THE STANDARD. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1873.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume II, Issue 111, 6 December 1873, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1873.

“ We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man j ustice or right: We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

Fortunately, the subject ou which it might be necessary under other circumstances to discourse, speaks emphatically, if not eloquently, in its own behalf. It tells its own tale. The native meeting convened by the Hon. the Defence Minister on Monday last, and fully reported by us this morning, has put its unalterable endorsement on the proceedings which were recently brought to so satisfactory a close by the late Commis-

sion. Next in importance to the instructions the Government was able to give to Mr Locke—by the timely discovery of the lost Agreement made by Mr. Atkinson with the natives at the first Commission in 1869, the ratification of which has given us peace not likely to be disturbed —is the visit of Mr. M'Lean. He was thereby enabled to soften down any little irregularities that required explanation, and at the same time to use a firm, yet conciliatory language, in imparting the mind of his Government to those natives who, admittedly, having wrongs to be redressed, took measures the least calculated to attain the end they had in view. But when we see that the prime cause of nearly all the recent ebullitions of refractory feeling by the natives, lies in the Government itself, we can well sympathise with them. They were sensible of existing wrongs ; and a desire ' manifested by them to have justice, was gradually developing itself into incipient rebellion. It surprises us, however, not a little when we consider the rather peculiar circumstance of the natives having lost sight of the fact that such an arrangement, as is embodied in what we may now call the Atkinson — cum — Graham agreement, was ever made at all. That surprise is not decreased in remembering that Mr. Graham, the agent acting on behalf of the interested tribes, was in Gisborne, in August last, when the disturbances, arising out of this question, were at their heighth: and he, too, seemed to be ignorant of, or, at any rate, said nothing about, the agreement to which he had been a party. And if we are surprised at these, is there not room for further astonishment at the absence of any documentary evidence, or record of the original Commission ? And that the Commissioners, also, forgot or

were silent as to the existence of such an important agreement ? This infelicitous conjunction of a triple forgetfulness, was, to say the least, rather embarrassing, but the difficulty has been surmounted, and Mr. M'Lean is entitled to some credit for frankly acknowledging the error, and making haste to grant reparation. The Meeting on Monday, however, had other significant features. A demand was made by several prominent speakers for the emancipation of the Hau Haus in Wiremv Kingi’s charge at Opitiki ; for the restoration of the several native burial grounds held by the Government ; and the management of their own affairs without the interference of chiefs “from other places,” all of which afforded an eligible opportunity for the Government to speak plainly but decidedly upon, and which we were glad to see the Native Minister was not slow to take effectual advantage of. Making them to understand that the settlers can rely upon the counsel and services of such men as Bop ata, Mokena, Ihaka Whanga and others, in time of either peace or trouble, bears a testimony to the strength of our position which is invaluable. They understood beyond doubt the emphatic refusal given to their request to have the Opotiki prisoners released ; and we were glad to find that Wi Pere boldly challenged the charge of having advised the expatriated rebels “to come away stealthily.” All things considered, the present is the beginning of a future in which it behoves the Government to be firm. As far as is within the range of human discernment there need be no more native feuds in this district. Accepting the opportunity, afforded to Mr. M‘Lean on Monday, of indulging in a little “tall talk ” in the interests of peace, is therefore pardonable, because successful. Native matters now trend in the direction of peace; and, in view of Anaru Matete’s expression of willingness to “ lose the greater portion of his lands for “having joined the Hau Haus,” as an indication of their resonableness if treated fairly, we think it not too much to expect that we may soon be able to number the waverers among our staunchest allies. This, however, rests entirely with the Government.