The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 223, 18 September 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1872.

A proposition either has been, or is about to be, made to increase the number of Maori members in the House of Representatives, a step which we cannot but think is as undesirable as it is unnecessary. The admission of representatives of their race to the Assembly, was in the first instance allowed, after much consideration, as a means of conciliating the natives, and it may be that it has, in some degree, produced the desired effect, but to increase the number would be to carry out this conciliatory policy to an extent that would; not only be dangerous but, we believe, highly unpopular among the European residents in the colony. As it is, every Ministry is almost at the mercy of these uneducated and Ignorant men, for in the event of a Btruggle, such as that which has just taken place, the scale may at any time be by them turned either one way or the other, and we cannot imagine that the European population would be content to allow the Government of the colony to be ousted from, or placed iD, office by a few Maoris, who in *ali probability would be utterly ignorant of the merits of the case upon which they had to adjudicate. Suppose, for instance, that in the recent division the four natives had voted, with the late Government instead of being equally ranged on the two opposing side's, the result would have been that the Ministry would have had a majority of one, and would thus, although not possessing the confidence of the majority of the European members, have been enabled to retain their seats. We are not looking at this question from a party point of view, for we should have deemed it equally unsatisfactory had Mr. Stafford carried his resolutions by a majority consisting of Maoris. These men, although present in, the House while a debate is taking place, might just as well be a hundred-miles away, for they understand nothing of what is being said, while, how easily their votes may be swayed was well illustrated by one of themselves,: Takamoana, who, with an honesty that we cannot but admire, plainly told (he House that one of his reasons for. assisting, to turn the Ministry out was that Mr. Ormohd had refused to advance him £40 for the purpose of releasing from the grasp of the bailiffs his trap and horses which had been seized for debt. It may be argued that the fact of their votes having been equally divided oh that occasion is a proof that no harm is likely to arise from placing such power in their hands, but that this should have been the case is to be attributed partly to accident, and partly to their not having yet perceived and appreciated the strength of their position, but we may depend upon it that this charming simplicity will not last for ever, and that, shrewd men as they are, they will ere long discover the value of their votes, and; the power they will possess by acting in concert. It would have been far more satisfactory to the colonists, and wo. imagine quite as acceptable to the Maoris, had three or four of them been called to the Legislative Council where they could have done little or no harm; however, once having granted them the privilege of being represented in the Lower House, it would be scarcely wise, since it would inevitably give rise to great dissatisfation, to deprive them of it, but it would be still more injudicious to increase their numbers, 1 and, by consequence, their ,'power s to work mischief, and thus to create a feeling of discontent', among the European settlers, who,have not yet such confidence in the Maori race as to entrust to them the destinies of the colony. ,[ ;