Great Stare of Disorder. (From Another Correspondent )

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 130, 26 February 1887, Page 5

Great Stare of Disorder. (From Another Correspondent )

}v !.u vlofa, February 1, The tiia'e are ps: jcee-'ingin the attempted' a a sassinatiori c.*?-* ; eight or nine have been, found guilty, 1 to.ievo, but they are not sentenced yei. Arrests have been taking place ever since the afiair. David Finan has been arrested but has not been vied yet. The religion- Jnficulty is spreading, and YVesleyan nati'-e 1 - are boing rapidly "converted"' cc r t all sides. Mr Moulton's placG it full ot refugees — the only safe place tuey can find. My left hand neighbour fied there, and as soon as he had gone h> nous© was riddled by bayonet thrust*, tne windows broken, etc. There is grec.: deptruction of pige, tapa t fowls and food taking place.

Mr Ealier Again Threatened. • One of the pri-onprs arrested, and now awaiting trial, is David Finau, an ordained Weßlayan minister, and hia case was takenup by severe; l Europeans, who petitioned the King, anJ c::e '»r two even wont as far as to threaten AeTpt'ince on Mr Biker if David Finau was shot Mr Baker did not take the threat beric buc replied that if the white men too; hi* life every European ia the Islands woulji do maßsacred.

The Charges of" Tyranny and Persecution. On this subject Mr Campbell eaj'B that good deal of the persecution complained is executed by rhe natives theraselvts, who regard the Weelevann **3 outlawed, but he thinks Mr iiake- mi^ht put a stop to it. The mea&urefl adopted may bo carrying out the lawp of the country, but it is certainly going a very bad way about it. Delight eeem^ to be taken in the persecution of the "Wesley an s. For instance, a native wag working on a green patch at Hapaaii -md took his shirt, off. A policeman came along, rushed him off to gaol, and he wa' fined for being without a shirt To be shirtless is contrary to law, but if he had been a Free Church man, very likely nothing would have been Baid. There are numberless laws of this kind which can b"? made most oppressive. When I waa in Court one day at Haabai, I saw a p wards of 2,000 dollars paid in fines. One native was fined 122 dollars for not having a bawker's licence, another, 250 dollars for having a bottle labelled " ginger ale '" but alleged to have contained, rum, in his possession, and four others who were chai ged with having partaken of the contents were fined 250 dollars each. It will take the. a e men and their friends several y*ars to ray this fine. The fines, in this instance, were imposed by the native magistrate.

Trade Seriously Affected. Trade is at. present in a very^ bad way, Thia is not due to a bad cocoanut crop. The crop is a plentiful one ; it i? simply because co many men are in prison that instead of making copra, they ar©> kept working on the roads and in the bush. There have been 600 men in prieoa at one time. Even after they are released they have to pay heavy fines, and ao alt their money goes to the Government, Mr Baker does eeera to have a good many supporters, but this is because the natives fear him, and will not do anything against tha King, in whose name Mr Bnker acts. When tho summons came after the atfptnpted aseapsioatto-n for the youns: men to rally to the Kine's standard at Tongatobu, three-fouiths of the nativea responded. If thepe had not been loyal, they could, of oourpp, have joined in the sedition, and done as they pleased, oe all were armed with pome port of weaprn. Mr Bakpr was unable to come on to Auckland by Ihe Arawata, becaupe of the. Berious lllne?" of his daughter, who ie expected to die from the spinal injuries sustained when eha was thrown from the buggy during the attack made upon her father. Mr Baker ha" left his own residence, and lives at the King's palace, vhich he never leaves unlees escorted by a body guard armed with drawn swords.

Mon-of-War Sent For. It is reported that both Germans anc| French have pent for men-of-war, and earnest appeals have been made to Fiji to induce the Governor to exercise his authority aa Hfgh Commissioner, which it is argued may be properly done, as Mjr Baker ia a British subject, and has claimed the protection of the British flag, What will be done is not yet known.