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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume III, Issue 2, 30 March 1863, Page 1

"Good books are like true friends; they will never fail us; never cease to instruct—never cloy."

Our last issue contained the decision of the Governor on the dispute between the Chiefe Matiu Te Aranui, and Te Tirarau, With a few remarks thereon. We insert in the present number the evidence taken before the arbitrators, on the first and second day of examination. The care and patience manifested throughout this protrajfced investigation, will be long remembered by the Kaiparaand Ngapuhi Chiefs. And, certainly the whole of the proceedings will contrast most favourably with the proceedings and course of action, excited and' uncertain, pursued by the natives in similar circumstances. ■*-■■- The task allotted to hWExcellertfy as umpire iii this case, has been already glanced at, and is seen from many points of view, to be onerous, particularly so from the fact, that no oasis of agreeraenfccould be fixed by

the contending parties, either before, or after an actual collision had taken place. The Arbitrators, on the other hand, confessed also their inability to unravel the knotty question; and meeting with barriers of Maori usages on all they were compelled to solicit the aid of Sir <*eorge Grey, whose great experience, and mature jndgmeiit, qualified him to give a decision at once simple and just. How long this land dispute would hare continued, —oyer what extent of country it would hate spread ; and how many valuable teres-'would have baen lost to the New Zealand tribes, had not the Governor opportunely met the combatants face to face, we wtft not determine; but we are certain that many tribes would have been involved in the quarrel, and much blood recklessly shed, before the dispute could be settled. • The natives do not require to be told, that a human being is of infinitely greater value than all the land in the universe ; but strange to say, altliough this fact is admitted by them, when.land disputes unhappily arise, they evince a readiness to kill their fellow men as surprising as it is wicked. * Why do the Maori say one •ihin£, and practice another ? Why ffc> they tell us that it is wrong to take life, and upon the slightest provocation rush to arms? We shall be better pleased to find, that the professions of moral goodness made by them, are practically: exhibited before the world, —-to find that the vieiouspropenaity of resorting to brute force has been abandoned, in relation to territorial

right-and to know that the Maori have determined to bring their disputed land claims before a proper tribunal. There is no reason why the Natives, generally, shofcJd not follow the good example set- them by the Ngatitautahi and Ngatiwhakaeke, of Kaikohe; the Ngatitoki, of Mangakahia; and the Ngaiporou, of Mareikura, *ko settled, by arbitration in Auckland in February last. th*»ir land dispute, which for a lengthened period had caused frequent outbursts of violent feeling; and much loss of life. There is much to be done by the New Zealanders generally, before they can claim any affinity with moral excellence. Let them, then, set to work in earnest; let them convince the civilized peoples of other countries ■ that the Maori are capable of beingl civiliaed; and let them prove themselves, in every respect, to be worthy of the paternal solicitude of their European friends.