to take such precautions as may prevent its being again imperilled. To deliberate and almost unanimous opinion of both Houses of Assembly determined the course of action in the matter which forms the basis of the policy of the Ministry in reference to the confiscation of the lands of those who have been engaged in the rebellion. The deliberate opinion of Ministers is, that to terminate the present insurrection without confiscation of the lands of the rebels, making, of course, ample provision for their fu-

ture, would be to surrender every advantage that has been gained, and practically to announce that British rule over the Maori race must cease, and the Northern Island be abandoned as a safe place of residence for her Majesty’s European subjects. 4 WILLIAM EOX. sth May, 1861. Appendix A. Extract of a letter from the Bishop of Waiapn , dated Turanga, (Poverty Bay), April 15tb, 1861. “ The reports which are convened are of the most absurd character, such as you have had instances of in other quarters—that the losses sustained by the soldiers are something enormous ; that the

Queen will not send any more soldiers ; that England is at war with America and Russia, and other parts of the world; that tho soldiers have been driven out of Rangiriri and Meremere; that Auckland is nearly depopulated ; and that the natives of the the Coast have only to go there and take possession. The latest accounts which arrived while I was at Waiapu, spoke of 156 of Ngatiwhakaue being killed, and the Coast natives were invited to go and finish the rest, and drive away the soldiers from Maketu and Tauranga. It was to little purpose that I explained the onward mai’ch of the troops to Awamutu and Maungatautari. My story was all English and one-sided. I pressed upon their attention tho assurance of the Governor, that the lands of the natives who remain quiet will not be interfered with, but that those who go to fight will lose their land. Those who are gone to Waikato have hold out threats against all who remain at home—that on their return from destroying the ‘pakehas,’ they will serve them in like manner, because they would not join with them.” Extract franco, private letter from a Missionary on the East Coast. “ The most absurdly exaggerated reports are in circulation about our losses at Waikato. When the poor Avon (steam transport on the river) was injured, she'had on board 1,000 men, all of whom perished. The General mnsthave more lives than a cat. He was killed at Waikato, and £2O taken out of each of his boots. He went in disguise as a minister to ore of the pas (I think Pnterangi). The bell was rung, and he took his station in the pulpit, but counted each person as he entei’ecl. As the ‘ karakia’ (Church Service) was proceeding, a Maori noticed some part of the uniform under tho surplice : the alarm was given and the unfortunate general was despatched. There are several other stories of tho same character flying about, which are all implicitly believed.” Extractfrom a letter written by 7Fi Thompson to natives on the East Coast, professing to report the engagement at Rangiaohia. (The actual loss to the natives was above 100, and only one horse is said to have been killed on our side.) “ Those tribes then went on, and came to close quarters, the other with the tomahawk. Twenty of the pakehas fell. It was a hand-to-hand fight. Then came the cavalry. They now came upon our party. I called out Tiro.’ One volley was fired, and every horse was killed. Not one escaped. There was end. Ngatiraukawa lost three. Turewcra two, Tuwharetoa two, and Rangiwewehi one, These were all our dead. As for the pakehas they had the bed [of death] to themselves. “The General has proposed to makepeace. “ It is ended. “ From ,! Wi Tamehana.” Extract from a private letter from Coolc's Straits : “A man from Rangiaohia (Waikato) has come here. * * * * * * * * * * * * Ho has damaged his cause by exaggerated statements, among others that 1,500 soldiers were killed a Rangiaohia, and that Bishop Selwyn was now second in command, and rode about with a sword at his side.” APPENDIX B. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN VT. NERO AND MR. EOX. Auckland, 30th March, ISG4. O Friend ! O Mr. Fox! —This is the cause of my thoughts which caused me to speak of our going to Win. Thompson and the Chiefs of Waikato, viz., their desire to come towards life [meaning to leave off fighting], also to give up their guns, cartouche-boxes, and other munitions of war. The only reason for delaying [carrying into execution] these thoughts is fear lest after having given up their weapons. Win. Thompson and Matutacra should be siczcd and hung. This is their fear. Therefore I reflected and said, let mo bo let go to inspect these words that I may see the truth of their words or the falsity. If I see that it is true (as stated), I will let you know. Enough. From your friend Wi Nero. To Mr. Fox. Auckland, 31st March, 1864. Friend Wm. Nero, —I have read your letter in which you say that the road to life for Wm. Thompson and the chiefs of Waikato is stopped, because they are afraid if they give up their weapons Wm. Thompson and Matutacra will be hung ; and you ask that you may be allowed to go to tell them whether this thought is true or false. Friend William ! great is your love for Waikato to save these men from destruction. This is good. The Government also desires that they should not perish. But that thought of theirs is wrong altogether. The word of the Government is, that all will be spared if they lay down their arms and agree to live under the Queen’s lay. Their land will be gone to the Queen, but they will be allowed enough to live on well. A Crown grant will be given to each. This word is for Matutacra, for Tarapipipi, for all Waikato ; none are excepted but the murderers. Lot not these men then be afraid ; but let them be quick in giving up their arms, for otherwise the General will not be held in—he will go on till the arms of the rebels arc laid down. This is a true word. Now if you like to go, go. If you will not go, that also is well. This is that your love for Waikato may save the lives of those men, of Matutacra, of Thompson, and the others. From your loving friend. Te Pokiiia. APPENDIX C. The custom of confiscation from a variety of causes is a fixed one among the natives, and has been practised for centuries in every part of the Colony. When Captain Fitzroy failed to take the Wairan plains after the massacre of 1843, Rangihaeta, the principal actor on that occasion, said, “He paukena e pakeha the Governor is soft; he is a pumpkin.