The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 236, 6 October 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1870.

It may be that there are in New Zealaud certaiu easy going individuals who, because there have of late been no Maori disturbances of importance, are content to remain in the pleasant belief that the "native war is over, and that for the future the lion and the lamb, as represented by the European and the Maori, are to lie down amicably together, but we confess that we are not of so sanguine a temperament, and we canuot bring ourselves to believe that our relations with the natives are from heucefbrih, to be only of a peaceful nature. We must, therefore, be pardoned if we once more revert to the native met-tin;,' which has lately taken place at Pariaka, and at which our Government was so s;u!ly wanting in that dignity and determination which are due, not only to themselves, but to those whose representatives they are. We, ou Monday last, expressed our opinion of the humiliating scene which was there enacted, when Mr. P--rris, acting, we presume, under instiuctions received from the Native Minister, truckled to the cannibal Titoko Waru, and quietly entered into conversation with him as to the relatious which were, for the future, to subsist between th * Europeans and the Maoris, and we are very glad to find that our views have been fully endorsed by our Wellington eveuing contemporary, a journal which is generally well informed on such subject*, and is possessed of considerable influence throughout the colony. The Post commences its remarks as follows : — " In this colony we have grown accustomed to seeing every possible contumely heaped upon the British name, and to seeiug the honor of our Queen, the most sacred feelings of her subjects, and the credit of her flag sacrificed at the shrine of Maoridom. The latest instance of this is to be found iv the meeting at Pariaka — the story of which it is impossible to read without a feeling of national humiliation. We fiud that not only was Mr. Parris, an accredited agent of our Government, present at the meeting, at which it was known that a cannibal and a murderer, on whose head a price had been, set, would be present; but that he actually entered into discussion with him, and ascertained the fact which is made known throughout the colony as if it was a matter of rejoicing, that Titoko Waru will never strike another blow unless attacked, a pacific assurance which is immediately followed by the threat that if attacked he will retaliate ! " Surely there caunot be one amongst us who can hear of this painfully obsequious conduct of the " accredited agent of the Government" withoutafeelingofshame aud anger that we, a British comunity, should have been, through him, so lowered in the eyes not only of the Maori, but of the civilised world. If there are any who have so far forgotten vvhat took place two years ago that they can quietly sit down and read of Titoko Waru and Mr. Parris in friendly converse, let us remind them of what took pine*- at Turo-turo-mokai in July, 1868. We quote from the report then published by us of the outrage : — " About thiee feet inside the gateway lay Captaia Boss, frightfully tomahawked aud with his heart cut from his body. In one of the angles of the redoubt lay the bodies of three others weltering in their blood. Lennon must have been killed before he could have reached the redoubt, for he lay outside, literally cut to pieces, and his heart torn from his body." This was the savage wo»k of Titoko Waru who, ten days ago, was quietly seated by the side of the Civil Commissioner receiving from him certain explanations of what had been done at the meeting. Is more wanted to show the brutal nature of thi3 inhuman wretch ? If so, we can supply it. Let us read his letter written to the fripndly natives a few days after the Turo-turo-mokai tragedy. Its contents — we quote from the journals of the day' — were to the eff.-ct that " He had eaten the white man they had killed — his wife and children had also tasted the white man, and it was good. His throat was open —

it was hanging and red. We have tasted the white man, and who knows where we will stop ?" This is the disgusting language that a little more than two years ago was made use of by the canuibal chief, with reference to those Englishmen whose representative he a few days since chatted with on the most friendly terms. In order to fully appreciate the humiliation that attaches itself to this scene, it must be remembered 1 that Titoko Waru has in no way condoned his past offences, nor has he in any way whatever tendered his submission since then to the Queen, whose subjects he had so outraged. Well may our Wellington contemporary exclaim, " Would it be impertinent to ask where Mr. Commissioner Branigan and his boasted demilitarised force were all this time, that no effort was made to capture such a miscreant who is steeped up to the eyes ia the most horrible crimes, and who has already cost this colony immense sums of money aud many valuable lives. * * * * Is it any wonder that Maoris grow insolent and treat the pakeha as an inferior race, when the representatives of the Government adopt every means in their power of degrading and rendering contemptible the Government they serve, and under whose instructions they are doubtless acting ?"