THE NATIVE QUESTION.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 12, 20 October 1871, Page 3

THE NATIVE QUESTION.

To the Editor o£ the THAMES Guardian. Sir, —With reference to the letter of Mr. E. H. Power, which was published in your issue of the 19th, I would beg to observe that I was never a pupil of Mr. McLean’s in any sense of the word, but entered the Government service in 1858 as Assistant Native Secretary in tlicMiddlc Island, an appointment which required some considerable knowledge of Native affairs, and from the first day the carrying on of the business of my department was left to my own discretion, and the instructions referred to by Mr. Power, were to do certain things, but the completion and'details were invariably left in my own hands. The Chief Commissioner of the Native Land Purchase Department wrote a very elaborate report on the purchase of native lands in the Middle Island, from which an outsider might suppose that everything was arranged in apple pie order. But some way or other it took me about five years to disintangle some very complicated questions about Native Reserves, said to have been made at the time of the celebrated purchase. As to having improved my social position, I am not aware that I am in a more independent onethan I held before entering the Government service. Ido not say Mr. McLean has no knowledge of native eustoms. I firmly believe lie knew as much about them twenty years ago as he docs now. Mr. Power will probably excuse me if I misunderstand the meaning of that portion of bis letter which refers to the civilization of barbarous people. I take it that lie means that Major Mair’s visit to Tokangamutu is not to be looked on from a barbarous Maori poiut of view, but from some highly civilized standard set up by his late instructor, the Hon. D. M’Lean. If this assumption is correct I would then remark that I presume the duty of the head of the Native Department is to make himself thoroughly conversant with not only English law, but with Maori custom also, and having done so, to take especial care that he does not carry on the duties of his department in such a manner as to cause complications from the difference in the habits and customs of the two races.

If I understand the civilised standard aright, it was the duty of Mr. M’Lean, if he could not capture Todds murderers and bring them to trial, to have kept them at a distance, and not send officers of his Department to fraternize with them or their abettors. I reiterate the statement, that the view taken by the uncivilized Maori is that the crime lias been condoned, and if Mr. M’Lean does not know this, he must be very ignorant of native custom. It certainly appears that the recent proceedings at Tokr.ngamutu are not creditable to us as diplomatists, whether conducted under European or Native custom. I have, &c., James Mackay, Jr.