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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5143, 17 September 1877, Page 2

Hawke’s Bay is a fertile and very important district; but socially we should say its condition was somewhat “ mixed,” and that at present it does not present many attractions to persons who are seeking a quiet home and a safe investment for capital in land. Lawyers and natives are the disturbing elements, and the insecurity is general. The combination is formidable and, is. prhbably new; at least we do not .remember in the history of colonisation any example of tho formation of a predatory class out of such elements. We are not now going into tho discussion of the general'aspect'of the Hawke’s Bay question; there are no doubt wrongs on both sides, but so much passion has been imported into it, that an appeal to

the reason of the belligerents would, we feel, be futile. There must be more de-' pletion. Possibly when the oyster has been divided in the usual professional way, those who become the fortunatepossessors of the shells may awake to a true sense of the .situation they have so energetically made for themselves. A particular case has, however; come into public notice, which, as illustrating the temper of the Native Repudiation party arid the general character of their complaints, is not unworthy of being recorded. A petition was lately presented to the Legislative Council signed by the chief Te Hapuku and 203 other natives. The petition sets out that more than fifteen years ago the chiefs, at the request of the Governor and of Bishop Selwyn, made a grant of land at Te Aute tor the establishment of a College ; that the Colonial Government gave an equal quantity of land, and the estate was thus made up to 7500 acres ; that in 1855 the school was started by the Rev. Mr. Williams, but that as he employed the children in doing all manner of work, growing food, splitting firewood, &c., &0., and left no time for instruction, they left the school; that the school was reopened within the last two or three years, but that the majority of children attending it are Ngatiporou, or children of other East Coast tribes, and not those of the resident natives; that the present rental of the land is too low, that it is contemplated to grant a new lease to Mi-. Williams at £IOOO a year ; that the land should bo divided into smaller blocks and leased by tender. The petition concludes with a prayer that investigation may take place, and that the proceeds of the land may not be expended on other objects than those for which it was intended. The petition in language, style, and character is not Maori—it is Pakeha-Maori ; its getting up is no doubt part of the business of the staff of the Wananga, and it was presented to the Legislative Council by a gentleman who has imposed upon himself the • onerous and honorary duties of Chief Protector of Aborigines in Te Aute, Pukemapau, and other places in Hawke’s Bay, the Honorable Henry Robert Russell. The facts of the case as regards Te Aute' school estate appear to be these : When the block was set apart fifteen years ago it was in a state of nature, unfenced, the hills covered with fern, and the small quantity of level land contained in it rough, undrained, and unproductive. An attempt was made somewhat prematurely to establish a school, but in the war time Te Aute shared the fate of many other institutions of like character which were under missionary guidance, and was deserted by the pupils. Gnlike some of those institutions in the North, however, the objects of the trust were steadily kept in view, and the land was not even for a moment diverted from the purpose for which it was granted. The Rev. Samuel Williams, with unselfish devotion which even in Napier will one day we hope be acknowledged, took charge of the estate, and in the course of time, and by the expenditure of his money in.fencing, clearing, . draining, planting, and sowing grass seeds, has so improved the estate that with the sheep upon it, which under his care have increased from 240 to more than 7000, the annual value, which was at zero, has so grown that it is now variously estimated at from £ISOO to £2OOO. In addition the making of these improvements, Mr. Williams has been paying rent at the rate of £SOO a-year, has exercised a constant supervision over the school since it was resumed, and during the several years last past has himself provided the necessary funds for its maintenance, amounting to some hundreds of pounds over and above the amount of rental which we have named. To reward Mr. Williams, and to encourage others who like him may be disposed to make sacrifices in the cause of native education, the Repudiation party furnish him with the Hapuku petitioii by way of testimonial. ' The Public Petitions Committee of the Legislative Council, we are glad to see; take a different view of the case from that of Mr. Russell and his proteges; The following report was presented to the Council and read on Thursday last:— “The Public Petitions Committee, on the petition of Te Hapuku and 203 others; ;uatives of Ahuriri, have to report that they consider that under thecircumstances all has been done that could bo towards carrying out the purpose of the Te Aute Trust, and that they find that, on the termination of the present lease, in February next, the very largely enhanced rent obtainable for its renewal will give to the tx-usteesa financial power which will greatly assist them to more fully answer in future the requirements created under the said trust.” The trustees of the Te Aute estate are, wo believe, the Bishop of Wellington, the Hon. Mr. Stokes, and Messrs. Hunter and Bannatyne of this city. It will probably be admitted that the interests of. the trust will be as safe in the hands of those gentlemen as if they were confided to the Hon. Henry Robert Russell and his friends in Hawke’s Bay.