EXTERMINATING NATIVES.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 103, 21 December 1868, Page 306

EXTERMINATING NATIVES.

; ose .write,;. if it; did;;not -“know,; {better?) : haa7late?3|{|M^;ehde£^mjhgi4P^f ercise'" the public mind, by publishing aii article with the above heading. Is '- dead and silly^lSeasbn; that indices mu^fftii^wisie! ; t6{ihduige{in;:o{style {of;wWting^tlmt andsehsatibnal,too,ofthew6rstkind? Whatever answer there ihay be { to thiaquestiqh/br rathbr-thbba {questions, it {is evidehT that.its eaitorial chair is not any d,ireci descendant of ;Solomon, nor eyen (terrible to edn template) areproduction of the *5 Ad{ .jCidchtqii.? _. For theV; satisfac-

tion .{of commonplace”, people it ,is pleasant to ’ see how, ever and? anon, old, {and {mayhaip, almost: forgotten, receive fresh. yerificatioh; this tipno it is “ a little knowledge is

a -dangerous thing:” Having discovered ‘(or more probably had sent to to its editor by some enthusiastic subscriber to the Aborigines Protection (?) Society) an article, bearing on :a recent Haiihau outbreak, this journal of supposed'gredt repute lashes itself into a fit of'virtuous indignation with regard to the terribly savage nature of New Zealand colonists, and in doing so displays to its readers its ignorance.; of that colony, its inhabitants, and their doings. This wonderful journal, and would-be (judge of its? fellow-country-men in New Zealand asserts “ that the; colonist takes possession; of the land bitherto.occupied by another race, and liis first, anxiety is to sweep that race from • off the earth.” Has this “■well informed” contemporary never heard lor never reacfhow.every acre of land obtained from the Maoris was duly -bought and paid for (in some in stances three times over)- up ; to until the' last war, when it became necessary to teach the Maori a lesson long ago learnt by .aU civilised nations (and which ■he himsclf practised under u the law ; of “ utu”)—that “he w:ho makes the war. must pay for/ itl” { And even in the {confiscation following the termination of the: struggle large

tracts of land of the best kind were marked off as “ native reserves.” (!)

If these; colonists are {so' desiroiiS of sweeping, the Maori race off the face of Ne w Zealand, how comes -it about that they - voluntarily tax themselves to the extent of thousands a yea.r ; for the education aad .preservation of the Maoris ? Theserquestions, or. rather facts we merely, put, as showing the profound knowledge possessed'by our contemporary of New Zealand affairs. It {is '.only necessary to add that on merely selfish grounds R is{ to {the interest of the colonists; to preserve the natives ; they are igood {customers to the and whbre European labor is scarce, 'they prove;'-most' useful auxiliaries,- besides... which; they {{are large producers of articles that lead to a most profitable barter. 1 :

"Tlhe,article'-in-,question, upon which our contemporary founds its “ discourse/’ isy as isineicessary sttoh , only qubted bydititle sections; w,e .print ijf; irt extensa. in another page; [requesting our headers to observe that the whole of the remarks have refer: ence to" an outbreak ; at 1 Taranaki, ushered ih murders.* -It is .against; this tfibe] jtbsit has proved itself for the & great Curse of New Zealand,’ the -New ,Zea : landHeralddesires'sticksteps should he takenanshall'^ chief,notoniytotheJEuropeans s ,butalso tribe whose hand is against every man. Tt^^pTal^Cprpy^e'^f-infinijte/Sisr^ce^toi^lt^' nil protection sb hardlyqf'Cold^^^^ war effected/ hear the , tale, and behold each ruin/ numbers of which inlay -he |i^|^n^q^>^iu|||p^iei»|^ek|dob. pieces,and v theit^ it their boundeh duty to exterminate

'cbncon^i^^j^^iiyLfesi^were Jcfibwii^''iiir^vcin*' mination, ;was: called unanimous voice: of the public and the Bressv& ted' by the Sepoys th&e* Maoris i have added that of . cannibalism; their • first dish..; being, a .missionary;' whoi during His long life amongst them had-f * gone about- is iAeise men, 'no^'ibhe^f^efidridl. b o ( dy of ( ; naltiyhsi; !|iwho calk for^ ment7» * In England, we destroy rnad dogsirwhojpoor unreasoning br.utes, commit damage; we hang the - man who .kills his fellow-man - j but inNew Zealairicl our; fellow-countrymenAreito be quite quiet! while their kith ; and kin are murdered and ;eaten, andt . their houses . destroyed, and a land; ,which has been reclaimed- at; enormous expense of time, energy and perseverance from a wilderness in order that it may become a. second England, would sink once more into a true “abode of darkness,” as it was 50 years ago, if we. listened to the ignorant teachers we name, but Hew Zealand ! lias too bright and glorious a future, and, with its 217,000 Europeans must, fulfil its high' destiny. - (

These remarks have, exceeded our usual limit, .but we dare not close them without calling, our contemporary’s attention to the 'fact that the colonists entirely eschew the idea of an English Army. Truly New Zealand cplonists have had enough of that; kind of imperial “ meddle and muddle” which has cost needlessly hundreds of lives and saddled New Zealand with a debt grievous to be be borne. ?No one who really knows Hew Zealand but is aware that an array commanded-by Geherals only used to (civilised strategy must of necessity become a failure; hence we see that .a colonial ; colonel with 500 colonial troops has undertaken to find the murderers rand bring them to; justice. Therefore, despite the dreadful jeremiad of our 1 learned(?) 'contemporary- Englishmen; at . home may rejoice in the .knowledge that: this threatened Hew Zealandnew.war will not add .a, fraction: to,, taxation, and that the proper punishment of murderers will be carried out without any expense to the great English Em-pire-—while doubtless they will; gh ry in due time over the perils and dangers gone through and triumph achieved by the colonial troops —because- after all, “ why you see they are Englishmen.” t. : . . ' , , ,