THE NATIVE MEETING AT WAITARA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5387, 3 July 1878, Page 3

THE NATIVE MEETING AT WAITARA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) New Plymouth, June 27.

My experiences in New Zealand during nearly a quarter of a century have been tolerably varied, but anything more utterly dreary than the last week spent here I find it impossible to conceive. Neither New Plymouth nor Waitara at the best of times are particularly lively spots, hut seen under the influence of a pouring rain and a howling wind continuing almost without intermission day alter day for nearly a fortnight, the effect can be better imagined than described. At such a time, too, one feels completely isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. Flooded Jrivers prevent communication by land, and a raging surf is an impassible barrier to landing or leaving by sea. Indeed, I know of only one person more deserving of compassion than your correspondent under such circumstances as these. He was a bridegroom expectant, who should have been landed last Sunday for his wedding here, but whom a cruel fate and the steamer Taiaroa kept tossing about for a day and a night within bowshot of his bride, and then carried him on sick at heart—and otherwise—to Auckland instead.

Every day for the last week we have gone on in one unvaried and monotonous round. We crowd in the early: morning with a host of 00-correapondents and expectant pleasure seekers into the train for Waitara, and travel, as slowly as steam can take us, to the scene of the native gathering. Arrived there we plod through the mud to a miserable public house, its close rooms filled with a noisy, dirty, wet, smoking crowd of natives of all ages, sizes, and sexes, with their attendant pakehas, and with a place called a billiard room, crammed with young Maori lads swearing and drinking and playing agame balled “devil’s pool,” a name singularly appropriate to its surroundings. The only refuge from this misery is under the friendly shade of an umbrella outside in the pouring rain, or it may be varied by climbing up a slippery hill to the pa close by, where, reclining on a mat in a miserable whare, lies the notable Kewi—lord of an estate of far greater extent and larger value than many an English earldom—a man who holds in his hands just now the fata and fortunes of several thousand men. Rewi is a small man, hut there is great power in his face, which has a very pleasant but thoughtful expression; He receives his many visitors with extreme courtesy and as much dignity as his surroundings will allow ; but the charm of thefirst impressions gives placet© pity when, as at the time I saw him, his little and only daughter, shoeless, unkempt, clothed in a dirty roundabout of calico, amuses herself and her father as well with a sixpenny squeaking toy, and partakes with him, in common with the other occupants of the warn, of a pannikin of tea, so called, and some loaves of bread tipped out from a sack upon the earthen floor. What a miserable farce the whole thing seems that Ministers of the British Crown are kept hanging about for weeks waiting in a state of anxious expectancy for an expression of this man’s thoughts, and that thousands have to be spent in the endeavor to ascertain and publish to the world what be may be pleased to say or do. However, we manage to kill an hour with this visit, and gain food for reflection through many an hour more, which is a great thing just now. Having paid this visit, we anxiously inquire the news, whether there is any chance of the meeting coming off, and finding there is not, we visit the extraordinary building which the Government has erected for the Maori visitors to this meeting. It is an enormous lean-to, close boarded on all sides, without any other means of admitting light into the several compartments than the doors, when open, afford. It surrounds three sides of a large open square close by the railway station, and resembles a large cattle shed, except that it is much less comfortable than decent cattle sheds usually are. The Maoris evidently do not appreciate tho kindness of the Government, for they prefer the old warris at the pa, or the house with the drink and tobacco and the “devil’s pool.” .There being nothing more to see wo get through the remaining hours as best we can, and are most thankful to return to New Plymouth by tho train at halt-past three. This programme, less the visit to Rewi and the inspection of the cattle-shed, has had to be repeated every day until to-day, when the usual routine was broken by tho arrival of some forty-nine bullock and horse teams from Pariaka—Te Whiti’s pa, near Mr. Egmont’s—laden with pigs and potatoes, a contribution to the feast which is the usual accompaniment of meetings like these. The arrival of these drays was . certainly a most interesting sight. They came winding down the hill to the Waitara Valley in procession, with a motley collection of drivers, whoso bullock.whips kept up a running flre as of small arms in the distance. The leading dray boro, as a banner, a gunny mat on a long ragged pole, suggestive of bags of sugar, I suppose, and a very fussy Maori, with a small red flag, redo up and down to preserve the order of tho march,, As the procession neared the town all the Maoris, men, women, and children, turned out, and with waving boughs and hats and shawls, and stamping of feet and shrill cries of welcome, saluted the convoy. It seldom falls to anyone’s lot to listen such an unearthly din. To tho cries and chaunts from the human throats, and the violent and regular stamping of many hundred human feet, were added tho squealing of 100 pigs, os they came bumping along in the advancing drays, and

the forty-nine whips of the drivers were cracked with an energy with which, I venture to nay, the forty-nine whips had never been cracked before. .

As soon as the drays had drawn up in treble line within the cattle-shed square, the “rangatiras,” both pakeha and Maori, retired to the empty store in which the meeting was to be held, and when Sir George Grey and the principal men of both races had taken possession of the dozen chairs, and the rest of the assemblage, male and female, had settled themselves comfortably in the straw—the cattle-shed idea evidently running through the whole of the preparations,—the long expected korero began, as follows ;

Rewi : I rejoice over you, Sir George Grey, because we have come to' meet at this place, and to see each other at this particular spot. Your hand is on my head, and mine is on yours, and this Is why we have met each other here. It is good for the tribes to see us together, so that we may utter what we have to say in this very place, Waitara. Sir George Grey : Rewi, you asked me to meet you to talk things over together here at Waitara, where the war began, and I am hero in compliance with that invitation. Since that war began here everything has changed, and what we have to consider is the future and not the past. The question now is not whether you will be governed by other persons, but whether you will govern yourselves. We are all on an equal footing, uniting to choose the people who make laws for us. Maoris sit in Parliament, and are made Ministers to carry out the laws. We now make one nation. Nothing prevents natives putting more natives into Parliament. Nothing prevents Rewi or other leading chiefs taking seats in the Upper House or becoming Ministers. Titles to land are decided by Courts, not by fighting; and the Government intends proposing alterations in the law, by which more native judges will be appointed, for the courts. Every day, in fact, we are becoming more and more one people. Even looking back on the war, there are some things we may all be proud of—great courage shown on both sides ; great bravery ; great generosity. The days are now com© when we are one people, inhabiting one island, not destroying one another, but rather uniting to destroy a common enemy. Truly in all ways we are one people now. Mr. Sheehan here is a native of New Zealand—born here, attached to the country, intending to live here. Mr. Grace, too, who is interpreting, is New Zealand born, and both of them are proud of their country as any native. A whole generation has grown up, and so we are one people, and cannot help living together, and cannot separate. I had even designed, had war broken out in Europe, to form a regiment here—English and Maori—and I thought the natives migh furnish great officers and brave men. We have met here to discuss this state of things, to make the natives wealthy and prosperous, to secure their land to them, and to make it profitable. We are here because it is our duty to build up our joint nation into greatness. Intermarriages are taking place daily; there is hardly one great chief who is not closely related to Europeans.. Let us, therefore, try well and faithfully to do this work. We Ministers, native and European, will help. Let great chiefs come forward, join in tho government, become Ministers, and make and administer the laws.

Eewi : Your words are very clear. It is right for us to work together. You have come here this day to seek out means to minister to the ailments of me, who caused trouble on this island. Therefore my heart is truly glad, and because Karaitiana, We Take, Matene, and other great chiefs are here. It is right that you should lay down subjects for us to discuss to-morrow at our meeting. lam going to ask you a question. At which place shall we commence the work of good ? My opinion is the place should be Waitara, and that one tree should be planted here from which good should come. Let os plant that tree here, and should it flourish we can plant cuttings elsewhere. If it is not planted here, the young trees planted elsewhere will not succeed. This is the subject for us to-morrow, when I will speak at large and plainly. Let ns speak together without reserve; secondly, let what we say be genuine; thirdly, let the plan be final. This is all I have to say to you to-day. I wish to speak to my friends ; to-morrow I will again speak to you. Sir G. Geet : I will meet you to-raorrow. I believe you and I are able to plant a tree, the suckers of which will grow and flourish elsewhere. We have able men to assist us. I agree with you what we have to say should be fearlessly said—gently, but without fearing to give offence to any one. I believe, by adopting that course, we may come to a satisfactory conclusion. I understand you wish to speak to your people; we will, therefore, go or remain, as you please. Rewi; If you do not stop, who will hear us? Eewi then addressed Matene te Whiwi, Wi Take, Wi Parata, Karaitiana, and Mete Kingi separately, expressing his pleasure at meeting them, blaming himself as having been the cause of the war, and expressing a hope that the meeting might have a satisfactory issue. ,