TREATY OF WAITANGI

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 February 1940, Page 5

TREATY OF WAITANGI

STILL BINDING ON CROWN EXPRESSION SOUGHT IN LEGISLATION. METHODIST CONFERENCE RESOLUTION. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) DUNEDIN. February 26. The need ror a clear-cut statement by Ihe Government Unit the provisions of ihe Treaty of Waitangi were still binding upon the Crown and upon, the Government, was stressed in a'resolution adopted at the centennial conference of the Methodist Church in session this morning. Some concern was expressed in that there appeared to be some dissatisfaction and doubt among the Maoris themselves, many of whom believed that the treaty was dead. The resolution, which was ultimately carried unanimously, and which is to be presented to the Government by a special committee of the conference, was explained at length by the Rev A. J. Seamer, who has spent the greater part of his life among Maoris, and who has recently retired from the position of superintendent of the Home and Maori Missions of the Methodist Church. The resolution, which was couched in the following language, was presented to the conference by Mr G. I. Laurenson, present superintendent of missions:—

“The conference congratulates the Government upon the measure of success achieved in the Waitangi Centennial celebrations but regrets the circumstances which prevented Waikato, King Country and Taranaki tribes from being officially represented, and suggests that this is a suitable subject for a full inquiry. Conference notes with satisfaction the admission made by Ministers of the Crown that the treaty is still binding upon the conscience of the Crown and consequently upon our Parliament and Courts.

“As, however, this fact was not explicitly and clearly stated, and there is much unrest among our Maori people on that account, conference endorses their request that a suitable summary of the principles and provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi be placed upon the Statute Book. “Conference respectfully claims the: right to express itself on this question ' as it is an indisputable historical fact that our missionaries, in associationwith those of the Church Missionary Society, advised the acceptance and signing of the treaty and assured the Maori Chiefs that the treaty would stand for all time, and would be honourably observed. Conference cannot forget that it was the great Methodist chief, Tamate te Wata Nene, who sprang from his place by the side of the Rev Samuel Ironside, with whom he had been conferring, and, at his instigation, made the historic speech that swayed the assembly of chiefs and decided the issue.

“These facts not only give conference the right to speak on the question, but also place upon it a responsibility that cannot be lightly regarded.” The resolution was carried unanimously. ■