A NEW POLITICAL FEATURE.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 15, 15 April 1867, Page 86

A NEW POLITICAL FEATURE.

V ! Z. Herald, March 30.) A. irsw political feature, and every satis* factory. to be found in the.fact that the; uativbifcliiefa of this province, are not qnlytakiiig active measures to individualise . their'title to land, bat are even taking part in the political movements of the pro* vihce. . yr. t . . /r Yesterday tire were shown a " requisition addressed to Mr'John Williamson, signed by twenty-two ■ of the principal chiefs of the Thames, Fiakoi Coromandel, and Mercury Bay districts,.calling upon that gen* ' tleman to offer- himself as a.candidate for the Superintendency. j.t i. The translation of the requisition runa as follows s*7vr r. To Mb. Williamson, membsr of 1 the great Bu~ nanga of New Zealand r . • We, the Undersigned' inhabitants of the-Pro-vince of Auckland, being , holders of land under Crown grants, &c., trying forwarded our voting papers for registration, ana. being sensible of your high moral integrity and large experience in public affairs, request that you will allow yonrself to be nominated for the office of Superintendent at the forthcoming election. March 28,1867. [TElere follow the signatures and the places of resience of .the several chiefs.] The above requisition has been for* warded to a gentleman in town, for presentation; to Mr Williamson, and is by no means the only one of the kind which Mr Williamson! is likely to receive. Similar requisitions are, it is said, being numerously signed by the native chiefs in the northern part of New Zealand, more espe* cially in the Bay of Islands, and Yaipara districts, end will, doubtless, be forwarded in due course.

It is, as we have.said, a new feature iu local politics to have tbe Maori landholders and men of note taking active interest therein, but it is something more thau this. It is an evidence of the dawn of a new. and better day for the whole of the native race when their leading chiefs begin to appreciate their rights as fellow-citizens and equals with ourselves, and evince a desire to take a part in the election of those who, we trust, will, ere long, be the representatives in common of the two races living side by side, one amongst the other, and under the one law. These are not the only natives who, having obtained Crown Grants for their lands, have qualified themselves as electors. Between 40 and fifty native chiefs, we are informed, have sent in their voting papers for registration during the past three, months. The number is not a very large one, but like the grain of mustard seed, it is the beginning of’great results, and will grow into a large tree. :