THE COLONIST.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 314, 23 October 1860, Page 2

THE COLONIST.

iVELSON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1860. 5y the last mail from Auckland we were avored with a copy of 'Further Papers elative to Native Affairs,' marked E. No. c, which deserve the serious attention of ,11 persons who will bring themselves to ake a dispassionate view of the present state if native affairs and the recent occurrences phich have arisen in respect of them. The paper in question purports to be a Report from Mr. Fenton, Eesident Magisrate as to native affairs in the Waikato listrict,' dated March, 1857, and, as it vould appear, communicated to the General Assembly in the month of 'October, 1860; )ut for why or wherefore it would be diffiiult to guess, seoing that, as far as we have my means of knowing, there does not appear hat any steps ha-ve been taken during its )resent sittings to carry out the wishes of he Maoris or the suggestions of the Resilent Magistrate by legal enactments; notvithstanding the Colonial Treasurer, in his etter of May 11th, 1857, in page 13, says, hat the * full force of the British law :annot be given to them so as to make them )inding on both races, until the assent of he General Assembly is obtained to the jroposed measures for the purpose.' The writer in the first page very truly ibserves: —• There are times in the history if every people when the popular mind— ixcited by some benefit cove'ed, or inflamed )y some present hardship suffered, or future svil apprehended—is in a state of restless md abnormal agitation. The records of he past prove that a movement of this lature tends to permanent good and de 'elopes in rapid and successful progress, >r becomes the source of discontent and etarded civilisation, according as it is ruided by the intelligence or neglected by he supineness of the governing power. Nor s a ready apprehension of the need of ,ction with a judicious discrimination of the ourse to be pursued whilst contemplating novements of this nature of more grave iecessity, than promptness in commencing ,nd decision in conducting the plan decided m, when once it has been determined that he directing hand of Government shall be nterpoaed.' We shall not now stop to inquire what repression the writer's opinions and repreentations may have made on the ruling lowers, but content ourselves with recording iur hearty concurrence with and admiration if the force and close application of the oregoing observations to the present state if the native question. Further on he says:—'When I prepared ny previous minute on the advantages vhich would be derived by the Government md the benefits which would accrue to the Ylaoris by the concentration of the populaion and fixity of residence to be obtained >y the establishment of villages, with a pernanent system of agriculture and a settled ilan of administration of law for their own nunicipal purposes. I was not prepared to reognise as a, fact that a large proportion of the .boriginal population of this country—incluling the numerous tribes- comprehended inder the general name of Waikato—have .lready advanced in their desires for the esablish ment of law beyond a mere provision or the internal government of each tribe, and ire now actively engaged in devising some neans by which the whole of the extensive listrict peopled by them may be brought inder the control of a number of officers of heir own race, whose duty it shall be to idminister the few simple laws which they is a people purpose to make for the proection of their persons and property.' Are these the movements upon which the inti-Maori party ground their assertions md fears t'nat the natives —that is, the great md influential tribes of the North Island —were organising a war of annihilation of ;he European settlers ? The writer proceeds:—'l refrain from ;ommenting on the long course of laissezcaire policy and the other causes which have nduced these conditions;' having, as he jays, stated them before; with what effect s yet to be seen. • The feelings and desires )f the Maori population with respect to their wesent social and political condition may be iummarily stated as they are entertained ilmost with unanimity, although the plans >y which these desires are proposed to be iffectuated are various and conflicting. Recognising generally the advantage derived rom the European connection, they are still lonscious that they are gradually losing wound before the greater individual energy md more complete social organisation of the vhites, and they are anxious to arrest their lownward progress before the disproportion if lhe races shall render the attempt hopeess. They observe' (and how truly) ' that he Government of the country is more .nxious to obtain possession of their lands or the-augmentation of the intruding body han to elevate the present possessors and ,dmit them among themselves as a cotn>onent part of one (political) people; and hey desire therefore to devise measures vhich shall tend to advance them in civilsaion, and entitle them at some future period o demand the right of citizenship on terms if equality. They perceive that the Government is unable or unwilling to elaborate ,nd prosecute any scheme by which law ,nd order may be introduced and enforced n their villages (or pas), and they now eek by their own intelligence and activity o discover some means by which these lesirable objects may be obtained.' With our limited means as regards space ire are precluded from printing the vouminous Report now before us, and forced o confine our extracts to what we consider he incontrovertible arguments contained in t. We therefore turn to the fourth page of

the printed paper and find the following recorded fact:— • The better to enable his Excellency to realise the exact character of the movement, I will briefly advert to the proceedings that took place at the meetings. At one place I found written in a book, as a sort of record, a memorandum of which the following is a translation :— This is the day (27th February, 1857) on which we assembled to discuss the laws That about plantations was completed previously. We agree to this, undertaking that the arrangement for everything may be satisfactorily nnde:-The law for Theft-slander-Witchcraft-Women -Horse eating wheat-l igsSpiritß—Anyone who startles another on noreobacfc, whereby he causes him to fall-Anyone shaking pun out of wheat-About mares in foal—Killing ahorse or cow The unfenced stack of wheat -The man who reunins outside the law, no payment for his crops though they be devoured. Of what consequence is it, for he is not fenced by the law. • The following notice was posted on the door of the assembly-house in the same village: — The men for the assembly of Whata-Whata have been established; they are fifteen mi number: these men will seek for the laws; when they have.completed tbem they will be announced to the multitude. This meeting commenced at ten o'clock and lasted until midnight. I was present the whole of the sitting. My notes unfortunately got so wet on my ietum that they were unintelligible. I can therefore only express my admiration of the conduct of the speakers and of the judgment and f resight which they brought to bear on every subject under discussion; some of which were of no ordinary difficulty, particularly the law of polygamy. At the conclusion of the meeting th.cc men were appointed to act as wardens or magistrates: they were separately proposed and agreed to by acclamation.'