THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2564, 26 March 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1877.

The meeting of the King Natives with the Honorable the Native Minister, at Taiipo, from which much was expected, appears to have resulted in nothing. We have only the reports, furnished by the Press Agency to base this opinion upon, but it is not likely that if any practical good had been achieved the knowledge of it would have been suppressed, to the preference of unimportant talk. The meeting has not lasted as long as such mixed gatherings generally do, which may be attributed to the fact that the present Native Minister, though admittedly a clever diplomatist, is less skilled in the customs of the Nativestlian his predecessor, and would prefer keeping his Maori friends to the point to following them through the intricacies and sinuosities of-Maori rhetoric. The meeting commenced on Wednesday,'and it was anticipated that the subjects to be debated would comprise a wide range, and include questions of great importance; but this can scarcely have been the case, or the discussion would hare extended probably into three weeks instead of being begun, continued and ended in three days. The Natives have a habit of approaching their subjects in a roundabout way, embellishing their speech with figures and metaphor, clothed in language which must have been in the mind of the writer who said that language was given to man to conceal thought. Ho wever, on Saturday something seems to have been evolved out of the mass of Maori oratory, for on that day the Press Agency informed us that Manga or Eewi had laid down the boundaries of the King's territory, or within which Tawhiao's authority was to be recognised. This declaration.of Tawliiao's adviser was as unsatisfactory to some of the. Natives as it would have been to the Government, and the Ngatiraukawa chiefs repudiated such an assumption of authority over their ancestral domains. This occurred on Friday, and so far the Hon. Dr Pollen does not appear to have interfered. On Saturday, however, the Native Minister delivered an address, in which he expressed the hope that good will come out of the " talk ;" reiterates that Sir Donald McLean's promises to them will be kept, and takes his leave. The meeting has shown that there is not that unanimity amongst the King Natives which was believed to exist, and that while the inland tribes may tacitly defer to the King's rule in matters pertaining to Maori customs and usages,. when that deference implies outside interference with their land, and their right to do as they please with their own, they will not submit. In the meantime Manga wants the questions left in abeyance till spring, so that he may see clearer than he now does the way to a peaceful solution ;,and we presume the road from Cambridge to Tapu will go on, and the inland natives will continue to traffic with their lands as if no absurd restrictions had been proposed by the King's emissaries. Should such be the case Manga's doubts as to a peaceful solution will be set at rest when the spring time comes again.

The . Central Board of Education have come to a decision regarding religious instruction in schools which will, we think, settle that vexed question for the present. It will, at all events, enable them to tide over the difficulty which has arisen as to whether the school must be really as well, as nominally dismissed before religious instruction can be given. That the question will again crop' up in some form or other is pretty certain, but: Boards, whether educational, or otherwise, are. like men, and are content to find a temporary remedy for the grievance complained of, trusting to the future to work- a complete cure. The decision they have come to is, " that the teacher is not required when dismissing the school to oblige all the pupils to leave the room." Thus the voluntary teachers of religion, as long as they are on good terms with the teacher, will probably get on well enough. Should it happen, that cordial relations, as is sometimes the case, do not exist between teacher and preacher, the former may, if he so chooses, make himself obnoxious by causing the children at the ; close of the regular school hours •to leave the school. He can of course fall back on the wording of Colonel Haultain's, motion, .and assert that though he is not required as part of his duty to oblige the children to leave the room, yet that he being master can do so: if he pleases. Perhaps when the question is again raised something more definite will be arrived at. Another point which the Board had to deal with was the memorial from Woodside praying that the master there mightbedismissed, as the parents of "several children would not send them to school as long as he was master. The memorialists appealed to the Board, and,-urged that language alleged to have been used by the master, and the fact that there was a very small attendance at the school, were sufficient causes for a public inquiry into the condition of the school. The bad language, or rather threat, was, no doubt, a matter' fbrcensure^ but as the parents refused themselves'to send their children they can hardly blame the master because they did not go. They may find fault with the master for his conduct which led them to determine not to send them, but- not . because they were" not<

there. It would have been better if the

application had been made through the School Committee, and.so the Board evidently thought, as;they have referred the memorial to that body to report upon —we presume, to them. The one other point of general interest which transpired was the dismissal of the teacher of the Alexandra school for severity of punishment on pupils. The facts of the case are not before us, but the Board considered he (the teacher) had committed.a grave indiscretion in the manner he flogged the. children.and decided that he should receive notice of dismissal.