The Marlborough Press. SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1860.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 31, 4 August 1860, Page 2

The Marlborough Press. SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1860.

The Council met on Tuesday and Wednesday, and were occupied principally in Committee on the Alteration of Roads Rill and the Appropriation Rill, which

were both passed; and the Council adjourned until Tuesday, the 18tli September, when the Waste Land Regulations and other matters will be taken into consideration.

A rumour having gone abroad that it was the intention of the Government to send soldiers into the Wairau, the Maories have been in a very unsettled state, and on Thursday last, a body of about thirty natives waited upon the Resident Magistrate and the Rev. Mr. Butt, at the Court House, Blenheim, to inquire into the truth of the rumour, and to express their feelings with regard to the present state of affairs. The Magistrate and Mr. Butt were addressed by Noah and Pukekowhatu, Ngatiawa chiefs ; Kanao, Enocha, and Joshua, Rangitani chiefs. The tone of all their speeches was of the most friendly and pacific character, expressing a wish to live under the shelter of the English laws and the protection of the Queen and Governor. Pukekowhatu, an aged chief, in particular, was most emphatic in his language. He said, “ I am chief of Motueka and Titapu ; all iny tribe will do as I say; we wish to live peaceably _and quietly under the English law; to be able to go peaceably to visit our: friends, to hold our feasts, and to bury our dead. Wo have no feeling in common with W. King, we do "not wish to have anything to do with him. We wish every man to attend to his own business.” Noah, in the course of his remarks, said, “We have heard that soldiers are coming to drive us from our lands. It has filled us with grief. You have heard what we have said, do not believe any rumours that may be spread abroad against us. We come to you that you may be a roof to us, and that we may dwell under your shadow. If the Pakcha thinks we are going to fight with him, you can tell them it is false. You see how peaceable disposed we are. There is but one thought at Massacre Bay, Motueka, Wakapuaka, Pelorus, Queen Charlotte Sound, Wairau, and the Kaikoras, and that is, for peace. We are sowing wheat for our support, that docs not look as if wc thought of war.” The Resident Magistrate then addressed them, and in the course of his remarks, said, “ I am glad you have come to me today, you have acted like Englishmen. You hoard a rumour of soldiers coming, and instead of brooding over it and nursing feelings of animosity or revenge, you come boldly to an officer of the Government to hear the truth. If you always do this, and seeh the protection of the law, there will be no fear of fighting between the white man and the Maori. What you have heard is quite false, there is no intention of sending soldiers among you. You need have no fear so long as you carry out the principles and feelings you profess There are good and bad men of all races and colours. Good wuitc men and bad white men, good Maories and bad Maories. The Queen and the Governor know no difference between white man and Maori; so long as they act rightly thoy will be protected by the law, but if they do badly, whether white man or Maori, they will be punished.” The meeting then dispersed, the Maories expressing great satisfaction at what they had heard.

The rumour of soldiers coming to the district appears to have arisen from a con. fusion of words, or rather from thei.i misconception. The native words for Soldier and Horse sounds very nearly alike, and the Provincial Government being about to place a ferry boat on the Wairau driver, to carry horses- the natives got it into their heads that, it was for the passage of soldiers—hence the alarm.