WAIAPU.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 259, 27 March 1875, Page 2

WAIAPU.

(from our own correspondent.) March 20. The Native Lands Court is to be held at Waipiro, and not at Waiapu, as was at first intended. Major Ropata has obligingly placed a commodious uninhabited building at the former place, at the disposal of the Court, and as there is also a good inn there, the accommodation is, undoubtedly, superior to what could be obtained at the latter place. This being the first Lands Court appointed for this district, its adjudications are looked forward to with intense interest, and they, consequently, form a prominent topic amongst the Ngatiporous at present. The Government Eave acted wisely in accommodating that tribe with a tribunal for the adjustment of their land claims which have not only caused many bitter internal feuds, but have also retarded European settlement in an eligible part of the coast. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the Land Court will be found to be a panacea for the evils arising from disputed ownerpship of land. I hear that Judge Rogan’s decisions are giving great satisfaction, and thatjlie has, consequently, gained the entire confidence of the natives of the East Coast, who, perhaps, are not the most easily pleased in these matters. I have been shown a small specimen of coal said to have been taken from a scam of that mineral recently discovered by a native within two miles of the mouth of ths Waiapu river; and if I am not mistaken it is quite equal to coal used for domestic, and ordinary steam purposes. It is well known that the valley of AVaiapu abounds in coal; and as the importation of this description of fuel costs the colony upwards of a quarter of a million sterling, per annum, the Government should take effective steps for the working of theft mines, which are within a short distance? of a shipping place. The vast amount we annually expend in enriching the country' whence our coal supplies come, might be materially reduced by utilising our own coal resources, which, in the language of political economists, would be termed a portion of our public assets, and which, being so, ought, of course, to be made the most of. Were a proper geological survey made of the territory between Poverty Bay and East Cape, it would probably.be found that the mineral resources of that region are far more extensive and varied than have ever been dreamt of. It is by sueh surveys that most important discoveries of mineral wealth have been made in other countries, and why not here? The Venerable Archdeacon Williams has just been amongst us, and officiated iu Maori and English, and also assisted in the dispensation of the Sacrament at various places. Although the attendance at the services was better on this occasion than it was when the reverend gentleman visited this part of his Archdeaconry in December last, yet it must have been disheartening to him to find the people so remiss as they are in the discharge of their religious duties. He has—as every faithful pastor should do—been stirring them up to a proper sense of their privileges and responsibilities in this respect, and it is to be hoped that his friendly remonstrances will not be altogether ignored. No literary production of modern times has made such a great impression as Mr. Gladstone’s pamphlet on the “ Vatican Decrees in their bearing on Civil Allegiance has done. What the ex-pre-mier says has been said thousands of times since the Reformation : but, notwithstanding, the appearance of such a manifesto from his pen, at the present time, is very opportune. The ultramontanes are, as might be expected, enraged at. a statement that will be universally read, because it is written by an English statesman whose fame and influence are world wide, and which cannot be effectively answered. English Roman Catholies are greatly perplexed by the authoritative invitation to declare whether they are or are not loyal subjects. In Germany the pamphlet is eagerly read; for though it does not deal in detail with the dispute between the German Government and the Papacy,

yet it undoubtedly is a powerful and conclusive defence of the course adopted by the German Government. Some protestants may think that Mr. Gladstone is a little too kind to what may be called the Ecclesiasticism of the Church of Rome ; but it must be remembered that the right lion, gentleman only professes to treat one question the temporal pretensions of the Papacy and that he treats in a thoroughly Protestant spirit, and with a degree of learning and eloquence that commands cordial admiration. Those who have differed from Mr. Gladstone have always avowed their belief in his perfect sincerity, and now that they agree with him, they assert without fear of being charged with prejudice, that the motive for writing the pamphlet was not the interests of party, but to serve the cause of truth ; yet it will, undoubtedly, be of great service to the Liberal party that the Liberal leader—as he may still be designated notwithstanding his recent resignation of that dignified position—has emphatically declared that whatever may be his ecclesiastical views, he is sternly opposed to the temporal pretensions of Rome in any shape or form. It is impossible but that politicians in every country should see the necessity of guarding their institutions against the power which is thus shown to have intruded itself upon a domain where it has no right human or divine. Iu self defence the nations of the earth will have to resist the tyrannical assumptions of the Vatican.