The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1889. ARREST OF TE KOOTI.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1860, 2 March 1889, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1889. ARREST OF TE KOOTI.

Te Kooti has been arrested, and, therefore, we may conclude that the excitement he has caused will very soon subside. To us, living at such a distance away, this excitement appears ridiculous in the extreme, but are we in a position to be competent judges of the feelings of people in whose minds memories of Te Kooti’s atrocities still rankle ? Probably a few of the most nervous and credulous of the elderly portion of the fair sex of the district had some misgivings as to whether Te Kooti entertained murderous intentions or not, but we certainly do not believe that one person _ in a hundred was in the least afraid of him. The excitement could not have been caused by fear of Te Kooti, There is nothing in the climate of Poverty Bay to make men more cowardly than they are in any part of the country, and certainly men would not be afraid of Te Kooti anywhere else. But, though they were not afraid of Te Kooti, it is quite possible that they were afraid of trouble and bloodshed. There are still in that district relatives of those whom Te Kooti so foully and cruelly murdered, and it is quite possible that some of these might be betrayed into acts of violence by the presence of the mur-, derer in their midst. Supposing, for instance, that some of these were to shoot at or kill Te Kooti or any of his followers, what would be the result,? In all probability much bloodshed, if not another massacre. .In this respect, therefore, the people of Poverty Bay

had reason to fear that the presence of Te Kooti would be fraught with danger to the peace of the district, and were justified in objecting to his coming amongst them. But, in our opinion, another reason animated the Poverty Bay people in their opposition to Te Kooti’s visit, and with this we heartily sympathise. Remembering the fearful atrocities committed by this bloodthirsty old savage in the Poverty Bay district, it was only natural that the friends of those who had been so foully and cruelly murdered should feel aggrieved that he not only had escaped unpunished, but had actually been pardoned and white-washed of all his iniquities. This was bad enough, but that he should be allowed to revisit the scene of his atrocities to gloat over his murderous work, and, literally speaking, to trample on the graves of his victims, was really adding insult to injury. We may look upon this down here as only sentimental nonsense, but let us remember that our feelings are not concerned in it. We have no recollections of a dear father, mother, brother, sister, or friend, who fell a victim in this bloodthirsty massacre, and consequently we are not fit to criticise the actions of those in whose minds the memories of this affair still rankle. We are all great philosophers until our feelings are touched, but it is very seldom the most phlegmatic can sit down and remain insensible to an outrage on their feelings. There is nothing on which most people are so tender as on the memory of the dear departed ones, and when one reflects on all this it appears to us that there is a great deal to he said in extenuation of the apparent excesses to which the people of Poverty Bay have gone in this matter. The whole thing is due to the maladministration of Conservative Q-overnments. Honest John Bryce, who, with his party, wanted to curry favor with the Natives, so that they might secure Native land by a system of legal fraud, pardoned Te Kooti, and shook his hand. This was a disgrace to Mr Bryce, but it was a part of his hypocritical policy, and he did it. Shortly afterwards Mr Ballance came into power, and Te Kooti then insisted on visiting Poverty Bay, but Mr Ballance took time by the forelock and prevented him doing' so. We have heard of no shaking of hands between Mr Ballance and Te Kooti, but we find that very recently the present Native Minister —Mr Mitchelson—feted Te Kooti in Auckland, and he then told the Minister he intended to visit Poverty Bay. Mr Mitchelson, instead of telling him that he would not allow him, advised him in a fatherly sort of way not to go, and it is to his weakness the present commotion is due. Taken altogether the Government have behaved in a weak, vacillating, incompetent way in this matter. When the people of Poverty Bay applied to them to prevent Te Kooti visiting the district, they treated the request with supercilious disdain. When subsequently it was pointed out to them that a law existed under which Te Kooti could he arrested, they replied that the law did not apply, that Te Kooti was a free man, and that he had a right to go where he liked. After this the Premier visited the scene of the excitement, evidently got smitten with the prevailing temper, called out the military, and when Te Kooti was slinking back homewards by an unfrequented road, accompanied by only one or two persons, he was arrested and sent to prison. If two or three policemen hadwaitedon TeKootionthe day he left home, and told him firmly that they would arrest him if he did not turn back, he would would never have gone, and we should have heard no more about it. If this had been done the great expense, which the expedition to arrest Te Kooti has cost, would have been saved to the colony. Let it he remembered, too, that these Native troubles do the colony great harm. Telegrams concerning them are sent to all parts of the world, and they are read everywhere, People at a distance, who are unacquainted with the facts, must infer from them that the troubles with the Natives have not yet been settled, and naturally feel indisposed to come to a country where they would run the risk of being involved in civil war. The trouble with Te Kooti is due to the vacillating conduct of the Ministry, and a very serious matter it is.