THE NATIVE MINISTER AND THE CONFISCATED LANDS.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 672, 3 October 1876, Page 2

THE NATIVE MINISTER AND THE CONFISCATED LANDS.

"ir the motioa of Mr Taiaroa on the oth iu.Upl "that It is durable that the rrqueet made by Tawbiao to the Native llinuter, for a ret tor«tion of s portioa of ( the ooafiacatod laada ia Waikato should b* given effect to by thii House," tha Native Minister, Sir Donald MoL«aa Uia " Hansard ' reported to have (aid : " Be thought it woold be a very great mistake indeed to lead tha to oherith a hope that there wat any prospect of the reiteration of tbe Waikato. At the aame time, he was quite prepared, on behalf of tbia House and on behalf of the' Government, to offer every fair co. • aideration to the Native King, and to give him anoh portion* of the land in the possession of tha Government a* could fee fairly given. If the .Native King shout* deeire at any time to have • certain portion of land within the confiscated territory which waa in possession of theGovernment, aa requisite for the mainten. anie of himself and hia ptople, he (Sir D MoLean) waa sure that this Houee would aooeda to hia withas, and he kn W that the Government would be very willing to do so. He agreed with the honorable member (Mr Tataroa) that 11 waa a matter of tbe greatest importance that there should be a good understand* ing between that section of the Native race and the Europeans of this oottntry. The honorable member for the Thames (Sir G Grey), in the early days of the* colony, adopted: a plan which he very ( mnoh aproved, of setting the Native* in the vicinity of Enrppean .districts. Tawhiao's father (Te Wheroro) waa one of the chief protectors of the settlement of Anokland daring a great many years, and he (Sir D MoLean) believed that hit residence there waa quite equal to four or five regiments of British troops, and better, in the maintenance of peace. Honorable members from Auckland were aware that be was one of the chief means of defence against the powerful Waikatos and other tribes during thetime he was at Mangere. He waa almost always on very friendly terms with the Government, and was ready and prepared to espouse their canse^Many old settlers would reooUeet the immense advantages which were derived from the residence of tbote influential chief* in the vioitiny of European 'settlements. He informed Tawhiao that certain portion* of land will be restore!, and one pertioa at Newcastle, near the place where ni» father was buried. Certain burial* grounds, to whioh the Natives attach very great importance, would, so far m the Government had the power to do so, also be set apart in tbe memory of the dead buried in those places. He wa»( aware that there was a feeling to a small extent, not among those who were really settlers, but oonfined to, a few in the Waikato, that it would be nnwiae to have any Natives within the settled districts. He took a different ihw altogether, and would say to a oertaln extent the best protection the settlers could have would be to maintain friendly terms with the Natives in the Waikato frontier districts. He mm happy to state that since his last visit to the Waikato the Natives had mam down hi great numbers, and had met on terms of god-will the settlers all along the Waikato frontier 1 ; so much so that he hoped that before many years were OT*r the feeling between the two races in that particular distriot would be very different indeed from what' it had bean in past years. Not any one but the frontier settlers themselves could realise sufficiently the importance of oreatiog that good understanding/ like a oertain olass at Home, who, when they became possessed of a piece of land and s> oow, were always ready to turn Conservatives, and lote the name of Cbartiats, the same prinoi; los of human nature apply to almost all oases. It was tbe desire ef the Government to carry ont tboie measurea whioh, while not leading the Natives to hope for a. rettoiation of the confiscated land, wonld draw -th*m into auch oironmatance* a* would give them a srtural interest with the Europeans, so that they might so far as possible grow op as one people; and he believe i and hoped it would not be long before Tawhaio, tX ohief of very great importance and fnflaenc*, wosld be on auoh termi with Europeans as would prevent any apprehension ef danger from that part of tke country.