The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1873.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 159, 15 May 1873, Page 2

The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1873.

Action under excitement is seldom such as would In* dictated by calm reasoning. Our present posiimii with the natives is a question that requires the i >iist earnest consideration at our hands. It is pretty clearly understood hy all that the murderers "f Sullivan will have to be given into the hands of justice, or at the very least, that our forces shall be lowed to follow them unmolested through the » Mintry. In fact these are the demands that Mr lackay has expressed on behalf ot the Govem- • ient. Kefusal to comply with this ultimatum on .-I before the 20th, will involve us in another, and i ne last fight, with the natives of this country that c have adopted as our own. "We trust thai those \ho have the welfare of the Maoris at heart will k \ t )l.iin to them the position in which they stand, (('they compel us to fight wo can only afford to i take the struggle one of tho most deadly characler ; for the moment a shot is fired, the Bole question for consideration will be, "are tho Europeans or tho natives ti live in this country ? " The Europeans have no intention of leaving ; and can, ;f necessary, bring thousands of men to support • hem in their position. On tho other hand, the natives are divided amongst themselves Wowi and the more sensible of the "King" pirfy recognise their position. Experience has flight them that to fight means loss of land, and • hat loss of land means poverty and work in place nf affluence and ease; and further that fighting can t>nly result in the semi-extermination of their race. \ pity indeed will it be if the perversencss of Lhe loaders of the natives compels us to 1 esort to extreme measures. That the Maori is capable of civilization )-> tin undisputed fact; the more the pity therefore if our nocessittes compel us to expunge him from the Il.icoI 1 . i co of the earth. Now is the time for our mission- , ries to act; let thorn go out and explain to the > uople the position in which they stand, or, to use tlie language familiar to many of us, "For ever ■ il'tor hold their peace." Let them go out and say i o tlie natives thu pakeha means to live in peace ; if you willjnot allow him, you will undoubtedly case »<> live at all. lly doing this they would explain hi a fow word/i tho only policy that can bo adopted \>y their fellow-countrymen. iNo Bishops or (Jo\t rnors will bo allowed to atar.d between the two iai;es; sontimentality and the semblance of Christianity have had llmr day. As we said before, the only questiorl we \\u\ c to solve is, — are both races to I'coupy tho ibl.iud, or is one? and it only one, which uf the two is it to be ? The latter question is not. iLfficult to answer, and let us trust that the in&tillaii,m of common sense into the minds of tlie natives w ill admit of the possibility oi both races continuing to exist, llarsh indeed will sound our language in nany an ear, and in f»«t our pen almost grates on 'lie paper as we wiitt ; oui conscience, however, is clear. It is uioie mercilul lv kill tlie rut at once>

than, as is die custom of its natural enemy, to allow it to buoy itself up with tlio hope that to eventually escape is possible. ! ?<et us turn from the abstract q.-.estion, ami con- [ aidor the resolutions passed at a meeting 1 recently ! held at the Thames : they will be found in another column. We cannot ai> ico with our fellow-colonists, " That the murder of .Sullivan has resulted from the native policy pursued by the present Ministry." We c.iro not, what Ministry was in power ; it would have had to carry out the law as i made by the Legislatuie. Mr Walker owned ; .iccoiding to our own law the land on which the minder was committed, hut there appears to be little doubt that the natives who are, or who have been beneh'tted by his occupation, are not the men entitled to claim ownership, except to a small extent. The cause of this is that the rightful owners refused, either from pride or some other cause, to establish their claim in the Native Lands Court. They aro now suffering 1 for their pride, and poor (Sullivan has fallen a victim to their suffering. The , position, of course, which wo assume is , " You j were well aware that this land was about to be I parsed through the Court ; you, through obstinacy, icglecfced )) r our own interests ; you must, therefore, remain content to suffer the loss." A very good i lesson is taught by this circumstance. As regards the condemnation of the Government, we always I have, and still believe that the course they have persned is the correct one. They have kept the natives quiet for a period, dining which, we have become stronger and they weaker. To light them now is a comparatively easy matter. If they act now with firmness, and fight if necessary, we consider that their policy has been perfect. We cannot conclude without most cordially thanking Mr Muckay for iho able- manner in which he has conducted the enquiry entrusted to him. He has shown the three characteristics of a good diplomatist — energy, courage, and perseverance.

It will be seen by our advertising ealu mis that a proclamation has been issued requiring all natives to remain in then* wharcs from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. This is a wise precaution, and calculated to prevent unnecessary alarms. About half-pasi two on Monday Mr Eunciman and some other settlers waited upon Mr Mackay, and informed him that a number of the outscttlers were coming in, and that several families would leave the district by next steamer, and asked him if he could give them any assurance that would have the effect of allaying the present excitement, and prey cntmg the abandonment of their houses by settlers. They thought that confidence would be very greatly restored if steps were taken to establish night patrols on either side of the river. Mr Mackay roplied that he had made no secret of the steps that had been taken in the matter up to the present time. They knew as well as he what had occurred, and that it w*s beyond doubt that some of I'urukutu's people, to the number of about 60, were out on the Maungatautari ranges, and had been down within a short distance of the township on the night of Saturday. Ho was quite prepared to say that there were no sufficiently strong reasons for the out-scttlers to abandon their homesteads. In order to restore confidence he would at once give tlio necessary instructions for the establishment of mounted night patrols. lie further | expressed his willingness to accompany Captain Runciman and the other persons present to the various homesteads, and to request such, of them as were Hi fn king or Waving ro remain. The necessary steps for tin* establishment of patrols ' were at once taken by Mr Mackay and Major Clare. ' Regarding the cause of Sullivan's murder, and the feel* : ings and practice of the natives in cases of the kind arising , from land disputes between tribes, the Thames Advertiser describes the customs of the M.ioii hi a manner which those who know the native character and customs say is a true description. Our coutcinponry say* :—" And some of our readers who have not been loug in New Zealand may not be airare of one among the m.uiy curious customs of the Maoris. If two sections of natives claim a block of grouiid,*ancl the Native Lands Court, after a long investigation, adjudges it to one of the&e. and the victorious section sells to a European, the correct thing for the losers to do ia, not to say or do anything against their native opponents, but to kill the innocent European. One would think that they would expend their rage agaiust those who had wronged them, but it is not so. And yet another peculiarity is, that those who had sold to the European would think that tho M.-ioiis had done quite right in so taking ' utu.' This is a specimen of native logic. It would not be at all surprising if s-ome of Purukutu's j confederates killed any European who might be prospecting I between Ohineniuri and Te Aroha, because tho To Aroha I land has been adjudged to the Thames natives. And very i probably tho verdict of the Ohmemuri people would be, | 'Served him right.' That, it seonis, i» the judgment upon ! the Pukekura tragedy, and we suspect that if we had genuine accounts of the native meetings in tho Waikato wo would ' find tliat flint was something like the unanimous native opinion. Te llira, it seems, bympat luses w ith Sir James Ferj gusson in coming to Now Zealand in troublesome times, and regrets that ho did not conic sooner, so that he might have judged whether Sullivan or his murderers wero in tho wrong." Tho following- appeared in tho Thames Keeninj Star :—: — " Mr John Duncan has just returned fro.n the Upper Piako, and reports the natives in a most unsettled state. On Saturday last a messenger brought two letters containing tho news of Mr Mackays murder, and a request to Tarapipipi for arms. Tint chief was absent with Mr Mnekay at the time, but his wife told the messenger that even if he were at home ho would get no guns, and had bettor go to the King for them. The natives are in a great state of excitement, as they 'understand that Mackay is dead, and say Hint they will demand the murderer from the King that thej may be the executioners. They mutt, and w ill have payment, tli"v say, for their white man who came amomgsl them for their good. Some of the KiHg party, excited with waipirau, turned obstructive to Mr 1 Duncan nnd his pnrh, and blows were imminent, but the I inendlics interfered, and advised the white men to leave at once. Tho Jimgites threatened to pull the white men's boat a-,horc and tear their entrails out, and actually boarded the boat and took out the ruddjr and baoiu, but the friendly chief Ruka ordered them ashore, which order they complied with alter a delay of talking Kuka they advised Duncan and Ins party to come ashore and have home food, and not to attempt to leave at present, when tlioy were in Mich a state of e\citcim>nt, but watch their opportunity to get away quietly. Mr Duncan thinks I hut a strict wulch shouM b" kept over boats and eiuioes leaving tins fur i'uLo in lue piv^cnt tl lie of mJl'i i - as he s,i^3 all the im?chic( was caused by tncir boing excited I lxv drink, and that the least opposition on the part of himr | self orpirty would have led to the murder of one of all- ' The messenger ea ne from the AVest Coast somewhere bei tttcnn Mokau and Kawlua, and was very |auxious to find out all about Duncan, Uis business, whore became from, &,o. Tuiupipipi'b wife advised tho while men to leave, or they could not be responsible for their lives. Purukutu is reported to have a largo following, and to be etill currj ing Sullivan's head about on a pole." Mr Mackay, in a telegram to the (Jovurnment, advises that a commanding position be taken up, and that the fiovemment take steps to guard fords and bridges, and to open a telegraph station at Te Awnuiutu iv a few days. | The Government will be watchful until ttewi's reply to Mr Mackays demand that the muulercra shall be given up has liccu received. Mr M.ick<iy was coming to Auckland, but tho (iovcutmuit klvginphcil to hiui to l cumin in Hie j . \Y.uLato for Uie piv»<.nt." --#_'<./•. j