MAORIS VERSUS EUROPEANS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 278, 30 November 1878, Page 5

MAORIS VERSUS EUROPEANS.

(From the Tiniaru Herald, Nov. 14) We are not surprised to find tbat the abandonment of the Eleotoral Bill by the Governnnnt because tbey could not secure the dual Maori vole, ia creating a very unfavorable impression throughout ths country, now that it is coming to bo clearly understood. This could hardly be otherwise, considering that the Government had rested their claims to the confidence of the country mainly on their determination t> carry out electoral reform. The diailiusion of these who believed that tha Ministers really cared for the principles which they co loudly advocated, ig scarcely yet complete, because tbe dropping of the Electoral Bill was effected very quietly during the last hours of the session; but it is spreading f fit.a t. It h interesting co observe ihe quandary in which the thick and thin supporters of the Government have been placed by this shocking lapse ou the part cf their idols. Tbey are utterly at a loss to know what to say to it. Dafence or justification ia out of the question, and all tbey are able to do to smooth over the difficulty, is to suggest tbat, when the proper time comes, Sir Georga C*rey will be able to show good reasons for tbe voluntary abandonment of his much vaunted elaetoal policy. The proper time, every unprejudiced person knows, never will come, nor will Sir George Grey, with all his serpentine cunning, be able to show any good reason tor a proceading which wrb altogether unreasonable. In order fully to comprehend the extent to wbich the Government have belied all their professions of electoral reform, it is necessary to bear in mind that the amendment made by the L3gislative CoiiDcil in the Bill, affdciing Msori voting, did nothing more tban restore the clause as it was originally introduced by the Govern man t themselves. Ihe Council proposed no novelty. The charges brought against them of having attempted arbitrarily to deprive the poor Maori of his rights, are pure moonshine. They attempted nothing of the kind. They merely erased from the Bill provisions which hoi been inserted as amendments by a bare majority of the House of Representatives under irresistible pressure from the Government ; provisions which manifestly and avowedly inflicted a detestable tyranny upon the European inhabitants of tbe Norih lalaud ; and inserted j in their stead verbatim el literatim the provision which had appeared in the Bill wben it was first brought down by Ministers, Yet on that account alone Ministers abandoned the whole Bill. Many of our readers probably tvill scarcely believe tbat auch was actually ibe case. They will say there must be some mistake as to whit took place, that it is iucredible that any Government, no matter how unscrupulous or demoralised, could deliberately drop their roost important political measure merely becauae the Upper House insisted on restoring ona detail of it to the shape in wbich the Government had originally proposed it. Such, nevertheless, is the simple fact ; and, without further explanation, it would C3rtainly be well nigh incredible. We are fortunately, in a position to efford the necessary information, whicb, however, can only have tha effect .of displaying the conduct of the Government in a worse light, if possible, than it has hitherto appeared iv. It is ibis. The Electoral Bill was drafted by the Attorney -General, Mr Stout, and its details were actually never considered by the Cabinet before it was introduced to !hg House. This is an old way of course, of conducting responsible government, but it is the wiy in which responaible government under Sir Grey is carriod on, and we Dead not sop fo discuss the mere modus quo The fact ia a^ we have stated it. As the Bill was framed by Mr Stout, Maoris were placed on an equal footing with Eurrp ans as regarded ha property q-inliiication. Tbey were to bave a vote only provided they p<ud rates. Thi?, however, did not at all suit the views of lie Premier or the Native Minister, who were thunderstruck when they reid the B 11 which their colleague had brought in. A pretty lit le domestic quarral then ensued, the result being that the Premier and the Naive Minister h i.i their way, and the Bill was amended in committee in accordance with their wishes. .Under the new provision?, eveiy Maori having a y interest, no matter how small, io property, — practically every Maori — was lo b-j eutiile 1 to vole without auy taxation at ail. Tho uudiaguiasd ic-

tention of: this waa to swamp the rolls : with "Maoris,'' in twothirda- of the electoral districts in the North Island. This alteration io the Bill, though cautiously introduced, and supported by the mest Jesuitical

arguments, was only carried, as we have said, by the barest' possible majority, and under tha most extraordinary pressure by tbe Government. The La^is-. lative Council, who considered that Mr Stoul's original clause provided an extremely liberal franchise to the Maoris, in addition to their special representation, undid what had been done by tho casting vote of the chairman in committee of the House of Representatives, and restored Mr Stout's clause. They made several other amendments in the Bill, but on harning that its passing was likely to be' imperilled by them] thoy gave way on them all,, and only asked the Government to consent to the restoration of the Maori clause aa originally brought in by themselves. This they refused to do, add abandoned the whole Bill, "manhood suffrage," residential qualification and all, rather than allow the European inhabitants of the North Island to enjoy unfettered the privileges of representative institutions. The particular contretemps arose, as wo have seen; through a split in the Cabinet, or rather through a misunderstanding among Ministers as to what the Maori franchise was to be. The real causa of the abandonment of the Electoral Bill, however, should be clearly understood aud well borne iv mind. It was the obstinate determination of the Premieraud the Native Minister to retain in their hands the control of the North Island seats, hy a system of Maori votiog whioh is wholly incompi able with electoral reform. Sir George Grey has been declaiming throughout the whole country against what he calls " rotten boroughs," by which term he means small but perfectly independent constituencies like New Plymouth, Collingwood, or Cheviot. The moment, however, that his own essentially rotten boroughs in the native districts of the North Island are in danger, he changes his tone, and denies any electoral reform to the country, which menaces bis own personal power and influence. There never was a mora flagitious thing done by any Government than the abandonment of tbe Electoral Bill for the sake of saving the double Maori representation.