The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1873.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 154, 3 May 1873, Page 2

The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1873.

On the 2nd of May, in last jear, the first number of this journal was issued from the press ; it enters, therefore, this morning on the second year of its career. The success that has attended this enterprise is as ci editable to the settlers as it is proof of the stability of this district. We may be allowed on this our first birthday to 9peak a little of oursolves. Wo believe that our success has been owing to the consistently independent course we have pursued. We have, as we promised, avoided becoming the representatives of any party or clique, our object having 1 been to represent the settlers as a body by advocating that only •which we believed would benefit all j in doing so we have not forgotten that the general interests of the colony are of more importance than those of any particular district. We have reaped the reward (hat wo flatter ourselves is only our due. The Waikato Times has proved a commercial success, and in addition we believe, with very few exeep- j t ions, gained the respect of the settlers. Before! leaving ourselves, we have to thank our elder brethren of the press for the kindly feeling they have invariably displayed towards us. The year just passed has been chequered with considerable political commotion, — no iewcr than three Ministries ha,ve held the reins of power. When political lighting was at its height we snokc out fearlessly ; we did not hesitate to criticise in no measured tor ins the conduct of our political men who allowed < heir personal feelings to carry them away from the paths of political virtue. We have supported the jMinisfnYs in the carrying out of the Public Works jsoheme, although we hare more than once had ta point out the absurdity of undertaking some of the c intemphited works — "political" railways, in fact. As regards our suppoit of the Native policy of the present Ministry, we still, notwithstanding lite events, believe that we were right in ho doing. The policy, as most of our readers are aware, has been to make roads as rapidly as possible, and to keep the natives quiet in the meantime. The two or three years of comparative peace and quietness havo immensely incroased our strength and detracted fiom that of the Mnoris. Wo must not forget that to enter into war moans the utter snspen. mou of all industries on tho part of the out. settlers ; we must, however, hear in mind that the uncertainly of peace may prove more detrimental to thu interests of the colony, more particularly when we take into consideration that the next fight, if another ever tukes place, will ha\e to be the last. Jt is greatly to be regretted for tho sake of humanity that suuh w tho case ; the friends of tho natives should impitss upon them the fact that tho settlers cannot u flbid to p| uv {l t fighting, neither will they bo able to ail'unl to cease war until their enemies of tho native r.uv uiv so thinned that to fight again will be to them an impossibility. We are inclined to believe that the .Native Jjumit Actß, to a very great extent, are responsible for the

present difficulties. It «»>, or at auy late should have been, known (o the judges of the courts that in very many cases land has become vested in wrong individuals. They only, however, had to carry out the- Acts ; A.cts passed for the protection of the natives. It is clear that if New Zealand, or, at any rate, tho northern portion of it, is to progress, there must be some means of alienating- land from the natives, who do not use it, and vesting it in Europeans who will. Those who undertake early settlement amongst savages must expect to have diffi. eulties to contend ng.unst; those days should have now passed in New Zealand. We have been many years in contact with them, we have missionarised them, fought them, sugared them, and in fact have done more than any other people in the world would have done to civilize them, and.we find them to-day as savage when rouse I as they were on the day Captain Cook first landed. It is true that they are not cannibals as then ; but this is to be attributed nnre to the fact that contact with civilisation has provided them with other food than to any other cause. We regret that our birthday should follow so quickly after the atrocious murder it has been our duty to recoid lately. We have now come ol age, and believe we understand the settlers, and we have certainly spoken plainly enough to be understood) by them. They may rest assured that we shall not, neither will we allow them to forgot — " Omne Solum Foiti Patria."

Ix this issue we have really no intelligence with regard to uativc siil'iirs to communicate. Affairs appear to be in statu quo. A large number of comnmnications arc passing between the " king" party and the Government. So- far us we are able to glean, tlio "king" natives repudiate the responsibility. Repudiation, however, must assume a practical form by the delivery of the murderers into our hands Their names are well known to both parties . there cannot therefore be the slightest reason beyond sympathy with their action for their being withheld from the hands of justice. AH sorts of reports are current, one, which reached us since writing the above, being that Tana has returned from his interview with the " king," who refuses to deliver up or allow the murderers to be taken. This statement requires substantiation.

Our Alexandra correspondent, writing under date Ist May, says : — The tsilk at the llauhau meeting being held at Tokangnimitu was to have commenced to-day, but it has been further postponed owing to the non-arrival of Wahanui, Tawhana, and Te Kooti. When these important personages arrive, this hui, which is creating so much interest, and I might add a little aivuety, will go on; but as it is to be strictly Iliiuhtm, and no pakehns arc allowed to go up, we will not have such a reliable and detailed account of it as we might otherwise- have had. The reporters of jour contemporaries, the Cross and the Herald, are spending rather a lively time of it at Otoi'ohonga, better known as Mr Hetit's ; the natives will not allow them to proceed any further. The king natives, who aro not even indirectly concerned in the late murder, attach very little importance to its result. For some time, at least one week before it occurred, Hauauru, who has lately seceded from the king pirty, sent word to the Hauhaus saying that L'urukutu was misMiig, and supposed to be on the war-path. A messenger was immediately despatched to warn him that " his actions were his own," but this message, although received at Pumlhitu's k'an^n, did not roach him personally until the mischief done. The Ivupjpa-., 01 ii "idly iviliri**. tnke n, more serious view of the matter. They say thtrt as j this is the third murder thnt has been committed by Uauhiius, thp'pakchas cannot allow it to pas* over unavenged. The parls of Sullivan, that were brought into Cambridge, I have no dowbt, are decently interred by this time, but not so, the unfortunate man's head, — it is going the rounds of the llauhau settlement, stuck on tho head of a spear, used as a means to excite other natives. The la*fc time it was heard of wars at a place called Mangumutu, a few miles from Tokangamutu. It should have been stated in the report of tho Alexandra R.M. Court, which appeared in our last isiuc, that judgment was gnen by default in the case of Wuddington v. Bell. The non-appearance of tho defendant was attributable to the fact that he did not know upon what day the case was to bo heard, and was absent from home, whore he could not be made aw are of the Bame. Major Nixon, Major Edward?, and Mr R. W. Woon returned from their trip up the Wanganui river, after spending a very^plensant time of it in enjoying the beautiful scenery which everywhere meets tho-eye in the neighbourhood of the river, and being very hospitably entertained by the nitivoß, especially by that flno old chief, Topine Mamaku. The most friendly feeling exists amongst- the natives townrds strangers, evidencing very forcibly their •changed disposition and inclination to live on terms of amity v itli the pakchas It waa ascorf lined that a groat meeting 11 to bo held very shortly of the Kuigites at To Kuiti, when it is expected that all the small fragmants of tribes which now reside at tho King's settlement will be sent to their different kaingas j an indication of peaceful intentions. In coming down the 1 river, a distance of about 180 miles, the narty encountered no less thnn 170 rapids. In some places their canoe came down at the rate of 10 miles an hour. — Wanganui Herald. The proprietor of the Wanganui Herald has been served w tli a writ at tho instance of Mr W. H. Watt. Damages conscqiiLiit on paragraphs that have appeared in that journal are estimated at JJIOOO. A meeting of friendly natives is to be held to-day at Tamahere, for the purpose of considering how they shall act ! in reference to tee late murder. j Tho Rangiriri steamer left Ngnruawahia yesterday for Port Waikato. She has been cut down and thoroughly refitted. We shall notice all the improvements on her return, when, we understand, the Waikato Company purpose treatJ ing tho inhabitants to a gratis trip.