THE MAORIS.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 314, 23 October 1860, Page 3

THE MAORIS.

A perusal of the last intelligence from New Zealand, recals forcibly to mind the error and injustice that have at various times distinguished bur treatment of the Maori race. It is not in justification of the present hostile movement against the settlers that we say this. The insurrection of Kingi is instigated quite as much by his own turbulent ferocity and love of notoriety as by a spirit of patriotism. But it is undeniable that we have peglected opportunities and committed grave sins of policy in our treatment of a brave and generous people. The late conference summoned by the Governor of New Zealand has shown once more than the native Maoris are capable not only of acquiring all the refined subtelties of the policy of civilised life, but also of remembering with unflagging retention the injuries that have been inflicted upon them. Dozens of chiefs, with names as sonorous as any to be found in the Iliad, and with the roots of their genealogical lines running back to the tenth and twentieth generations, seem to have adapted themselves instinctively to the manners and customs of the '•' nation of shopkeepeis," and fell into our comparatively tame parliamentary System with the ease of grape and intellect. Tamati Waka Heae (the very name seem? to

•convey a lofty idea, dispelled at once when anglicised into "Thomas Walker,") steps to the head of the meeting, and, asserting his superior claims by the first word, immediately yields them to another chief. " I have come forward first; but you are the head, so I leave the speaking for you. I sit down." What-nobility and dignified gracefulness are conveyed by these few words. And then, when the first speech had been delivered, and the former speaker rises again, how easy it is to see that he has mastered the whole subject. He does not ask his countrymen to bend their necks as the slaves of the English ; but he recapitulates the advantages that may be derived from being absorbed into a powerful kingdo.n, and hints at the dangers that might accrue to them if deprived of such protection. " Who knows the minds of the Americans, or of the French? Therefore, my friends, I say let us have the Eng-iir-h to protect us—let this governor be our governor, and this queen our queen." Another of the chiefs had not considered the subject so closely. He evidently wavered, but was not fully convinced. After a few words, he says:—" I have said enough now, but I will go back to my tribe, and will resume the consideration of these sul-jects on another occasion." Another, again, appears to gloomily hint that although the Queen's authority may be supreme in one part of New Zealand, there are places in which as yet it caunot reach. " Listen, allot"you ! I represent the evils of Waikato—the great evils. The King is over there—the Queen is here. This is my speech." Tamati Hapimana reminds the whites of the crimes of the earlier explorers. "The pakehas behaved ill in the early times —I mean in the time of my forefathers. When Captain Cook's ship came to anchor, my foiefnthers went to look at her, and the pakehas fired on them/ He then mentions other instances of hos'ility, but declares that his own hands are innocent of the white man's blood. The missionaries have made him a Christian, and he no longer desires revenge; but Christianity has not blunted his perceptions. " But you give us the dark side of your laws. You make the law void when it concerns us/ With such intelligence, and such a keen appreciation of injury, as here displayed, no wonder that the Maoii resists a policy which, he foresees, must have the effect of sweeping his race from the earth if it be persisted in. Within the last twenty years the whole native population of New Zealand has been reduced to one half, the number now being but c 6,000. This rapid rate of decrease is now threatened to be further stimulated by the devastating action of war; and war, in the estimate of the Maori, is waged upon him because he claims to do as he likes with his own. Just as William the Conqueror did with the lands of the Saxons, and as Strongbow and his master appropriated the estates of the Irish, so does our Government now seek to seize the patrimony of New Zealand chiefs. The great grievance is that, while the Government will not take any land without a regular sale, tliey force the Maori into their own terms by prohibiting sale to any but themselves. This is a good and substantial cause of quarrel. The natives see clearly that, while professing to acknowledge their claims, the Government virtually deny them—that " they keep the word of promise to the ear, but break it to the hope." England has gained an imperishable glory for her peaceful conqnests of colonization; but here and there a blot may be discerned on the escutcheon. Her land policy in New Zealand must either be reformed, in the interest of the Maori, or, carrying a high hand, she had better confiscate the whole territory at once. — Goulburu Herald.