THE MAORI FANATIC.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3770, 5 September 1907, Page 3

THE MAORI FANATIC.

A Whakatane correspondent supplies particulars of the latest eccentricities of Rua, The tohunga says that his great temple is just about to be finished. The building is round, with two storeys. When it is completed Rita will call a great meeting of the faithful, and select 80 members for the lower chamber and 12 members for the upper. Rna will occ:mv a throne, and appear as king. This will be the means of abolishing the present Parliament in Wellington. In October the Governor will proceed to Manngapobatu to see Rua. After a formal meeting between Rua and the Governor the latter will be sent back to Wellington to send boxes of gold to Rua, which will be distributed to the faithful. A letter from this Governor has reached Rua (so he says), iti which the Government purchase of all the Tuhoe lands is arranged, Rua to assess the value of the different classes of forest, swamp, and fern lands. Ruatoki settlement is in a parlous state, its foundations being all loose arid ready to give way. A great flood, 800 ft in depth, will submerge the valley, and drown all the inhabitants. This prophesy is aimed at Kereru, who has refused to join the Rua movement. An officer of the Matatua Maori Council was sent to Maungapohatu to collect the dog tax. On his arrival there Rua came out of his whare with an axe and threatened to kill him it he did not at once leave the place with his dog collars. Another native was also threatened with a gun for bringing away the body of a girl who had died. The people who have returned count up 46 deaths at Maungapohatu this winter, mostly children who have been done to death by the absurd religious observances imposed by Rua on the people.