REPLY' OF THE GOVERNOR TO THE ABORIGINES PROTECTION SOCIETY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 189, 26 August 1864, Page 1 (Supplement)

REPLY' OF THE GOVERNOR TO THE ABORIGINES PROTECTION SOCIETY.

The following was the reply of his Excellency the Governor to the Aborigines Protection Society : Government House, Auckland, April 7. Sin,- —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th of January, transmitting me an address, wheih had been very numerously and influentially signed, in which a hope was expressed that I would avail myself of the first favourable opportunity which presented itself of endeavouring to terminate by negotiation the war unhappily existing in New Zealand, and especially that I would listen to any overtures of peace which any of the natives who have taken up arms may make. Your letter and the address which it encloses shall be forwarded to my responsible advisers for their consideration, but in the meantime I cau have no hesitation in saying that the wishes and instructions of his Grace the Duke of Newcastle impose on mo as a duty that which is entirely in consonance with my own feelings and with yours, viz., that I should instantly listen to any reasonable overtures that the natives in arms may make, and that I should avail myself of any opportunity that offers of obtaining permanent 'peace for tho colony. lam quite confident that general public opinion in this country will support mo in taking this course, and would expect mo to do so. V ith regard to the confiscation of portions of the lands of natives now in arms, this point has to be considered—that mercy requires that future contests between the two races should in as far as practicable be prevented, and that there are many tribes in Zealand who have taken no part in. the present lamentable conflict, yet who might hereatter be led into similar acts ; whilst nothing would more certainly lead to the extermination of the native race than a series of contests such as that which is now being carried on. The object of the local Government, therefore, has been to secure to that numerous part of tho native population who have taken no active part in the present war the whole of their landed possessions, and also by laws passed expressly for this object to give the lauds held by such natives a value greater than they have previously had for their owners, by in all respects giving them equal rights in their landed possessions with those enjoyed by their European fellow-subjects, tho intention in this respect being to show'that tho rights of peaceable citizens, of whaever race, are carefully respected, and to give the natives so valuable a stake in the country that they are not likely hereafter to hazard it lightly. On the other hand, it was thought necessary by an example to show that those who rose in arms against their fellow-subjects of another race suffered such a punishment for doing so as might deter others from embarking in a similar career, it is therefore, proposed to deprive such persons of their landed properties, and to provide for the future safety of the colony by occupying such lands with an European population. But, even in the case of these persons, it is intended that sufficient lands shall be reserved for themselves and their descendants, to be held in the same tenure as lands aro henceforth to be secured to the rest of the native population. That these measures will bo carried out in a spirit of liberal generosity and of mercy I earnestly hope, and will do my best to insure, and in mv efforts for this end I believe that I shall be sup*ported by a large majority in this colony. \ou will much oblige me by returning this answer to these noblemen and gentlemen who have signed the address which you forwarded to me.— 1 have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant, [Signed] G. Get:y. F. W. Chesson, Esq., Secretary to the Aborigines Protection Society.