THE NEW ZEALANDERS.

Colonist, Issue 1, 23 October 1857, Page 3

THE NEW ZEALANDERS.

From the Sydney Empire,

Not very long ago, we touk occasion to adver* to the painful fact that .not only to Europeans was the -Maori race sensibly 'diminishing, but that the sad reality had (irmly established itself in the mincla of the na fives also.. One great advantage has, however, cmnnated frmn the fears which such a .conviction was likely to create. .In ousting about, their thoughts to obtain some suggestion which might be adopted for arrest ing -the slow but certain decay of their fami'ies. they have become fortunate'y impressed with the assurance, that in the absence of law, an.l oi local, authorities to uphold and enforce it, , there, c',m be no ; ab"3olute protection affordod . them • either to life or to property. Many n Maori, even in the.period of Sir George Grey's .administration', coiiscicms of the instability of

h s j osition, yearned to possess a Govo;unie'tiu title to land in lieu of what ho had perliap;3 ifglitly avowed himself to be. the proper inheritor of. That feeling of insecurity has now extended itself to their very hearths1 .and altars; Jealous of each other's po'ssojisiona, and su»pici.ms of their neighbours' profession's of am'ty, thoy now seek to oist aside the dqindializing i'liluunccs of antiquated ' u-.agVs,, and to bo gradually made to confjrni to written laws', i which may be effectually appealed- to by the ' lowest as well as the highest of their trib s.

. Tlio press of Auckland, as may bq well cdncoivod .woiild he tho case, has shown, the utmost sympathy with I he fears of I ho Maoii i;acej and great disco nmenfc in its remarics on tlicl policy to be adopted towards a ] eoplo whoso, desire is to have its viewd of civilization t,o inoro and, more assimilate to those of our. countrymen in all that appertains to the free-, dom and &ec:iii;y enjoyed by the British sub*, jeet. It is t,) our. contemporary, The Southern Cm-;.?, that woare indebted for the information, inserted in our issue df yesterday, from which our present deductions are cliieJly drawn. Wo recur to it the more readily, because we loo'c upon .the problem propose.! to bo solved—« hat of establishing local government among ,t the Maories.so as to make it efficient and respected by all classes, together .with referring matters of the highest importance to the Governor himself—as riot merely affecting the well-being of the natives, but the future prosperity of the colonists also. The subject is o:ie of greit delicacy ; but which if handled with a due regard to the sensitive-ie^s and c'tj r perceptive powers of tbe native race, will be sure to be fraught with blessing to the whole province.^ We have long accustomed ourselves to lool; upon the Maoriea as possessed of the elements of both probity and talent. 13y the strange; they are generally regarded as crafty and ca-. pable of great deceit;. But he forgets that the first b'arterings made by the whites' with them taught them a very fearful lesson, which, in ' (heir after dealings, fiey wore not likely to lose sight of. Their knowledge of persons and things is now wonderfully enlarged. What is! termed intoligenco is developing itself very steadily amongst thorn. The missionary; has,\~ exercised a great innience upon them, and rn'ay ■ in the course of years, command a stil greater / but yet there is not-one, from the greatest veie'v. I ran to the last appointed am->ngs; them,^whosoattainments liave not been compelled at 'one time or another to sudcumb, for the nonce; to the brief but insurmountable reasoning ef the simple Maori. .

Not a little good, then, may be expected froni the native, -with a mind invigorated by thei traditionary impulse of his race and moulded in some sort by the rational teaching of European instructors. We have seen officers at Constant tinoplo swinging ft feather to and fro, during parade, in order to accistom the -Ottoman ranks to the sight of even an article of finery that was intended as an ornmient to the fijz— as an abrupt introduction ,of it would have startled into action the prejudices of that iace so sttV-. picious of every species of reform. Here, how-, ever, the Maories seek a ; but even to their notice every alteration will have to bef introduced with the strictest caution. For,' though there be no Ulemahs in New Zealand, ifc is a country not destitute of fanatics, whose influence would avenge any supposed affront to. their chief or any interference on $\e part o£ the Government, falsely interpreted by them as, destructive of the personal liberty of* their countrymen. They wish for protection under j usfc, laws that shall be easily comprohended by, every one. It would,, doubtless, moreover, be mest compatible with their desires, and most satis-; factory also to the Government, should ."every small matter" be left..to be decided by.." men of truth" of,their own race—chosen amongst themselves, and ..having European magistrates. , to appeal to, in oa'se.of need, to verbally "confirm^ the moaning of the written law—and " eveay . great matter" be referred to the highest tribunal in tho Jaw. In" fact, that as the .universal introductipn of legal restraint would be to them,\ liko a renewal of their existence—but in a' N 9phere of responsibility hitherto xfnlcnown to them—its initiation should pirtake, in a great measure, .of the simplicity of tho patriarchal period, when " tlie elders sat in the gate." la, other words, the Maori should be governed after,, the wise advice ginß:iri the wildernos* to'tjid. Hebrew law-giver by, his sagacious father-in-law, tho priest of Midian.

We cannot but beliovo that the interest taken, by the. Auckland press and the people of that province in the welfare- of the Maori race willbe gratifying to evury man, woman, and child amongst us capable of understanding the sulK ject. The efforts that we have alluded to are' made- for the natives of a soil .where a Goreru-,. ment has existed not twenty years—for the half! civilized from whom nothing' has been obtained' but at a price. And' yet what has been done, —is doing—or is.likely to b"j put in nioiioh to save tho aborigines of this country from gradual, decay—from ccrtaiivannihilatiou ? We"sot the native police to track the native offender; but, where'j, with us, are the instances, as in New, Zealand, where the improved mind ,of. the. native has been engaged to. work ttpon; that of his fellow in color fjr tho hitter's benefct ? Why, as a correspondent .in pur_ columns .of Tuesday last asks, are these'blacks $o utterly neglected",by a people, calling themselves Christians ? " Are they thus neglected and despised because, by, the introduction of the vices of civilization"! amongst them, the weakest of them die off by. hundreds and thousands yearly ? Or, as they, are easily compelled to recede before the,, presence of the white man—and, as .they shriek', from terror at his approach, as they" did at; Lake Torreas—^is tlie real practical object of the". • misionary accomplished—that of boing pioneer in the interest of commerce and science and not, the evangelist of good tidings ainong-t a people' living in disivgird of every ennobling virtue ?, Yet, so it would soem to be.. Abcf that their extinction is a consummation* deVoutly wished' —but by whom it v not (or us .to assert. Cer-', tainly it is not any one with tha moral courage of a Ridley who would, for a moment entertain, .such a desire. , Nevertheless, a heart-stirring' account in the temples of worship in and around tho British metropolis, on the subject of missionary enterprise, and its great snecoss in ,the niidst ;of the inland Aborigines of Australia,, would* 'sound a3 acceptably to the thousands-assembled. • therein, as would a narrative of> .imminent ;danger experienced by the evangelist on some, Monely and ft uit-abounding.island destined to. at no distant ,day of essential value to. his. /country in a commercial point of view, ...That, .extinction then,-would APPeai' to many.to.be, generally wislied for,,.tha't .the selfishness ; of mejj' ;of active intelligence may_be fiuther.gratified,. 'land that the heathenism .of the aborigine^ may ['cease to be, as it is confessedly, a,living're"; 'jproach to the apathy and pious ease of the" pro'|jfes:siug Christian worZd/