The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1878

Waikato Times, Volume XI, Issue 885, 23 February 1878, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1878

Equal and exact justice to all men, _ Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. * * * * * Here shall the Press the Pbopib'b right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

If an ounce of practise is wort" more than a pound of theory, one such fact as that we notice iD our telegrams of to-day respecting the harvest operations of the Natives on the W.iimate plains is worth all the empty congratulations that follow a gubernatorial or ministerial visit to the King. Special correspondents and coloured telegrams may be open to doubt, but such statements as those referred to elsewhere are incontrovertible. The first are, after all, mainly matters of oj/.nion, this is a maiter of fact, and, trifling as it may seem to the mere casual reader, of most important fact; for the Maori can give no better material guarautee of his peaceful and orderly intentions than his cultivation of the soil and dependence upon the fruits of his labor. If wo could obtain his return to the settled habits of a period antecedent, to the outbreak of hostilities m Taranaki and Waikato, if we could induce the Maori to cultivate largely and become a producer for Che market which the occupation of the colony by Europeans affords him, we should take a nearer way of breaking down the present state of isolation m which he has of late years entrenched himself, than by any direct appeal we may make to his reason or his vanity. He is more than a match for us m diplomacy. Any concession we may gain m this way will be paid lor t'orfeyfold, and possibly, as we pointed oat m our last issue, m a manner which may re-act moat injuriously upon the interests of the settlers and of the colony. But m assisting the Native race to ntilise the lands they own, m encouraging them to settle down to the peaceful cultivation of tne soil and become growers and exporters of farm produce, we shall not only change their nature for the better but gradually, and not slowly either, create a desire and a demand for the luxuries of an advancing civilisation that will work the redemption of the race far more surely than anything else can possibly do. And that it is possible very largely to assist the Natives m the cultivation of their lauds, and to foster agricul- ' cultural operations without any resort to the Native Office system of supplying them with implements aud seed — assistance which th»y need very ott«u tar less than some European settlers do — is plain from the interest taken by the Maoris iv the extension of the Railway to lexantira. Not merely at the present time but on a previous occabiou the Natives' took up this matter quite as ■•■ warmly as their Pakeha neighbours, and for tl'i^ i-K&itOn aloue the matter of railway extension to Alexandra becomes one „t even Colonial importance. Where, however, our Alexandra settlers oiiike the mistake is m endeavoring 10 divert the main line from its present proposed route. That tine tias been laid down apart altogether from purely local considerations, forming, as it is intended thai it shouid do, a portion of the main trunk line of railway through one Mo^th Islaud, but there can be no possible objection to a branch extension of the line to Alexandra, ;imi if it be shown, as we believe it can be, thai this extension will be largely made use of for the trauspor tation oi Maori produce grown ■eyond the frontier, then, we contend, the work is one which mny claim special consideration at the hands of the Assembly. The i i stance is short, some ei^ht or ten miieb at most, and if the extension were commenced from Ohau^o it would present no engineering difficulties whatever. Such a work, »part altogether from its advantage . o the European set tlement of thtoouutry thus opened out, would do iiore to revolutionise the state oi M.ori exciusivenens that has grown up than anything else we could undertake. The Maori is quick to see and seize such an opportunity for his advantage as railway com.uunication would effect, and field operations would quickly take the place of the food- wasting 'meetings and superstitious ceremonials which now consume the greater part of the time and substance of the Kingites. Increased means wonld causr an increased consumption and lematid for the necessaries and | xuries of civilised life, and 'he. gratification of such desire w>>u < • vail a gradually eniorceil adhen-nc o steady labor and phe ai»:s of peace. This is the civilising influence which :un alone redeem the Maori as tee. and practic-Jly work pat tii vitisfrtutory solution of tl.e Native . fficnllv.