Poverty Bay Standard. Published Every Evening. GISBORNE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1888.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1276, 16 February 1883, Page 2

Poverty Bay Standard. Published Every Evening. GISBORNE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1888.

Tke desire to acquire land after a time becomes a mania, and one which so firmly seizes hold of its victim that there is nothing he will leave undone to secure the sole object of his life. The lives of men, women, and children are as nothing to the land shark ; to him spoliation and ruin of settlers, the retardment of New Zealand’s prosperity, his own honor (?) for that matter are all sacrificed at the altar of his idol god " Acquisition of Land." To that God alone he bowe down; to him alone he pays devotion. The term "shark" as applied is most appropriate, as his voracity is unbounded, and thousands of acres after thousands of acres are accumulated in his insatiable maw. The land shark of the past has somewhat altered to the species we have at present to discuss. In the olden days he was distinguished by an irreproachable white choker, and

termed " missionary," but of late years, through the process of evolution, he is dignified as a "gentleman.” The former caused War! the latter will, if his teeth be not drawn, occasion Rebellion ! ! We will drop allegory and proceed to facts. It is admitted that the cause of the New Zealand war of 1860 was solely due to the machinations of missionaries, who had, in consideration of their Ministerial services, and a few paltry presents, secured large areas of the very choicest land in the North Island of New Zealand, and all subsequent disturbances can easily be traced as the outcome of the action which a band of speculators adopted. The King Country and the magnificent land in and about Kawhia is gazed on with a yearning eye, and to secure it to themselves a remnant of the once well-known “ Twelve Apostles ” have, by following previous tactics, paved the way- Lanas at Kawhia and in other portions of the King Country with Tt Kooti at large would not be desirable places of settlement for honest hardworking men, so consequently the great land speculators must rid themselves of * difficulty The way to do this was a broad and easy one with the present Premier in office and a new Governor on the road. The astute and wily land speculators conceived a brilliant idea, and birth was given to the following proclamation of an amnesty; —

Whereas, by an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, the short title whereof ie "The Amnesty Act, 1882,’’ after recitiog that on eeveral occa.ione theretofore the aboriginal Inhabitants of the Colony of New Zealand had been in insurrection against Her Majesty's authority ; that offences of various kinds, more or less of a political Character, had during sueh insurrections, or consequent thereon, been committed by Mauris; that disturbances of the public peace and breaches of the law of various kinds had recently taken place on the West Coast of the North Island of the Colony, and that the state of the Colony was then such as to testify an amnesty belnv proclaimed for such offences as aforesaid and It was expedient to de se-tt wm among other things enacted that It shall be lawful for the Governor, with the advice and consent of tho Executive Cenneil, by proclamation in tho Government "Gasette" to declare an amnoety for such offences as aforesaid, and that sueh amnesty may be extended to all offences and to all Maoris, or that certain offences and certain Maoris may be exoopted from the operation thereof, aad that the effect of such proclamation shall be to exempt the Maoris not excepted from tho operation thereof from all Informations, indictments, proseeui tions, and criminal proceedings whatsoever, for er in relation to any sueh offences as aforesaid against the taw committed during the continuance of any such insurrection, or On the West Coast ae aforea-fd, or connected therewith, or resulting therefrom; and it was also enacted that the term " Maoris" means the aboriginal tahubitanto of New Zealand and includes half-castes and their descendents by Maoris; and whereas it is expedient 1 that offset should be given to the said Act in the manner hereinafter set forth. Now, therefore, I, Wiiium Fraucis Dkvmmobd Juvois, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, in pursuance and tn exercise of the power and authority vested in me by the hereinbefore in port recited Act, and by and with the advice and consent of the Execui tive Council, do hereby proclaim and declare an amnesty tor the offences in the said Act mentioned, and do also proclaim and declare that the amnesty shall, subject to the provisions of the said Act, extend to all offences and to all Maoris, and that, subject as aforesaid, there shall be no exception from the operation thereof.

By this, the stumbling block in the road of the land speculators was removed ; Te Kooti received his pardon; and the working of the band of land grabbers is rendered easy and pleasant. What we have stated is truth, and we would ask our readers, if a Government can lend itself to such miserable robbery, is it to be supS' d ? We say no! emphatically speculators have been the curse and ruin of New Zealand, and their coadjutors, clothed in Ministerial robes, and “ disguised as “ Honorables ” are even more to blame.