THE MURDER AT MOUMAHAKI.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5463, 30 September 1878, Page 2

THE MURDER AT MOUMAHAKI.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, —The Government, or perhaps strictly speaking, the Native Minister, has displayed creditable activity in endeavoring to arrest the Moumahaki murder, so far as making use of the telegraph is concerned. To inform and stimulate its officers, and to engage the assistance of all loyal natives'in such a case as this, is too obviously the duty of the central administration to be neglected. Were the civil servants allowed a little more discretion the result might have been greater. It is not surprising that men kept in abject terror of their official superiors should be deficient in initiative. A decided encouragement is given to crime when the criminal knows that till orders have been received from head-quarters, he is comparatively safe. The settlers were disgusted, and the natives much amused, when they learned that some days after the murder ’had been committed, the Resident’Magistrate for the Upper Wanganui District was awaiting the permission of the Government to incur the expense of sending a canoe up the river to intercept the murderer. Considering that the track from the Moumahaki to the Wanganui River.can be traversed by an active man in a few hours, the decision of the Minister must have come rather late. However, no doubt an important principle has been preserved. The revenue must be protected at all costs, except when an Otago railway job is in hand, and the protection of life and property is quite a secondary consideration compared to the importance of letting the country see that the Government is entirely free from the control of its own officers. Direct and personal administrative action is the boast and glory of the present Executive, as it is of all Governments in,which the autocratic element predominate’. In these circumstances it is not surprising that the suggestion of the Wansly settlers that a reward should be offered for the apprehension of the Moumahaki murderer was not at once adopted. Personal influence and a face to face policy is to be displayed on a grand scale, and the shadow of the money bags would interfere with the lime light effects of the magnificent transformation scene. Considering the admirable manner in ■which Sir George Grey, as pantaloon, and Mr. Sheehan, as clown, have tumbled before an appreciative audience, regardless of personal dignity and decorum, so long as pit and gallery shouted approval, no one would grudge them a tawdry, but harmless, triumph. Unfortunately, however, the means taken to obtain it may not be harmless. It is all very well for the chiefs in Wellington belonging to the suspected murderer’s tribe to assure Sir George and the Native Minister that their hearts are exceedingly “ dark ” in consequence • of the crime; they might have been (especially when they remembered the position in which they themselves would have stood had not ; English law replaced native customs), but there can be no doubt that among the natives generally such a murder as this is regarded with very mixed sentiments. Among ourselves it excites the strongest feelings of horror, and the wild justice of revenge is with difficulty restrained by themachinery of law. Amongthenatives it produces feelings of a totally different character. Theywillcalralydiscussthequestion whether it is a mere “killing”—a more or less justifiable homicide—or a murder, to be approved of more or less strongly, as it is thought to have a more or less bad effect upon Maori interests. It may suit some tribes to surrender the criminal to justice ; it may not suit others, and depend upon it hard cash will have far more influence than “ soft sawder.” The Government should have offered a substantial reward immediately it became certain that a great crime had been committed. Having found that their influence has failed to produce any good results they are bound to do so now. It is monstrous that an atrocious criminal should be allowed further chances of escape in order to gratify the senile vanity of Sir George Grey, and to give the Government an opportunity to make political capital at the cost of the country. Ido not believe that the Moumahaki murder has the slightest political significance, but it may easily have Serious political effects. As it is, the country will lose a considerable sum of money on the sale of the Moumahaki land. That land will bedepreciated in value, not bo much because a murder has been committed as because the Government, in failing to offer a reward, failed to take the steps which the settlers would be most effective. If settlers in outlying districts see their lives and properties placed in jeopardy in order to suit the exigencies of politicians, they will be the first to warn others not to run the same risk. Even the rumored appointment of an illiterate blacksmith as commissioner in the district has failed to restore confidence, though it is accepted as a proof that the great Pinchbeck Policy can combine dirt with glitter.—l am, &c., Economist. Wanganui, September 28.