CHARGES AGAINST MAJOR BROWN.

Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 418, 19 April 1879, Page 2

CHARGES AGAINST MAJOR BROWN.

The Taranaki Herald of the 12th April, contains a lengthy letter, signed by a Mr 11. A. A. Shcrrin, who acknowledges himself to be the Special Reporter of the Press Agency, in which the writer tries to explain the reason why the present Waimate ditlicnlty has arisen. The late Sir Donald McLean is accused of having made certain promises to the Maoris, which promises have been utterly ignored by Major Brown. The writer then goes on to say —“ The whole distiict has been under his [Major Brown’s] control, and the surveyors went so far as to enable the Government to cut up in sections seme sixteen thousand acres of land, out of which not a single acre has been marked off as a Native Reserve. It is further stated by the natives —but for the accuracy of this statement I cannot vouch—that Major Brown told them that he would only survey the land on the seaward side of the road, leaving them the inland portion intact but, that when he found the survey going on' so well, he crossed the Hue. and actually went so far as to make a road through the Jcainga of Warn.” After dwelling upon the injustice done to the Maori through the non-fulfilment of these promises, and the repeated attempts to obtain Crown grants for their reserves, with no result, Mr Sherrin says—“ There is a legend on the Plains that Major Brown told the different hapus that those who were willing to allow the Government to take possession of their ancestral estates should have some reserves, but those who were not acquiescent should have none. This statement is freely bandied about as fact. In the matter of these promises, two facts stand out distinctly. Major Brown either knew or he did not know of these promises, whatever they may have been. If ho knew of these promises he should have informed the Hon. the Native Minister of their existence, who had never heard of them until lately ; and when told by Mr Mackay of their existence, failed to give credence to the rumor. If Major Brown was ignorant of their existence, the charge of incapacity must be laid against his conduct. There is no escape from this dilemma. To his action alone is due our present unfortunate position,- and on his shoulders must the responsibility rest. Having been on the Plains for some thirty days, and mixing freely with the native people is the only excuse I can make for thus troubling you at length.” We do not know who this Mr Sherrin is, nor have we any desire to pry into his private history, hut we advise him not to meddle with those who are his superiors in every sense of the word. The trumped-up rubbish that lias been flying around the colony, through his agency, are sufficient proof of the manner in which he would cry down a gentleman who did not take kindly to him. Major Brown can laugh at any attempt on the part of_ these travelling gentlemen to do him an injury, whilst those of standing in the district are satisfied that he is doing what is right and just.