THE LATE NATIVE MEETING.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1079, 24 May 1879, Page 2

THE LATE NATIVE MEETING.

The following letter, from the pen of a very able and well informed correspondent, has been forwarded to us for publication, which we commend to the notice of our readers. At the same time, when viewed by the light of the information furnished by our special correspondent, at Cambridge, we are unable fully to endorse the views which it contains :■—

Sir, —The results of the native meeting lately held in the Waikato, are not yet apparent, and action can only be judged by the result, and the result accruing from the meeting, time alone can make manifest. Rewi, it is asserted, has „been eutirely detached from the King jfarty, and this statement may be held to be true, when considered by the common interpretation of his action, but those who heard him speak at Te Kopua, and understood what he said, will remember that he distinctly stated that his only reason for cleaving to Grey was, that he might find a place for his boy, i.c, Tawiao. And a further consideration, also, deserves attention, which has been too much overlooked, that a main incentive to Rewi inducing him to take (the action he has taken, was a desire to snub Te Ngakau, and relegate him to where he considers his proper position. Rewi, it will be seen from your telegraphic information, has virtually set himself up as a king, against Tawhiao, though calling himself by another name. The boundaries of the land he asks domination over, it will be remembered, are those which include principally,, if not wholly, the Kings supporters. And when ceding this power to Rewi, which has been denied to Tawhiao, the question cannot be ignored, " What will he do with it ? " Nor can the further and more important question, what amount of "mana" has either been ceded or promised? 'Rewi is a man well on in years—almost arrived to the Hebrew limit of "three score and ten"—and it is idle to imagine that either vigor or ability will long be* exercised by him. » On whom, it is a pertinent question to ask, will the "mana"'of Rewi descend, in the event of his death, or inability to perform the function devolving upon him. Some of the native people imagine that the j Government only intend using Manga as an instrument to denude the race of political influence, but these people, it should be remembered, are those who maintain that the withdrawal of the Hikurangi promises, at Te Kopua, meant nothing, because the Premier would not have carried them out, had they been accepted. It is asserted that when Rewi has possession of his principality, he intends to let his subordinate chieftains do pretty much as they please with their ancestral hap it estates. Should this assertion prove correct, it is the widest duty of the Government to see that the common people should no£ be despoiled of their common inheritance, as was done in Hawkes Bay and other places, for the purpose of increasing the wants of the chiefs, care being taken by thos9 interested in ministering to their supply. As stated at the commencement of this .letter, th results alone can guide ns v to "any wis conclusion.—l am, &c,, Akgkjs.