TREATY OF WAITANGI

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1928, Page 1

TREATY OF WAITANGI

88th. ANNIVERSARY

(By Telegraph—Per Press Association.) WELDING TON, /Feb. 4. To-day is the eighty-eighth anniversary of the Treaty of YYaitangi, by which the representative chiefs of the Maori tribes of New* Zealand ceded to the Queen of England all their rights of sovereignty, and by which Her Majesty extended to the Maoris her Royal protection and imparted to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. Some of tire beneficial results of that compact were mentioned by the Prime Minister* (lit. Hon. J. G. Coates) in an address broadcast from Station 2 Y.A. to-night, reference being made also to the valiant way in which the natives had proved their loyalty during the Great YVar. The historical aspects of the Treaty were dealt with in a speech by the Hon Sir Maui Pomarc who also paid a tribute to the manner in which the present Government had interpreted the true spirit of the compact*. “The amicable relations of the complete understanding now existing between the Maori and Pakoha races resident in this Dominion, have boon brought about by the. Treaty ol N\ ailungi,” said the Prime Minister. “The continued recognition try various Governments of the moral rights reserved to the Maori- under that compact has been largelv responsible tor* this fraternal union of the two peoples. Ol this there can he no question. Al no time has lire Legislature of New Zealand I ice 11 callously unmindful or even indifferent to the' true spirit of tho Treaty. Never lias it been careless of the great trust imposed ui>oii it, as tiro guardian of native rights.” This commendable endeavour* to observe that justice which is the paramount interest of all men and all commonwealths. has finally led to the universal acceptance of the Treaty by the Native Race as the basis of their civil and political privileges. When, therefore, the great war broke out, the Maori tribes throughout New Zealand, recognising their 'responsibilities as British subjects by virtue of that Treaty, and without hesitation voluntarily offered the services of their sons lo fight the common foe in defence of the Empire This wonderful response was their generous recognition in 1911 of the protection given them by the British since 1810. The acceptance of their services on Gallipoli satisfied tlio intense desire of this Maori manhood lo prove to Iris Pakoha fellow subjects that the litoral tie which field them to llie British Crown, under the Treaty of Waitangi. was not one in name only. “Our Maori brethren have mitten the name of their race large oil our scroll of fame, anil that it is fitting

that we who escaped their glorious late in the defence of King and Empire should keep their memories green in our hearts and recollection as their* own people have done in the touching lament— Piko Xoi To Mnleiiga (when our heads are bowed with woe).

"This week, 88 years ago. was a momentous week for New Zealand,” added Sir .Maui Pomarc. “It: was in fact the most inti octant period in our history. This is the anniversary of Captain Hobson's Proclamation at Kororareka. of tire assumption of lire dui ie*. ot the "line ol Lieut .-Governor*. The next .step was to present to the Maori chiefs the draft of the Treaty or Waitangi for their signature. The Treaty provided firstly that the native chiefs should cede their sovereignty lo the Queen of England*, secondly that the lands, forests, fisheries and food places of the natives should remain their* inviolate, blit that the right of pre-emptive purchase of their* lands should Ire vested in the Crown; and thirdly that in return for these concessions, Her Majesty the Queen of England would afford the native race" her Royal protection and impart to them all the lights and privileges of British subjects.” On February Gth. 1810. forty-five chiefs of Ngapitha signed the Treaty. Sheets ol the Treaty were taken front one end of the Colony to the other, and so very nearly every chief of importance had a hand in its ratification. It was in this manner that New* Zealand became a dependency of the British Empire. “That piece of paper, the Treaty of Waitangi, is our New Zealand Magna Charts. lint let it always fie remembered that it was a purely voluntary act —this handing over of the superior maria of New Zealand to the British Queen. The Maoris did not take that -top without careful deliberation, they weighed every word. Some of the Ngapnhi were suspicious of the I’nkcha’s intention, and it was only through the efforts of two eminent men that they consented to accept the Queen’s matin. The names of those two men should never he forgotten. One was the Yen Archdeacon Henry NYilliams, a very gallant man, who before he became a missionary, had been a British Naval Officer, and had served against the French and the- Americans. The other of the Treaty was Tarnati Waka None, the great Ngapulri chief. “One of the causes of distrust among tint Maoris was that led up to Hone Hoke’s war a I the Bay of Islands in 1815, was the belief that the Pakehas, so. soon as they became strong enough intended to seize the Maori lands. This was the result of the attitude of British members of Parliament. Fortunately such a course of action was not followed.” “The Treaty is as much the charter of Maori liberty and nationalism as it was eighty years ago. To-day we can say that our troubles are at an end. The Maoris and Europeans are now as one. and we feel that tire happy position the Maori occupies in this beautiful land of ours, is due in a very groat degree to that simple little scrap of paper, signed by the grand old chiefs eighty-eight years ago—the Treaty of Waitangi—Kia Ora.”