The Telephone. WITH WHICH INCORPORATED THE POVERTY BAY STANDARD. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 20.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 265, 20 October 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. WITH WHICH INCORPORATED THE POVERTY BAY STANDARD. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 20.

In a day or two his Majesty King Tawhiao, along with several of his suite will return to the shores of their native land after a sojourn in England of nearly twelve weeks. Tawhiao and his party left Sydney on Friday last in the Wairarapa. It is to be hoped that his ambition has now been satisfied. He was disappointed however at not being allowed to see Her Majesty. He regretted that he only saw “the shadow” of the Queen, on whose Empire the sun never sets. The reason why Tawhiao was not allowed to interview Her Majesty was, that he was not officially accredited to the Government, The visit of the party to England was at the outset much ridiculed, and it was hinted in some quarters that the authorities here connived at obstacles being thrown in the way of their obtaining a passage on the Union Company’s boat to Melbourne. Tawhiao and his companions before taking their departure for England expressed a desire to see Sir George Grey. He was invited by that gentleman to his island residence at Kawau. So far as the private life of Tawhiao and his party is concerned their conduct in England was beyond reproach. They remained strictly loyal to their temperance pledges, donned, at the instance of Sir George Grey, the Blue Ribbon. At first the party met with a cool reception in London, but latterly quite a change took place, the Home authorities appearing to do their utmost to make the stay of the Maories as pleasant as possible. Apart from the political aspect of the question the outcome of Tawhiao’s visit cannot fail to be productive of much good, and he will be able to impart to his countrymen a valuable lesson from what he saw in England. The party left England with an excellent impression of the kind treatment bestowed upon, them as visitors to a strange land. So far as attaining the object of their mission is concerned, Tawhiao, together with the other members of the deputation, might just as well have remained in New Zealand. They carried with them a petition to Lord Derby, setting forth the grievances the Maori race suffered from British rule in New Zealand, and prayed, generally, that powers of self-government of very great magnitude should be granted. The Aborigines Protection Society in London took the deputation under their wing. They brought prominently to Lord Derby’s notice the nature of Tawhiao’s mission to England. Last year, in a letter to Lord Derby, the Secretary stated the Society regretted “ that the Maori representatives in the New Zealand Legislature should apparently be unable to obtain from the Colonial Government those reasonable concessions which would ensure the peaceful opening up of the King country.” This correspondence was transmitted to His Excellency, and the Government found itself called upon to act on the defensive. Mr. Bryce, Native Minister at the time, indignantly repelled the accusation that the Natives were unable to have their grievances redressed. In his Memorandum to the Governor he stated that “ no appeal to the New Zealand Assembly could be so certain of consideration as an appeal for justice to the Maoris, or protection for them against oppression.” Sir W. Jervois, in his despatch to Lord Derby, endorsed, and added considerably to the remarks made by Mr. Bryce, and supported that gentleman’s statement. Among other things His Excellency pointed out to Lord Derby that great evils would arise “if for trained Judges, were substituted Natives unaccustomed to weigh evidence, and totally ignorant of the value of time.” Sir William Jervois concluded his despatch by stating that “ there is no ground for the statement that the Maoris are oppressed; that the existing land laws of the Colony are not unfair to them, and that the suggestions now made by the Maori members are impracticable.” It will be seen that in the face of such a statement from Her Majesty’s representative in New Zealand, that Lord Derby, in replying to the requests of the deputation, could hold out no hope of their being granted. Taking, however, everything into consideration the visit of Tawhiao will go a long way to breaking down that isolation so long maintained by the Natives in the King Country, and that being done, the opening up of the country to settlement is only a question in the immediate future.