THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR 0'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 17, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3144, 17 March 1879, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 17, 1879.

We publish in another column an extract from the Herald, which speaks of the intrigues at present going on about the approaching meeting at Te Kopua. There is no doubt room for the complaints made by the Herald's correspondent, and that such should be the case " sa meikle's the pity." Unfortunately for New Zealand, in all her native difficulties in the past the Government of the day have had always not only to contend with the wily aboriginal, but against the machinations of a class of men who, for their own purposes, were base enough to sacrifice their country's good. This class of men is, unfortunately, not yet extinct, and never will be until the Maori has not land to tempt their cupidity. That such men exist is a disgrace and a blot upon our race, and well they merit the curse so forcibly uttered by the poet Moore in his " Fire Worshippers," and called down upon the heads of the traitors of his native land.

" Oh ! for a tongue to curse the slave Whose treason, like a deadly blight, Comes o'er the Councils of the brave, And blasts them in their hour of might. May life's unblessed cup for him Be drugged with treacheries to the brim— With hopes that but allure to fly, With joys that vanish while he sips, Like Dead Sea fruits, that tempt the eye, But turn to ashes on the lips ! His country's curse, his children's shame, Outcast of virtue, peace and fame, May he, at last, with lips of flame, On the parched desert thirsting die, While lakes, that shone in mockery nigh, Are fading off, untouched, untasted, Like the once glorious hopes he blasted." The correspondent of the Herald says most of the slanders uttered against the Government are dictated by ah envious feeling, and a desire t:> create confusion and a disturbance. If the action of those persons should result in a disturbance, are they not amenable to the law of the land? Are not there actions of a treasonable nature? for treason they are undoubtedly guilty of, at least morally. A disturbance with our Native friends is a calamity which we trust we may never witness, for such would be a blow to the best interests of this new country. The Government of Sir George Grey should at least, in all fairness, have a trial, and the policy at present being pursued, an opportunity for proving its value. It is a very easy occupation fault-finding, but pointing out a better course is a matter that requires abilities not usually found in the fault-finder. It will be a matter for regret if the action of unscrupulous individuals should mar the work expected to be achieved at the meeting between Sir George Grey and Tawhiao, for difficulties now thrown in the way of a thorough understanding with the Natives being arrived at, may result in such an injury to the Colony as cannot be repaired for years.