NATIVE POLICY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 47, 9 January 1862, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATIVE POLICY.

The following document, translated into Maori, is being circulated' among the Natives : — These arc some of the thought of the Governor, of Sir George Grey, towards the Maories at this time. His desire is, how-to arrange things, that there may be good laws made, and those laws put in force ; and how all men, both European and Maori, may bo taught to work for the common good of the country in which they live ; that they may be ft happy people, rich, wise, well instructed, and every year advancing in prosperity. For it is the desire of the Queen (whose heart •was dark when she heard of thu troubles in New Zealand), that all her subjects, both Europeans and Moarics, in nil parts of these islands, should have the benefits of law and order ; that tho lives and persons of all men should be safe from destruction and injury; and-that every man should have for himself and enjoy his omi lands, his cattle, his horses, his sheep, Jiis ship, his money, or whatever else belongs to him. And it is the desire o the Queen that all her subjects should help in making the laws by which they are governed, and that from amongst"them should be appointed wise and good men as Magistrates, to adjudge in cases of disputed rights, and punish the wrong-doer, and to teach the law, how it should be obeyed. The Europeans in New Zealand, with the help of the Governor, make laws for themselves, and have their own magistrates ; and, because they obey those laws, they are rich, they have large houses, great ships, horses, sheep, cattle, corn, and all other good things for the body. They have also ministers of religion, teachers of schools, lawyers to teach the law ; surveyors to measure every man's land ;. doctors to heal the sick ; carpenters, blacksmiths, and all those other persons who make good things for the body, and teach good things for the souls and minds of the Europeans. It is because they have made wise and good laws, and because they look. up to the Queen as the one head over all the magistrates, and over all the several bodies of which the English people consists. It is the desire of the Queen, and this also is the thought of Governor Grey and of the Runanga of the Pakehas; that the Maories also should do for themselves as the Europeans do. They know that of late, years the Maories have been seeking for law aud; order. The Englishmen have been more than a thousand years learning how to make laws aud to govern themselves well. The Mnorie has only just begun this work. Besides this, in order to have magistrates, aud policemen, and other officers, it is necessary to pay them, for the labourer is worthy of his hire ; aud he who works for the whole body of the people, should be payed by the popple • for while he works for them he must, more or less, neglect his own work. Now the thought of the Governor is how he may help the Maories in the work of making laws, and how he may provide for the payment of the Magistrates and other Officers of Government till such time as the Maories shall have become rich, and be able to pay all the expenses themselves. In order, then, to provide the machinery of good government among the Maories in these islands, the Governor desires to see established the following system, whereby good laws may be made, well-disposed persons be protected, bad men restrained from violence, and security for life and property be ensured for all. 1. ■ The parts of the Island inhabited by Maories will be marked off into several districts, according to tribes or divisions of tribes, anl the convenience of the natural features of the country. To every one of these districts the Governor will send learned and good Europeans to assist the Maories in the work of making laws, and enforcing them ; he will be called the Civil Commissioner. There will be a Runanga for that district, which will consist of a number of men who will lie chosen from the Assessors. The Civil Commission sr will be the President of that Runanga to guide '' s deliberations, and if the votes are equal o ■ vny matter, he will have.a casting vote to di'-irc. This Runanga will propose the laws for thru •'.;■!- trict, about the trespass of cattle, about i.nile ponds, about fences, about branding cattle, about thistles and weeds, about clogs, about spirits am1 drunkenness, about putting down bad customs t>; the old Maori law, like the " Tana," and abou; the varions things which specially concern tin people living in that district. They will alec make regulations about schools, about roads, il' they wish for them, antl about other matters which may promote the public good of that district. And all these laws which the Runangas may propose will be laid before the Governor, and he will say if they are good or not. If he says they are good, they will become law for ali men in that district to which they relate. If he says they are not good, then the Runanga must make some other law which will be better. This is the way with the laws which the Europeans make in their Runaugas, both in New Zealand and in the great Runanga of the Queen in England. 2. Every district will be subdivided into Hundreds, and in each of these there will be Assessors appointed. The men of that district will choose who shall be Assessors, only the Governor will have the word to decide whether the choice is good or not. The Magistrate, with these Assessors, will hold courts for disputes about debts of money, about cattle trespass, about all breaches of the law in that district. They will decide in all these cases. 3. In every Hundred there will be Policemen, and one Chief Policeman, who will be under the Assessors. These Policemen will summon all persons against whom there are complaints before the Court of Assessors, and when the Assessors shall have decided, the Policeman will see that the orders of the Assessors are carried out. All fines which shall be paid shall be applied to some public uses. The Commissioner or magistrate will keep this money till it is required. 4. The Rnnangas will also be assisted in establishing and maintaining Schools and Teachers; sometimes Europeans, sometimes Maories, will he appointed. The Maories ought to pay part of the salary of the School Teacher, the Governor will pay the rest. 5. Where the Runangas wish to have an European Doctor to live among them, the Governor will endeavour to procure one to reside there, and will pay him so much salary as may make him willing to go to that work. The Doctor will give medicine to the Maories when they are sick, and will teach them what things are good for the rearing of their children, to make them strong and health}', and how to prolong tho lives of all the Maories by eating good food, by keeping their .houses clean, by having, proper clothes and other things relating to their health. This will he the • business of the Doctor. But all thof c who require the.services of the Doctor will pay for them, except such as the Runanga may decide to be too poor to do so. 6. About the lands of the Maorius. It will be for the.Runangns to decide all disputes about the lands. , It will be good that each Runanga should make a register,' in which should be written a statement of all the lands within the district of that Ruiianga^ so that everybody may know, and that there may be no more disputings about land. This, then, is what the Governor intends to do, to assist the Maori in the good work of establishing law and order, jhese are the first things : —the Runangas, the. assessors, the policemen, the schools, the doctors, the Civil Commissioners to assist the Maories to govern themselves, to make good laws, and to protect the weak against the strong. There will be many more things to be planned and to be decided ; but about such things the Runangas and the Commissioner will consult/ This work will be a work of time, like the growing of a large tree— nt first there is the seed, then there is one trunk, then there are branches innumerable, and very many leaves : by and bye, perhaps, there will be fruit also. But the growth of the tree is slow— the branches, the leaves, and the fruit did not appear all at once, when the seed was put into the ground : and so will ,it be with the good laws of the Runanga. This is the seed which the Governor desires to sow : the Runangas, the assessors, the commissioners, and the rest. By and bye, perhaps, this seed will gro"v into a very great tree, which will bear good fruit on all its branches. The Maories, then, must assist in the planting of this tree, in the training of its branches, }n cultivating the ground about its'roots; and as the-tree grows, the children of the Maori, also, Will grow to be a rich, wise, and prosperous people, like the English, and those other nations Vhich long ago began the work of making good Jaws, iind obeying them. This will the work of peace, on"which the blessing of Providence will res',—rSyhich will'make the storms to pass away frmn the sky,—and all things become light between the Maori and the Pakeha ; and the heart of the Queen will then be glad when she hears that the two races are living quietly together, as brothers; 'in the good mid prosperous land of New Zealand. — Southern Cross, Auckland, Do-