The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1505, 25 February 1882, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Kqunl and exact justice to .ill men, Or uh.itsocvei state or persuasion, religious or pclitiLdt. Here sh ill the Press the People's liffht maintain, Un.nvcd I)} influence and unbiibed by gain.

SATURDAY, FEtt. J.~>, ISBJ.

Mu Bi:yci; entered the Minis' ry with a iirm determination to abolish the Native (Jfticc, and he is going to do it by removing the native difficulty. The change which has come over the AVest Coast country since the vigorous policy of the present Native Minister has been put in practice is described as something marvellous : Confidence is now entirely restored, and .settlers, who heretofore were afraid to sow lest they .should never reap the fruits of tlieii 1 labor, have settled down to the steady pursuit of their calling. No terror, no confusion now exists in that portion of the colony, and the in ckof the native " dilliculty " there has been utterly broken, never again to be repaired. We had be come so familiarised with the notion that the native question was a bogy that we can as yet hardly realise the fact that it has been banished by the energy and boldness of one man. Having accomplished so much, Mr Bhycl now .sets himself to complete the work, and he will do it. Past experience has shown that the object of his public life is not to secure to himself the loaves and tishos of office, that he does not put the value of a groat upon mere empty authority, no matter how thickly it may be gilded over, and the present discovers that, withal, he will not temporise. The conversation with lluwi at Ivikihihi on "Wednesday brings into bold relief the distinctive points in the Native Minister's character, and the result is entirely in his favor. Ho is no diplomatist, in the ordinary sense of the term, he feels that there is no longer, as there ]iev.>r ought to have been, any need for making approaches to the natives in the garment of a Maciiiavel. Truth is the best weapon, and he wields it with a strong arm and direct aim. The old taihoa policy he contemns, recognising that " to-day '' is all we can call our own, and if the sole result of his interview had been to impress upon the native mind that Ins policy was one of progress, lie would have deserved well of the people. As it is, he has done more — much more. He has told the Maoris plainly that there cannot be two rulers or two laws in this country, and that the sooner this is recognised the better it will be for both races. Plain speaking such as this is new, but it is spasonable, and, unless we mistake the native character, will be appreciated by those for whose behoof it was delivered at a higher value than the shilly-shallying which they have in the past been accustomed to. On another subject, that of determining the ownership of native lands by the individualisation of titles, Mr Bhyoe is equally candid. Whether the natives desire to lease, to fell, or to keep their land, a vast amount of tioublc will be sa\ed in the future if the course Rkwi is about to pursue be generally adopted. The Government will not, Mr Biiyce says, bring pressure to bear on the natives in the disposal of their lands ; what they do they will do of their own free will. The fear that inspires the old chief of the Ngatimaniapotos is doubtless that, if the natives are allowed to part with their freeholds they will in the end leave themselves homeless, and this is a point upon which the Government should reassure him. That a great many natives have reduced themselves to a state of pauperism is perhaps true enough, and if they cannot make provision for themselves the Government is clearly under an obligation to act for them.