CORRESPONDENCE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1275, 14 February 1883, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not hold ounelVM neponaible tow the opinion, expressed by our correspondents). —:o:— TO THE EDITOR, Bib,— No apology is needed for stating a tew facts that may tend to throw some light upana transaction which is at present a sort of «i'ne days’ wonder. I allude to the recent pa rdon granted to Te Kooti. To understand tffi ’ question it must be borne in mind that fly the Natives Te Kooti is regarded os a repa Asantative man - the embodymimt of the natl Anal idea that the Maoris nave a right to reft’st oppression, and that the deportation of the .political prisoners taken in arms by the Colonial Forces on the East Coast, to the Chathats.' Islands, without trial, and the confiscation of their lands was on act of oppression. Irf Te Kooti’s ease it wae moat undoubtedly so, The sole charge against him being that be had .given a box of caps some relatives of his who were amongst t'ae ranks of the Hauhau insurgents. During his detention at Kohanga Karerea he teas practically “ en parole,” and wm employed in various way« that offered him every facility for escape had he been so minded. Good tempered, active, obliging, his peccadilloes were limited to various artistic larcenies. However, he was sent with the rest to Wharekauri, and the conduct of the whole party of prisoners whilst there was (if official reports can be trusted) irreproachable. When the reduction of the force, stationed there, to a mere corporal's guard, placed th, chances of escape in safety before them, to their longing for home reached fever heat; they arose, but no fighting or outrage took place, the guard surprised, were quickly overpowered, one soldier alone resisting wae tomahawked. They had the European settlement at their mercy, helpless women an d children, yet no harm was done them beyoud the fright. They carried off the governmi«,.t weapons, stores, and all the money t’r.ey could find in the settlement, and comp- ( ii,d the master of the Rifleman to convey them Whareongonga. When they landed the ,y the captain of the vessel and suffered him to depart in peace. That Te Kooti i otended a peaceful march through the country with the intention of ranging his force, by the side of the Maori King, theve is al <o no doubt. The unfortunate Z eal of Major Biggs was the initial cause of the events which followed. Not so long ago it was considered in European warfare a military crime to defend an untenable position—by implication, therefore, the same thing to make a feeble attack on a superior force. After this wretched business a regular man hunt commenced ; pursued np the Kuakiture River Te Kooti turned to bay, and ail his thoughts became bent on revenge. I contend that our operations were all wrong in the first instance, and whilst every one must deplore the fatal results which followed, it must be remembered that equal horrors have been perpetrated from time to time in every civilised country in Europe. Ministers cannot be sentimental, and “ the dead east must bury its past ” If, as alleged, and as I for one believe to be true, that the pacification of the King country and its consequent opening up for settlement de-S-nded on the course now adopted by Mr ryce, then I say that New Zealanders have as much right to be thankful to him as the British people had to be grateful for when Oliver Cromwell out the Gordian knot of Parliamentary bathos by entering the Honee with his Ironsides, and said, pointing to the Speaker's Mace, “ Take hence this baublel” —Yount, Ac., •‘Qvibn Sabe."