LETTER BOX.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7720, 24 January 1905, Page 2

LETTER BOX.

I j (We arc not responsible for opini ' ions expressed by correspondents.) r "MEN" FltOM JAPAN. ii (To the Editor.) Sir,—Your interesting article in > yesterday's News relating an inter--1 view with one of the Japanese who lately "honoured" these parts with ( their presence has • caused some ; slight comment in this quarter. The i- j comparison of the Maori with the Japanose will be dismissed at once by _ most colonists in favour of the noble [ race whom we have displaced in v ■ these lands, and 1 think l the manly _ Maori does not much yearn to establish a relationship with the sav- - age Ainu. But regarding the incid- ;. ent alluded to towards the end of t, your column, Mr Hagiwara says of t the shameful affair that occurred at f llawera on Wednesday evening last : j"A Maori does 'one of our men a t wrong," etc. This version is not t, corroborated by those present, who, t to their shame, stood supinely by i while a fellow colonist was being 3 kicked to death by a tailless mont key from Dai Nippon. These say I that the .Jap tried to beat the Maori 0 for a few shillings; the native oh- | jected, and the "dear little brown 1 man" leaped upon his ,sbouldc,rs, ii bore him to earth, and energetically began to kick his eyes out with his - quaint sandals.' , So well did hel t perform that it is feared the poor . natjvo will lose the sight of one eye L . at leas(. When. tlll' slow crowd' at ~ last? expressed their disapproval of - the ffghting .methods of our noble L . ally,; the yellow savago tied precipi--1 'latelf-.' S,o much for Ilagiwara's acv', ebtiiit. "I,pay that there shall be n<{>' «iurt." It is passing strange ."if a' murderous assault can be squarI ed-.i-n this way. But "Japan is all .; honour!" lia, ha, ha ! Ask any / .merchant trading in the East of the s j "honour" of the Japanese ! Do we forget how the British Government was "done" in recent years In a , large transaction with the guileless , brown man ? Do we no longer re- • I member the foul murder of the Queen . of Korea V All travellers in the . East speak of the swinish immoral- . it-yi of these dwarfed degenerates. J | Truly 4he exigencies of party govern- . jment make us consort with strange . allies. Another query—Did Messrs . Fitzgerald Bros, pay the poll-tax of j |£10() per head on this) part of , their menagerie, or did our Legisla- .' ture reciprocate to that extent with . that of the Mikado as to admiit . [them' free.? Again, no! We colon'ists are not anxious to prove !he ai- : Unity of Maori and Japanese. We 'can grip the hand .of Ihe brown man , with the grip of a life-long friend, ; but when we clasp 'that of the yel- . low we never know when his other , paw is manoeuvring lo get a "jiujitsu" grip upon our throats unf awares.—l am, etc., , 'W. A. QIMX.' '• t llawera, Jan. 2'lrd, 190.1. | NATIVES AT THE BAH. (To the Editor.) I Sir, —Last night three native gentlemen—one of whom is the assessor - at (he Native Land Court now sil- ■ ting in New Plymouth, another a caste licensed native interpreter, and the third a high])' respectable half carfle—after driving back from ' ithe breakwater, alighted near the .railway station, and, being thirsty, 1 ! turned into the first hotel they came ' .to,-for refreshments. The)' happened, 1 ■ [unfortunately for them, to "drop" 1 into the best bar the hotel had. I They asked for drinks, and to their . great astonishment were ordered by , Ithe barmaids to go to the front bar. 1 ■ On being asked why. the "ladies" re- ' , fused to answer. These gentlemen wefe' absolutely refused drinks unless 1 the)- went into the front bar ; therefore they declared that they could 1 not have any drink there,. For .this they received the polite answer; :t "Then go-*! 1" -. Tljtis insulted, they' -' determined lo make a test r case,;of j this matter, They fjjjiod ion their rights ; they jlemandojl,drinkslw-i,tin-., out getting fhtylf from the front bar. ( It was not. until they threatened to , . see the police as to their rights of ( being rerved v as respectable and , peaceful, .citizens that the proprietor f came forward and without apology , Instructed the barmaids- to serve I hem.—l am, etc., , MAOIU. New Plymouth, Jan. 21, 190.1, ,