The Waikato Times. THURSDAY. JANUARY 25 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 719, 25 January 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY. JANUARY 25 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political ■"•'• * # # # Here 'shall the Presi the People's right "maintain, ' TJnawed by in6uence and unbribed by gain.

Sensational native rumours seem to be the order of the day. The stoppage of the survey of Mr Smith's land at Alexandra was . followed on Tuesday by the report that the King had sent to the road party of the Armed Constabulary working on the Cambridge and Taupo road, ordering them to desist from their work, or, that it would be the cause of trouble. The men were knocked off work, and SubInspector Morrison, in charge of the party, came in at once to Cambridge, lo place himself in telegraphic communication with his superior officer. Orders, we understand, have been received from the Native Minister to continue the work, and yesterday Col. Lyon, commanding the district, proceeded to Cambridge, en route for the camp, to give full instructions to his subordinate in the matter. In this case, the active agent of inteiference has been Te Ngakau, acting in the name of the King, and so too, in this case, doubtless, the King will, when charged with the act, or his friends for him, deny all complicity in the matter and throw the whole onus and responsibility on to the shoulders of Te Ngakau, It has all the appearance , that this is really the true state of the case, but, it is a state of things which is most injurious to the interests of this district, and of the colony generally. The Government will act wisely in taking the King at his word, both in the matter of the surrey and of the road party — in continuing the one at its work, and in assuring the owner of land held under Crown Grant in the possession of his property. To do otherwise, would be to cause the prestige of power which really at present does not exist to attach to a man like Te Ngakau. On the other hand, when it is seen that his threats are treated with indifference, not only will he himself cease to use them, but the disaffected of his own race, whom such a spirit is calculated to incite to mischief, will cease to be ipfluenced by them. But while assigning to Te Ngakau and his bounce their real value, the Government may well take a lesson from recent events. Ever since the withdrawal of the frontier garrisons, the natives have assumed a bolder and more insolent tone. It must not be forgotten that our title to Waikato is one which, however good

it may be in Native law, and it is their best, is always opeii to reversal. The equity of redemption lies in the strong arm. If the conquered and dispossessed re-conquer, their title is again good. Now, so long as the present generation of Waikatos look over these plains, and remember the times of a dozen or more years ago, they will never forsake the hope of again repossessing the country, and therefore the act of the Government in reducing the Aran d Constabulary force in this ditricb was a most illad vised one. The late Sir Donald McLean was always of opinion that the force in the Waikato should never be reduced below a much larger standard even than that of its late strength. He, better than any man, knew the value of a policy of conciliation, but he knew well that the backboue of any such policy was the unobtrusive but none the less felt strength of the executive arm. The occupation of the redoubts even by small garrisons had a moral effect in repressing insolence, while there was nothing irritating iii their presence which was sufficient to protect the settlers from the vagaries of men such as TeNgakauand others, butnot of such importance as to excite suspicion or distrust in the -mind of the natives generally as to our friendly intentions towards them. We can quite "believe that the Government have yielded the point of reducing the Constabulary in deference rather to the cseaseless clamouring of the Middle Island, which neither knows nor appreciates the peculiar position of districts such as this, than to their own better judgement. The reduction of officers was a right step, but not so that of the men. As we have said, we place little political importance on the action of Te Ngakau either in reference to the Alexandra survey or the road party. In themselves, these acts of an individual are small matters of concern, but not -necessarily so in what they -may lead to. It was Te Whero, if we remember rightly, who said to Sir George Grey that the danger to the peaceful relations of the two races was to be looked for more from the chance acts of individual bad whites or bad Maoris than from any chance of misunderstanding arising between the leaders of either race. And this is exactly what a state of things, which fosters and encourages disaffected natives of secondary importance like Te Ngakau in their vagaries may bring about. The colony is far more likely to drift into war through a want of firmness than to provoke it by assuming a bold front, and for this reason we are glad to learn that the Government is determined to show Te Ngakau that they are not to be frigntened by every native bogy that is set up to drive its people or its workemen from the use and employment of that which legaly belongs to us.