THE MAORI DIFFICULTY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 167, 9 November 1881, Page 2

THE MAORI DIFFICULTY.

To the Eduor of the " EVenin>j Mail." Sin,—! abi jlad that my letter should have drawn out the comments of *' Historicus," and I sympathise -wholly in the good-will towards the. Maori- which they show. My praise of .the dealings witb the, race by the colony iti-. ; 'S*jsl:<i;;sly. comparative, and did not include, moreover, the dealings of the British Government. But, on behalf of the latter, there is a fair case to be made out if time and epepe allowed me to state it properly. We must remember, first, that when the Britisli.. % --wJis hojsfAi. fef^e tbe seeds df liLdse eviis, which contact -with Europeans, has brought to the New Zealander were already sown. Spirits and firearms had begun their work, and the latter had, indeed, probably achieved as much destruction before 1840 as they have done since. Nor was there; . n.t the date of (lie assumption of sovereignty, a simple choice open between the course of leaving the Maori to the volunteer influences, of whalers, traders, missionaries, -tnd colonists, d:id thai* of annexing tiie islands to Great Britain. Another of the nations called civilised meditated, and attempted that which England did. Ifc was a neck and neck race between two powers — whether the tricolor or the union -i ack Bhould b 0 the f-ag- Bf tills country. Let those who can remember the smoking of the caves of Dahra, in Algeria, by Marshal Bugeaud. and who have rep 1 in ouv late telegrams of tbe ii "ab dead bodies hanging before the gates of a Tunisian town, say whether the result of the race was fortunate or otherwise for the Maori. Ifc is, ho doubt, conceivable that a powerful, -enterprising, and united nation, directed by a persistent, conscientious Government, .might, . if it had taken the matter in hand as si duty, have done more and better for the Matiri than England has succeeded in doing ; bufc this ideal case never has had, and never can have, an existence in fact, and we have to consider facts and men as they are. At the time of annexing NewZealand the hand of the Imperial Government was forced by the "action of the New Zealand Company — an honorable and liberal body of men who were taking measures to colonise these islands, and were not daunted by the notion of following suit in a different spirit and on a small theatre to the company of merchants which, by an amazing combination of commercial energy, fraud, force, courage, and, ih later periods, justice and good faith— established an empire in India. The British Ministry better' realised the magnitude of such an enterprise, and perhaps knew or anticipated that, failing action on their part, another nation would not be slow to move, and could not be resisted for a day by an association of private persons?. I have no doubt they decided rightly to take on themselves the responsibility of founding this colony, bufc the annexation of the islands, in which there was as yet no rudiment of government and where cannibalism wa? not; wholly extinct, was warranted without treaty of any kind by the law and practice of nations, and not forbidden by moral law. Its immediate object was to exclude other foreign powers. To govern a wild race at fche Antipodes was a different matter, and. except perhaps on the French method, not immediately possible. Nevertheless, the Treaty of Waitangi. so much sneered' afc and fallacious to an European ear as are its, terms, was not mere waste paper, still- less a fraud. The preemptive right which.it claimed for tbe government, and which was maintained for about 25 years, was designed in the interest -< both of the Maori and the colonist. Large tracts had, before the date of the treaty, been acquired by Europeans at far less than fijd per acre, and it was probable that during the infancy of tbe colony this pjocess would continue, and bring with it quarrels of the race and obstruction of progress by the speculative holding Of the best lands. With reference to the prices paid, on which " Historicus " rasts part of his charge against the Government of the colony, I observe, in passing, that they were really more than the land was, oh the average, worth at the date of the purchases. From 1840 to 1870 the Crown lands sold in the North Island barely repaid, if they did repay, the original purchase money and the cost of administration. Higher authorities than Sir George Grey recognise that what is called by J. S. Mill "the unearned increment" of the value of private land may justly be claimed by the State, the industry and energy of whose members has really produced it. There was, then, no moral wrong done in these purchases, and ifc is worse than a confusion of ideas to talk of them as wholesale i; robbeiy" by the Government. It was, on tbe othor hand, a great gift (whether a beneficial one or not we need not now inquire) when eventually the colonial Parliament conferred the '*' unearned increment" en the Maori. The Treaty of Waitangi, doubtless, recognised the New Zealanders as British subjects, and, in doing so, undertook the task "of governing them. It is useless now to discuss the wisdom of the ideas and motives of the f ramers of the Treaty in this, because the Maori from the first declined the position, and could only have been induced to accept it by the exhibition of power sufficient to exact obedience to the law. How large a force would have sufficed in such a land and with such a race " Historicus " has, perhaps, seen enough of New Zealand struggles to guess. He himself has told us how W Tamihana Tarapipipi repudiated the Treaty of Waitangi. He may have read also that the first conflict with the Maori arose afc Kororareka, close to the Waitangi, where the Treaty was signed, and arose out of a distinct repudiation of the authority of the Government by a Bay of Islands chief, who cut down the ensign officially erected at that port. At Waitara, again, in 1860 Wiremu Kmgi Whiti refused to appeal to the law, or to claim the rights of a British subject. He would not argue the question of his claim either with the Governor or his Commissioner. On one occasion he even said, "Yes, the land is theirs (Teria's and his hapu). but they shall not sell it," and he brought about the crisis by building a war pa on the disputed land and resisting the passage of the Queen's troop-, over it. Afc the very least three-fourths of the race were of this temper ; indeed, it would be difliculfc to point to any tribe which, in the early days, fully accepted the position of British subjects; to any district where the Queen's writ could be said to run. How, was ifc likely to be otherwise ? In 1854. the first year after the proclamation of the Constitution Act, the white population of the colony numbered 32,500. of whom about 20,000 were in the North Island. The Maoris were at that time estimated afc 52.000, of whom nearly 50,000 were .in the North Island. Asregards the wavlike strength of the races this disparity was greatly increased by the low proportion of the women and children among the natives. There were among the latter fully three men capable of bearing arms for one among the colonists, and there was little to choose between them as to arms. Intertribal feuds divided one race ; want of reads, of means of transport, of money, reduced the available strength of the other in equal proportion. It was in J 86*2, when the colony had more thai;

doubled in numbers and possessed crms of precision, tbat Mr Gorst wrote from Waikato his sensational despatch about the want of the constable— the right hand of the law, and wound up an oratorical passage about the general want of nerve to grapplfe with the unrnliness of the Maori with *' Who dares 1 " Mr Gorst seemed not to perceive that the constable is powerful only when the people support him ; but eveiy 'sane man must sec that, with a wild, untutored race, he is necessarily a soldier in sober uniform. Ihe Government did, however, what it could to promote order : it supported the missibnanes and sent out magistrates-^- the besfc afc its disposal— and occasionally .enforced their decisions at come risk, as in the case of the attempted rescue of a civil prisoner afc Auckland by the Thames tribes some twenty odd years ago. So much for the case of the Imperial Government, which, though but slightly sketched, may nevertheless be felt to be too much expanded, feeing tbat I am concerned chiefly to defend the Government uudcJ* tbe < onstitufcion. The first Parliament sat in 1854, and in 1858 the same body passed a series of Aces in which it was sought to evoke and organise wha 1 ' ver power of selfgovernment, and lespecfc for law the Maori posee'sea- aiid by which also the pre-emptive right over Maori binds was to .be relaxed tentatively. The latter Acb was vetoed at home, The others were honestly put in operation by able and earnest men, but with little success : the power behind the magistrate was Wanting, in the colony. The attempt was renewed in 1 802 under Mr Gorst, butpailed still more signally. In 1802 even bef%e the Imperial Government had abdicaAS| and imposed the responsibility of the natiw poljcy op, the colony, the pre-emptive rigntof the Crown Over native lands was abandoned, and a court for transforming native ownership into Crown title was established. In the earliest days of the constitution qualified Maoris were admitted without dispute to the elective franchise, and in 1807 special districts were established with Maori representatives on a simple manhood suffrage. About the same time public Maori schools were first established and subsidised, and help was given to loyal natives in making roads through their own unalienated lands. More recently Maoris have I'een appointed '■ > the legislative and executive councils. I might multiply such illustrations of the good will of the colony through its legislative and executive. Another aspect of the matter has nofc surely escaped tbe rotice of *' bistoriceis, }i though ifc has slipped his memory. Whenever the Maori has chosen the position of a British subject its advantages have been freely open to him. When he has repudiated that petition, he ha 3 never been saddled with its responsibilities. If the treaty of "Waitangi were held really binding on the Maori, armed resistance to the Queen's authority would be treason and punishable capitally. But among the hundreds of prisoners taken in arms against us, not one has been treated as a rebel, and denied the benefit of belligerent rights. Kereopa was hanged not as a rebel but as a barbarous mmderer. Patara, his associate, as active and more mischievous in war because more intelligent, lives unmolested in his own tribe, the Taranaki noi:. being charged with complicity in that murder. Hiroki is taken away in handcuffs and will be tried, and if convicted, punished as a homicide ; but Te Whiti and Tohu will, no doubt, be treated with consideration, and detained only so long as their fieedom is likely to cause a dangej'ous assemblage of the disaffected in their district. Eauparaha was thus dealt with above thirty years ago. To touch for a moment on the geneial practicul result: of our colonisation— if we have brought war we have also brought peace. The founding of Auckland was welcomed by Ngatiwhacua, who were living in dread " Between the fell incensed points " " Of two enraged and equal opposites," namely, Waikato and Ngapuhi. They have since had peace under the shadow* of the colony. Ngatiawa, as I have said before, had by the same protection twenty years' safeLy from Waikato invasion. The East Coast wars arose in succouring Ngatiporou and Ngatikahungunu against the proselytising invasion of the Han Hau leaders from the Wc -.t. When, as has occasionally happened. I have hoaiJ ..><«« plamt* f,* nm tbo lip? of leaders of our Maori allies of our treatment sj KootJle or disaffected tribes, the objection has always been to our excessive forbearance, or our obstinacy in seeming to look for gratitude — a return of good for good. They have desired the policy of Cromwell at Drogheda. Confiscation of territory is quite approved, but the restoration of freedom and prosperity to a conquered enemy is less in harmony with Maori ideas and practice. Looked at broadly or in detail, my claim for the colony and its government is justified. It is not self-complacency but historic justice that speaks. Whilst -writing, the details of Saturday's i, proceedings at Parihaka came to htind, and must have filled thoughtful men with wonder not unmixed witb pleasure. That the most independent and pugnacious of races.— the race, which, before our arrival, had terraced hundreds of hills int o foi is, so as to give a special character to many places on the landscape—should have developed a body of men so capable of discipline, of self-restraint, and of a genuine if a bewildered faith, is amazing, and speaks a volume for the influence of the Christianity -which they reject. My reading tells me of nothing parallel. Our government contains men who must appreciate the singular event, and who will spare no thought and no saciifice consistent with order to reconcile such leaders and such followers to our rule and bring them into the rank of citizens. I am, &c, J. C. Kicmiom

- A?"™-^ «ne vfiinr.ter-r* -.-.••-. rccortiy l c n tor Parihak., <, =,< a i:s :^ t of -i^evertoD, vr**o bad nrrarre ,i *y v ,•„.,, r r. ; , absence his wife f,hr. u ],i U-,-,^* •„,..* A. X\ I '"' On arriving at Weili; _:..„' 7r.v77 Cm!' Ser_--., n t Eeltoji, nnd a,k \ i,n tn l„v. a , v , a _ *»"*, '^sued for his arr; _ tor ,l es >r.j :!jr >„*, w |f -: The application «:u • niv m ;d< i' . wifaacknn w l«ri.j re tn thf . j, 'X* ,1)-- oX knew her husband h-i b ---, niiv.-vdy ,i r i'••';-<---forsevr-rni wctkn. bo a? t,> ir,c.,..r. \-7^'hX accepted as a Vf.lnnf.-Fr fo.- fb 0 ",n tI V T »'.; Msgis.rate d< cinnd tr, mak- nn ord< ,',' Thn' I wife tb« Q a? k;d if her hush-,,, _ w «l! h i 6D °t-. On t^.is point the M.jsii.^r-Jr- j.*av.- her no drfir.ite as-urancf, br;-,,™ n~ ■•■ i y. X- A. n* j tQerr- wng not nn im-nedis*.:?- ri-k cf b ccd- -J. I _ Cousiderable annisemcnt. was cr<;it- d dur- i mg th<> he:ir;ngr of a case- in the Pnlm*-r-*oii ! Resi-i-ut :..I::»istratc's Court en Th-irHav. ; Mr Ward, when as^es.-inc: the •-.;.-i<, }v Id \X \ following dialogue with a wins ss. Vr.Xy- ! trato— " What is your biisino.^ X Wic-es-- | — *A\ labr.rei-. yr.nr Worship L^.hiL'isirrue j — " Wbat loss have you sustained by your j presence r.t the Conn ibis day— hr,v, ; ir.ueh ! do you earn a day V Witn'ss. (quite cavn- | lier'yi — "Oh. pomr-tinies a pound, and son.etiiiHri t*.vo ?" '■ What, a** a laborer ':" W'v-lifss—-Yes. your Worship!'" "Then I v.ill allow jour f>v- shillings for this day." Mr ard is the very essence of crurteou ■•nc-Pf* , and the manner in which he told ibe witness by implication '* You're another " was highly reli-hed by all the Court. The Riverton pap-r undcrc-'aeds tha* a futd. anicunirg to .-C3OOO, has besn rais d by the Chin' so ior ibc- pu:pose of c-xhu.n:i: ■:: fbe todies o.- beces of dcrer.Fed Chinrm-n in New Zeslard and convcyir'g Item to Ci:i^a, where they r.re furpefed to fi-d a nieie facre-dplr.ee cf s--j-.ul.nre. A ship is to be Cbarurrd fcr that turp-ge. ) We hare alresdy sia'ed how the ?wacri: ; kept watch en the Europeans by mean of thtir s«ntrks. The follcwir.g tstract fioro the Tarr.cki Her nit is another instanc;- rf how they £>p-- th: mili::.ry ob.-ervane ( ? rf tin E'lroptan: ■:— *■ A p*r*y of ijiviv's, luciher. it-p about .If y & h.-:.ii, r:^reh^ .: t-Jrouyh ih--ramp wi^h a d-r.y laden wi h 5 i:^- tb.uu'oic r:- ! for ihe f;a = \ They -rial to ke ;. r "--. ; An = ceuntc-nanc-j whi'c- n .'-vir'tr thice-Ar, '.iv- enr io military miichi .g 0r.'..-r. bn: the jo.-wLr remirks of oue or two t.f :lie rn.ctkiis brought them cut a lite, a-.d tbey eoiomecced iaughi&g heartily. Te natiVo. wto appfared to ba in command of the ptiAv ba 1 Bereeam':* stiipcs upon hi:*, arm, only the stripes were reversed, a-d h? lnd a wooden sword of a rifiiculons siz-3. lie put bi^ nen through some military moyemeats tn ;!ie greit amu^fnKnt of the oe.lnck-rs. When bantered about; the appeTat.ce. of his -jv.or.i he care a sardonic grir." The lie*- J. Eixforl, Wesley.n mi;.i=.fer at Patea, preached a seitnou on Sunday en :i---iDg, in whicb he strongly prctf-.tfd .gair^t hns'ilitus with the M.i'oria. fi- said that had Mr r.muoed in tffijo a f ew weeks hnaer it was probable that the •whole cf iha Parihaka block would bave beeu restored to the naijyrs, Government reserving land for lighthouse?, road?. &n. The Royal Comrr;i;siou reported that if T" Whiti were^let r.lone at PaTihak^, :c would leave E iropeaaa aloae on the P! -.ins. It was selfish for U3 to vrar.t any pirf if tn-J block IU (..h- P r,r,c, r) admir.d the Maoris for cliueirs so ti r.acir.u-ly to *!:..ir i^nd. The rlwaifi-h Esquine.ux'love ; th" Erigid zone, and es:e< nis-i' ibe b:ubbcroii r.n ■ ice-cabin greater luxuries tban tbe rrfi'o-m--nt of other ccur-m,-, ar.d so these Ma.ris loved iheir homes ami plantp.tior.fi ar-t-und wbich sunny memories lirgr. Io taking ti.tir lard it was tbe story of Naboth'i* \ineyar<! aoTjin. I* was Wat.w, suffojatiog IJenb-d^d. King of Syrn, when he w^s to* feebie t"> i . ! ii bmi-elf. Hsziel irßii-d to b» Krp, .... A b p-jk-hi watt.-d the land. W:iy n.ake tbe Alscri dc:-J)C-rate, and force a war w-jij-b wonlrj mean extcrmira'ion. Hi v.es -v;.:kfast dying— let him die io pence. On tJi.-' coast there wae what nny be icrmtd the NipoldOiiio trind — a m\uX mighty in d 50---laticn, y.ith wonderful ent rcj' in de-lrty inp, la-kinpr enc-rsy ie ccnstiue ion, f.b.var.s watcbicß ft educes th.it luidu JevJt to invsion and overthrow. Why was then. snch a der-ire en tbis corst fcr exti-r---niioctiGg the Maoris ? Even bear, less toys longing io go to the front a; d bu::. gur.pjwder. Would ttere be such a en for war if 4') 1 0.0 natives w-:rs to b.- encountered i:<?U!j.-i rf t'.f v--.'.* fh V. iv --re there? Had these men who delitrht'iii'war ever thought what it meant ? bid' they want to see scenes that have foic d the art . A to put away hU brush ? The jueacher then referred to the abolition of .slavery, and recited Cowper's words — '•' Slaves cannot breathe on English around, Where England's p.wer is felt *~ Mankind may feei her freedom to.."' He thnujrht the Maori:- were fee'in. the ''power" but not the " freedoni." f n one of his recent speeches Dr. Fraser lhe Bishop of Manchester, said he some* hues felt as if he were losing patience and hope at the continuance of idle controversy about matters of ceremonial. It engendered strife and bitterness, and wasted energies wbich in his judgment might be far better employed. It was not theories about, ornaments ar.-fth-' like that v. ere needed The people needed in England more than anything else downright earnest t reaching and tea-thing. While they were fighting and disputing about vestments and ornaments, and eha ice s and incense, the infidels and atheists at tbeir <]oor= were trying to destroy tho people's faith Was it not something v.orse than folly to !,.• distracting and tearing the church to* pieces at such a time ? An f-mpH-yC-i at the Sydney Govor-.m-n-P.-i--ting tfli^ ba-s b en .uspsnied for kissing o-.e of the (fir's .-niolu-ul ia taat \v,A - regulate i e=tib ishaieot, A case was t \ y tried in a Mis-wi law court wK iC h rail .say dire-tor*, and othf rs liablr. * t0 ccch&iut.al actions for dumag „ ci. account cf acei..ectg, cun make a io.: ci. Acolor-dman wag sueing for damages, Li--' wife having died shortly aft-r an cpera'ha for the rc-mov ,U of cner. Wiun ir cim.. to Sq,]j,. e G '-• iurn to err ss-txuinn;o the plaimiff, bs a?k -d— '-Mr Wii^on, ho-,- old was your wife when she died?" '-About forty-five, sir." "Been in feeble bedti r long time, h.-d she lc, Mr Wilson, acd err you a great de'il for m.-dicine and help?" '* Yes, si." '* You have m.-.nied again, bavtyou not ? " " Yes, sir " «■ How ob.i i; you** present wife?" -'About tt.irtv-fiv. , s ' r ." "Is she ttotit and t.f-althv, .Mr Wii-on *- '" "Yes, Sir." «'Tnc-n, Mr WiisoD, wil. y'.ti please st-ite to th- jury how you are damage.; in this case ? " Mr Wilson had evidently never taken tbis view (f th-j m-u:;-,*, atd could tnaL-e r,o unswr-r. Toe good and (rumen ti.oujiht he lnd ma it: a rather go.-.j thing by his bertavemetr, and br* ujih in a verdict, f: r the dere. dunt. Wbat may be t< rm--d a ' cticfeff curio .v ' occurred in a an tcb btt.ve. n B.sfo ; d Ist tcte and Weat H.illatii. it. D rbvsblrt-, v,i:e t. the former dt-vei: i: ; the tir.-t imdnj/s v.*.->.-til] difepos; d tf t'Gr a sic^'e ihd, an 1 t> is either a wid-, bye, or no bj.d-v.hich of tt.e id ths score dots not st.iv,'. At Lidv v,* i: A; b-sefit, heid ac Brighton, prior t»t.'i,*-de-parturc of the English ».1.-,v*:n unitr hi. captaincy, tbe ma?cti, wi'.h the Geui-m.-n v. Pb.y-rs had ,-i ru ;~t etitr;o: •i A i ; » t %- v ,:;; In the first it.nic^s t.?.c*i ri.e -cor; -i\;-< runs, and in t. c s ■_«. n 1 ioAo. :; :.: J. Pi y-rs ih-;y ?corei 112. T..!-; w ..s . : ..: m.- ■ fan --;■:?}■ A.-k for ;hj G'-..ii(-im- ; ; bu -;, ;;•,. ,; Was i> c t>. ij. !;];.;, ip -.J Sha-.' l::- . a ;> > , ...; the |rofe'sio>i..AA ;. .. .-.-, ( j! h . : •;*,. ... „ v.as be by thr ni, tb::t .:■ fi „ ;. mt;. yy. all out f.,r IU iv- s; -.r-.w.- „ : ■ i,;;.tr.;; „-. ■ s v !; by ons in:. 0: y, .-, .-•• „; , ; ■ r^-, Xil.7'' pitc-rd-nt hi a Srjf cb.ss iu:.Ah. A rather stedy-lotking customer came into a rustauraiit ou Austi*, Avenue ;u:d said to tiie projirivtor : '■ What do you a. ;.; for nicely co-t.-ked itef-tetib, w,-\\ done, with onions!-" -'2") cent.-." '-^n-! the utavv." '• Oh, we <}t,\At charge- !:*;vi, : A:g :"/,■■ ■_,■ -.-.. ',-.-' "You dort't 'i'iiat'- i.ni. ;i, ,■,-,- ..,, „ „ ch.irti'.' for ibe bi*i a : ':'' * v\'e !l,!<i:, ia 1,.^ bread." ** Js ;f goml bread '•'"• '* it i^.' ; -• So you throw in tiie bread and. gravy r" "Certain}*." "Th:n bring iti't sotne civad and gravy. It's not htallhy to eat meat in summer." 'Ibe light to wathslu ge tailing? ■: t the Duke c aim, Timor, V tt ria, realised £ ;*iio at auction. Tbis is 'ib;-.- big;/..5; sua: evtr given for a siaiilar privilege. There are four uittuiic q'nlifJcationa wh'.ch help a man through the worid — iron in his heart, brass in hi 3 face, silver ia his tongue, Mid gold in bis pocket.

i I The Duke of Norfolk hns erTYin-iissioried I Atr G. Gilbert Scott, tbe architect, to prepr.ro ! *.'■*."..-• lor n. bi-jc crunch in the -atiy Erpliah { style, v.bieh h.t is about to erect iv Norwich, lin foi U inert rf n vow. Dm iut; the debate on the superannuation f|_!icsti<>-. at a iccent meeting of the Church A'isenibiy. ibc- Dean of Melbourne caused ' c n^iierable buiyhier by tbe narration of the ' j l'odowiiit: incident • — When Decchwonh came into exist- nee, be ?aid, tbe desirability of -ending aci< rgynmti there was hroiiuht iiiider his notice, and he asked a prominent member of the Civil Service on what annual income a man could live, in i"e<chworth. The Civil Servant replied thtil he thought a man 'uiyhtUve there on ..Sou tt y* ar. 'J he Ihan was not prepared for this re* ly, and ttskc'.l whether ii in-iii who does not give parties, di'tss fashionably, or live higlvy might not d > with asma'.lcr amount. " Oh, yriU im an a eb.-rgynitui." broke in the Civil Servant. *' of course, he could live quite comfoittibly in Deeehworth on ;'A'UO a year.""