THE NATIVE CRISIS.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 162, 21 September 1881, Page 2

THE NATIVE CRISIS.

A good deal of uneasiness was created J on Saturday night-^by'itbe 1 telegrams re-, ceivcd t,Qur; u ,owja .Correspondent which were publislied m our last issue relative to. -ParahakV^ meeting arid the seemingly menacing rone ; ; of T,e Wfaiti's Speech 1 . "More lightis, c 'noWe'ver, thrown . on the matter, by; the; ; official: telegrams: since rereiyed , These giy,e .the full text of-Tfe Whiti'^ speech,^ which* proves to» have beeti'Ot' the usoal' vagne^i oracular •; inconsistent .character^ but Many of" his apprrently m.ost ;j . threatening,, remarks are ; matem|ly^jbped down," if ' ri6t ontiriely reyerseffis t'tftheir bearing by thecoritex't. --For 'instance^ his statement '•Tungarehu would-be" a liying tomb for•theoWstamilary, if Sp.OObiof them came there," is differently reported "by' atiotbes^-v.' person^ .'as/ follows:—* There ; might be 20,000 pakehas on Jhg land, bnt it would 1 'fie their sepulchre"^-the latter being evi-. dently a ; fresh vfefsibn of the. former—, but the context seems to suggest, a totally -different interpretation from that implied by the latter version. Te Wbiti\s mean-. in<r, so far r as can hp gathered from the. rouncjabipiit, fi'gnrajive language lie employs, seems to be that evea if- : 20.000 armed men chme ; OTi the land theywould not ;force the -Maoris to fight, batthev weuld be kept there idle as if" buried alu c,*' jasj the^r ,had' .been; ; during the las^ two. or three years throngb his tactics. Thrn' agaia.in'oneparl: of his speech he -said tfiat U; the tlnie' hadno\v ircarfe forboth sides to ta i ke J >i{pifbSif t weWp6ns-' and •trive." This-init c elf would read like a, ! '4c*]aratipri iof immediate waiS but'lie di-. j rectly added)that:")the.ou]y weapon which, should be victorious iv this strife w«« : | £oo<#ie£s,",v£lld utMt<iV.t.her weapon endedwith the prisoners." It is hard to extract any definite meaning out of all this jargon, but the burden of Te Whiti's argument, feenra tp l}ave Jbeen th« -same as i although ' J differently expressed,, namelyr th^b pjeaceful {weapons," such as. the passiye. .--mild, but wefrying,' bbstructibn'hitherio adopted; should still be-perserved m. The exact meaning of " ; t he, weapon* ended with th*. is Uncertain ,Jt»utitis sspposei 'that, 1 as previQpsly^annQUtt.ced, the ex-, pri^oiiters were'not .^ajak^parjt-inithe newhasbeenstated.thatgo far ■ they have' not 36ne' so. The least satisj factory feature m- tlwxljiteAmeeting appiars ta,,hav t erb^een< some symptoms that 1 Te Whrti's" inffuence* over hii follower*; is pn^thp tiiath§ Jnay beindis-. posed to -restrain, .them should they disr eagerness i : tb^ •break ldoseandi ?,ct on their own account. The Government toswe.Yer l ba^ Jong niadQc*refw^alth6B^

quiet, preparation for all coatiagencies. Some strong defences have Wen erected m suitable positions, and the ary so disposed as to be able to act with irresistible force m case of any sudden emergency. Only the more trained and expereiccd men are sent to the front, the new recruits being kept ? m the back- ( ground until thoioughly drilled. Ali 1 this is" done to guard against any sudden contingency such as the precpitation of a collision through some unforeseen accident. ' There is of course this danger as there has been during the last 2£ years, but ■» far no definite apprehensions of any serious trouble are * entertained. We have thought desirable to! enter into this explanation m view of the^some what threatening appearance of the latest news from the West Coast.— Post. '