SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1878.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 924, 25 May 1878, Page 2

SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1878.

The withdrawal from the large sael of Government lands, to be held on the 30th' 'instant, of all allotments m the several Waikato townships, and m the suburbs, of .Newcastle, announced m onr issneiof to-day, has very much the appearance as if this'^reservation were made for the purpose of keeping back these allotments for the Native King and his people. The matter is one which demands tbe immediate attention of the settlers m the Waikatol Et is for the beads of the severa. local governing bodies, whose interests are thus directly affected : Lo apply at once to the Government for information if such -is their intention m withdrawing these lands from sale. Their course will then be clear. If such be the object it iB the duty of the chairmen of the several Boards lo call meetings of the inhabitants for an expression of public opinion on a ques-'! tion soclosely affecting their interests. Nor is there any time to lose m the '

• •" Vl •> "' ■ eggg matter. A few weeks hence and the Premier will ay his native pacifj^pDn,.proposals before the AstfPnoly, &ud the silence of Waikato -wjyUL be taken, a:;d very reasonably &o/lj|&t.the district is willing to allow »tßel^© be made the sacrificial victim Ijbr Wffib rest of the colony. For fyealljpiihis is a colonial and not a l^^^aestion, and the cost of buying King movement, whether it it be paid m money or m land, should be borne by all parts of the colony aliker- In any case- we sttSll bo called upon to bear the larger part, of the burden, for even if th°, IpineS t~' "of '^^ the 1 *" "yTa i katbs^^cJtt 'cb^Myla^s^cintbe^Wfi&d to the occupation of the country west of the jWaipaj and Riverajbetween Karakariki and the Headsr.we shall have thus withdrawn from profitable settlement a large tract of country, besides* Bringing close npon oiir borders a population which 4s J % & 1 , of 'great 'trouble and anhbyaricei to any unfortunate European settlers placed m close contiguity Avitli them. ! Bat though, ,w t e gan^ understand that the lands to be granted to the Waikatos for „ settlement . must necessarily, to be of any value m their eves at all, be, a >• portion i of the, lands, wh ich have belonged to them for genera r tions, we cannot see that tho same argument applies to the town allotf -ments.. rThese were to be. set aside simply- as endowments* as security for.i a-jfiiture, .source of jncotne. A town lot can have no hallowed !' association/ witLv ( it m the cyesf of | the most , enthtusiastic^M^ovi patriotj and 30ft". by 100 ft .in a middle isllficj township will have exactly the. sanie value as 30ffc. x 100 ft. m any: Waii kato township, prov dec! both areof the same ,monef; jralue; ; $ff~e fail to see therefore-&why the- Waikato townships: shsAil4>be^called upon to pay the piper for the whole of the colony, but maintain that the burden shall be equally divided throughout. And that it would be k burden and a; very; -great, oae. is undeniable. These maori allotments woul4 form unsightly gaps m pur Rapidly (filling up streets foiv perhaps a generation to come. Some of the motfc valuable portions of the townships, becoming daily more valuable on account qi the 'public expenditure' around; them, would thus escape taxation, aud prove a' heavy ; burden- to 'European rate payers, m addition, to the first loss of land given away, a portion of the price of which at least should find its .way into the local exchequer. "We cannot see, therefore, why all this loss, m addition to> the nuisance of having maori neighbors thrust upon them, should be inflicted on the Waikato settlers as scapegoats foi therestof the.colony, and we therefore urgf. upon the several local bodies m Waikato the duty wliich is clearly theirs of moving m the matter, ; qf first ascertaining the intention ol Government, and further, if necessary, of calling westings' m their several' districts for an expression oi public opmibn.v :,.;: •".,.- ,\. Apart, however, s frbrii : a purely local view of thj questiou, the pliblic s has yet to be informed what they are '"to receive m return- foi all thesq concessions made to Tawhiac aiid ' tlieaWaikatOs., The colony wil] doubtless be, willing rto make large sacrifice?^ '', and; Waikato 'will be found cheerfully, talcing even more perhaps than her fair, share of them, if by so doing 'the King movement can ,, be subverted and the country thrown .open: for ' colonisation. But we have as yet not the slightest guarantee for either one or the other result. We simply move Tawhiao's Court further northward; securing him possession of lands, while at present he is simply a sojpui'ner } and we strengthen and confirm liis authority or mana as King. . But it is not Tawhiao whe can m return permit a road or a railway to be taken through the ; country bjeyond 'the confiscated line. If we look to Mm for a "quid [pro quo, we shall find, to use a homely phrase, j "that we have bought the horse from the wrong man." Yet, clearly ; this is what the colony is led tc suppose from the ofilcial text of the Premier's offer published. "With regard t© the roads, my desire is that all tide roads should be managed between Tawhiao and the Government. With regard to i .the surveys, it is for you (Tawhiao) to direct surveys to be made and where they should be made." Now, Tawhiao has no control whatever over the territory south ,of Waikato. ' That must rest Vith the owners of the country, the Ngatimaniapotos. It has been subsequently asserted, and as flatly contradicted by Rewi, that tliatchieftookpartintlie arrangement between Tawhiao and the. Premier. If he did not/ where is the return that; the colony is to receive , for. the concessions, it is called upon to make ? ■ • It is the duty, we take it, of the Government to set the public mind at rest upon a, matter of such importance, and issue an authoritative version of what did take place at the meeting with Rewi at Mr Ross's house ; for on the correctness of the semi-official report of that imeetiug; (subsequently flatly contradicted by Rewi) depends the value altogether of the arrangement made at Hikurangi with Tawhiao, for the carrying out of which, we are called iipou , to make many sacrifices, the fust of which, has, it would now seem, fallen on- the people of the Waikato townships and districts.