THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1209, 27 March 1880, Page 2

THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

(Continued From Waikato Times, March 23.) Another serious mistake was made about the same time. I mentioned above that 700 ac es of bush laud had been laid off as a native reserve on the Mountain -road. Ihe New Plymouth Waste Lands Board were desirous of fixing a bush township at this place, and asked if it could be obtaiaod. Without the consent of the natives to who u this land was granted ifc was conve ted into a township, and 700 acres cut out for then.itives a mile further oil, and of course of less value. On remonstrating, the natiws were told that as they hid no Crown titles they could make no legal objection to reserves, being removed. The transaction was in itself a small one, but it opened up a large quest on, and the natives urged that if the ivil ' 'oiuminsioiier had power to shift this reserve, that .til th-iroiher reserves mijfht be shitted back into inferior country. It caused a feeling of distrust on the pai tot Ul the native- who had reserves gramed to them. It was in consequence of this feeling hat Honi Pihama, on tho first visit of Mr Sheeh in as Native Minister, interviewed him and told him that before attempting to take possession of the Wdim ite Plains it would be necessary to give Crown titles for those reserves granted to natives whose lands had been confiscated The Native Minibter promised this should be done at once, but up to the present time it remains one of Mr Sheehan's broken promises. The feeling of distrust remained, and this feeling canned numbers of thei«e natives to join Te Whiti who would otherwise have continued Govo nment natives; and this was the general native feeling when the survey of tho Waimate Plains commenced. Confiscation and our right to confiscate was questioned by the natives, and this question in itself was quite enough to combat ; but added to this, a new feeling of distrust had sprung up m the minds of the natives ; they were not certain that their reserves would be secured to them. Mr Sheehan had promised to give them legal titles, but had not fulfilled his promise. This was the native feeling when, in July, 1878, the survey parties, unarmed and unprotected, were sent to survey the Wairaate PUAns, quite at the mercy of a sullen body of natives who viewed them as so many thieves robbing them of their lands, (\ ot only were these surveyors unprotected, but no force had been provided on that part of the West Coast to bo inreadiness in case of need to protect the surveyors, or the adjacent settlers. Ihe Hawera and v'ormanby peoplo organised a volunteer force ; but this was not encouraged by the Government, who were even insane enough at that critical time to order the removal to Wellington of the only two hundred stand of arms available to arm the settlers in case of an emergency ! Parihaka is situated fifty miles north of the Waimate Plains. On learning that the surveyors were going to survey their lands, some of tho leading Plains nativas went and asked Te Whiti if they were to oppose the survey. To. this Te Whiti replied that they were in no way to oppose the surveys, as in the month of March he would deal with the lands. During those eight months the surveyors owed their protect tion to Te Waiti's influence, and not to any p io vision made by their own Goevum nt It wa-» thouuht that when Hir >ki murlered the cook of the survey party at Wditotira hi* example would be f.ill >wed by f-ome of tho Plains nitives, bur they a pe<uvd to regard the surveyors •isunder the protection of their Parihaka prophet chief. Why Te Whiti allowed the sui vwyors eight m >nths unmolested to proceed with the surveys, i«* a mystery no one can sohv, although come aie of opiniou th it was to give the Government an opportunity to define boundaries of the lands t'ley nvan.f to take and the portions they inte nde<l t-> le »ye hs reserves for the natives. If «uch was his object he did more towaids making tho.»e surveys a success thin theblunderinsr Native Department u hat condncted the work. On all former occasions when oonfihcated lands weie t iken p,Q>easion of, tho*e spots where native villages and cultivations were situated, weie first cut as reserves* Common.*

cingfttthesea, the surveyors out up the open land, and when they got to the edge ot the forest they went on surveying 1 and cutting 1 up amonar the native cultivations and villages. The natives on seeing this became very sullen, and it was with dlffioulty their chief** could restrain their young men from interfering. The month of March <^me and no resserves had been laid off. Tro Hunreyors were sectioning their villages and cultivations. To the natives it appeared the Government intended taking the whole. Bat the last straw that brok* the o imsl's b wk iv this case was taking a road line through Tito* kowaru's gardens. This chief .had all aloujr prevented his people from interfering with the survey,; on hearing that a road line was leing cut in a direction that would pass between bis whares and a small twoaore garden, he reg tested it might be taken outside his garden. There wasnoengineering difficulty that rendered it neoes«ary to take the madline through hi* garden. But no notice was taKen of his request, or protest. And worse than this ; apparently fearing to do so while he was present, advantage was taken of his absence at the March Parihaka meeting to cut this line through his cultivation. On hearing of this he told Te Whiti that on his return he would remove the surveyors, and to this Te Whiti agreed, saying that as cultivations were not respected the surveyors must all be removed. A proposition was made to shoot some, as a means of removing them, but this was overruled; aud it was decided to cart them off the lan&, It was at the close of this Parihaka meeting that Te Whiti accused Mr Sheehan of robbing his people of their lands, and leaving them none to cultivate. It was u-eless Mr Sheehan replying that he meant to give them reserves ; the surveyors had been eighteen months at work, and no reserves had been cut out or defined. It was only after the plain had been advertised for sale, and the surveyors turned off, that Mr Sheehnn requested Major Brown, Civil Commissioner, to go to the Purvey Office, in Wellington, and color a portion of the map as reserves. The natives never neard of this, and it was apparently only done to deceive Parliament and the public generally. If the Government had acted with judgment and firmness after the surveyors had been turned off, the work might have been resumed, but no active measures were adopted to resume occupation. Native agents were sent, some to bounce and threaten the natives with Colonel Whitmore and two thousand Ngatiporos. The natives simply telegraphed to the East Coast, and found this force was an imaginary one. Other agents were sent to conciliate. The coast was swarming with native agents, working without organisation, and working against each other, bewildering the natives with their contradictory actions and statements ; they were designated Sheehan's ragged regiment, a class equally despised by the settlers and natives. The helpless imbeoility displayed by the Native Department on the occasion of that emergency lowered it in the estimation of the settlers, and encouraged the natives to take further action. Mischievously-inclined Europeans have from time to time been urging on the natives that confiscation was illegal. One of these individuals offered to take their cane before the Privy Council if they would collect £2000. The offer was declined, but the natives, seeing that the Government made no effort to rooccnpy the Plait h, came to the conclusion that their cause wns weak, that confiscation, as they had been told, was illegal ; and to tent the question, natives were sent to plough the occupied lands of the settlers in the northern and southern portions of the province, with strict orders not to make any resistance when captured. To obty this order the natives scattered themselves, ploughing the settlers' choicest padducks. How long this* would have continued it is impossible to pay, as tht Government took no steps to prevent it until forced to ttike action by the determined action of the Hawera settler*, who, finding tho Government bo helplessly imbecile, took the law into their own handß, and thereby forced the Government to arrest the trespasser . The pre»-ent native complications on the West Coast are partly due to the fart of allowing the Plains to remain so many year- unoccupied, and permitting the natives on »heir return to scatter orer and reoccupy the whole, ini-tead of defining the reserves they were to occupy on their return ; also to outside influences of speculators and persons who have from time to time induced the natives to believe that the confiscation was illegal. But the principal cau.-e of the present complications are due to the blundering mismanagement of the Native Department, whioh has during the last two years displayed a lamentable ignorance of native character, and consequent want of judgment in the administration of native negotiations on the West Coast. The weakness displayed has rendered the natives unreasonable, and left no other course than the firm one apparently adopted by the Hon. J. Bryce, to exhibit power, an^ work out the present diffi-oultie»-*^"Tjgh the Defence instead of the Native Department. — N.Z. Times.