THE OCCUPATION OF KAWHIA. ARRIVAL OF MR BRYCE AND A.C. [FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1757, 9 October 1883, Page 2

THE OCCUPATION OF KAWHIA. ARRIVAL OF MR BRYCE AND A.C. [FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

Emily oh the morning of ' the 3rd-, in&t. the steamer Hihemda ' arrived with Mr 'teryo, the Defence Minister," on board. \From the ' quantity of people who were seen on the deck, it was evident that there were constabulary with the Native Minister, and on going on b jard your correspondent found that their number was one hundred and fourteen, including officers, under the command of Major Tuke. There were, as usual, very few natives to be seen, and, as was anticipated, theio was no show of resistance made by them. Shoitly after the arrival of the .steamer Mr Bryce came on shore with Major Tuke anda detachment of men. He was disappointed that no natives were to be seen, as it had been represented to him that, some of the chief.s were to meet him. The general behaviour of the natives ever since the poit was oponed could not have offered him any warrant for forming this opinion. On the contrary, Tawhiao and the greater portion of his followers have all withdrawn to Torea, which is about three miles fiom heie, and I have heaid that he is \erv much displeased at the action taken by Mr Bryce. The Armed Constabulary landed in the afternoon, and pitched their cam]) close to the township, on a piece of land belonging to John Wesley (Te Huki.) Kawhia presented quite a lively appearance, and a feeling of seem ity again prevails the district.

Thursday, 4th inst. Word having been brought to Mr Bryce that Tawhiao had expressed a wish to have a talk with him, and that he would probably come to Kawhia to-day for that purpose, the Native Minister came ashore. Just as I am writing this, T have, however, received information that he is not coming till to-morrow, and has forwarded at the htinie time the rather curious request that no one should be allowed to speak but himself. Hone te One and some other influential chiefs have had an inteiview to-day with Mr Bryce, and their bearing towards him lias been such as could only be deemed satisfactory. The A.C. have commenced to build a ledoubt on the hill at the noith side of the township. The ounoiship of this piece of land i- hard to determine, the Ngatilnkanoas and Ngatuuahutas both la.yiii\y cl.iinio to it. It \<, however, pietty eeit.iiu that the former tube h.uo the best right to it. The Ngatnnahutas have, howevei, entered a protest ag.unst the occupation of it by the A.C, and at to-moiiow's meeting they mean to discuss the matter. It is anything but probable that Mr Bryce ■will pay much attention to then objection. Tilmahi, u ithhis usual confidence, waited on Mr Biyce, who at once accused him with bjiug the man who had cut the beac his dow n. Tilmulri admitted this to be the truth, but lioped that Mr Biyce would boai no malice towards him till he had first explained why he had done so. If Tv te Ao was here, he would do so at once, but tomonow when the King came he hoped ho would be in a position to do so. Mr Biyce said, "Vei^ well, douotomitto tell Tawhiao that I will lea\e by the steamer to-morrow evening." A large nunibei of natives aie now gathering heie, and theii number is likely to swell c msidernbly when it is known by thoni that Tawhiao i<* to meet Mi Bryce to-moiiow. Capt. FcUrchild, with a covering paity of twenty-men, went to the south head this moi mug to re-erect the beacons which had been pulled down. The Maoris made no show of pi eventing theii election. On inspecting the buoys, Capt. Fail child found that one of them had been sunk, and an attempt had been made to sink another, but without .success. It is luinoured amongst the native-, heie that the natives In ing on the south side of the haibom intend to offer some opposition to the occupation of K.iwhi.i by the tioops, but of course little ciedence cm be given to this stitemeut. It is nevei likely t> be fulfilled. ( ireat satisfaction is evinced by the residents heie at the prompt and decisive mannei m which the N.itho Minister has tikun notion to suppress the present turbulent spnit which pei wide-, the minds of a Luge nuinbei of the Kawhia Maoiis. The .steameib Irishman and Hannah Mokau ,ue now in the haiboui, the fomiei .sailing for N"w Plymouth to-nmiow, and the Hannah Mokau for Mauak.ui to-night.

Mr Eryce Meets Tawhiao. Kuvmv, Friday, sth uist. Mi Bi yets Clinic ashore about !) a.m. to meet Tawhiao, wlio wished ti) ha\o an o]ipititnmtv of speaking with him. A good m my chiefs of the Xg.itnnahuti and other ti ibes woie waiting to loceivo him. Hhoitly ■ift"i he liindud, T.iwhiao and .sevoial of his followers weie scon coming f 1 <>m his .settlenient. He at onco advanced to nuet Mi Biycc and shake hands w ith him, -a> ing at the same time, " I h.ive come to sec you, and no doubt you would have seen more Maoris but we aie all very hungiy, having few potatoes and not much to eat." Mi Biyee : 1 .suppose the icason of that is that you have had a bad season, and consequently the potatoes did not #1 ow. Tawhiao : I do not think theie is any haim 111 boing angiy with each other if wo laugh afterwaids. Mr Bryce '• I>> you think so ? Tawhiao : This is my woid. What do I caio foi the lands of Raglan and Manukau ; they were the lands of my forefather, this l.s mine, My word comes back to Kawhia. It is the only hoad which remains to me ; theiofoie, I have looked at the posts' which have been standing at the M.iika heads, and at the heads of the bay. I do not undei stand the object of it. You may know the icason why they aie there, I do not. Theieforo, I told my men to go and take them up, and biing them back to Powewe. The land belongs to the Maoiis where tho.so p ists were placed. lam the man who vis thfe cans" of those posts being taken up, uirl my reason for doing so was tli.it t knew \lr J3i yce would then come and explain thing-'. When they were taken down 1 said, Dn not do->tioy them. Aftei that 1 wont inland, and .said, That w ill do. Let the buoys and PowewT alone at parent, T will attend to that heroaftei. I do not consider I did wrung. A. s ! t ii s ' I Mas only giving diiootloiih a.H «i my it\\n property. This is no idle word of mine, I will leave the buoys and Powewe at present, but will think what Tarn to say about them. lam not clear about those things yet. Are the beacons that [ pulled down put up again '( Mi Biyce : They will be to-day. Tawhiao: Listen! 1 intended to eiect them and protect then}. The Queen's word. to me, whs voiy plaju i\\\<\ satisfactory, I have a titlu, 'fcho Ti'oaty of Waitang-i. If you do not understand It 1 will refer you to Parliament ; thei c are copies of it thcie. My woid to you now is this : Be clear and explicit in explaining whatever you have to say'i so that everything about this beacons can be settled to-day. T will hold to the woi d that T said at Whatiwhatihoe. Do not tieat us as inferior beingh, but as you did then. lam still of the .same mind ab I was then. IVfy word is the same to-day, although I njay at prebcjit b,e at fault on my own land. Whatever you &ay to me to-day lam prepared to agree to. I want explanation, and if clear I will consent to it. otherwise I will not. I will not be twofaced in the matter, Why is it that other place-, are not tioubled when you aio so hard on inc. I again refer to the Queen's woid to n]o. B.e clear Mifch me i we may agiee. If I have done wiong it has been on my own land. I came to-day to -peak stiaight. Bo not pass anything aside because it ina.y be unpleasant. 1 wish to hear it. That is all I have to say, When you speak I shall again go back to my home. Mr Bryce : I approve of the spirit in which you have spoken to-day, as I see you arc desirous of having matters settled. It is but light that you should ask foi an explanation, as a deal of trouble often arises bet\yeen Duties because they do not understand oatsli 1 "olhejj. ¥°- T l f>a J T vrm not understand why the beacons were erected. That has nothing to do with the land. A harbour like this should be open to the world. In putting down beacons or buoys the Government never asks whose land it is. Those marks have nothing to do with the land, they are put there to prevent accidents. If it Ijad been in a European place their consent woul^ not tyave b,een asked; the Queen reserves to herself thaj, right. You have referred^ to the treaty of Waitangi. That treaty had two sides, The Queen agreed to respect the rights of the Maorii, and they on, their part agreed to recognise her sovereignty. The buoying of harboiirs'is one of the rights of that treaty, and therefore you, or whoever destroyed those beacons, brought yourselvps into direct contact with' it. You did not probably know this, and it is but right that you should ask for an' explanation. I .will .now say a word with regard to ,your land in relation tb that treaty. 1 The" Maoris said thalj thqy ■vjould q.\vji the sovereignty of the Queen, and shs sai&sh^ wya\s nd; kite, their laiiil Svithout theii" consent.' He has ' in Acfaordance withAhat. fYouhave been the 'first' to violate 'her,, right",' of , sovereignty. Ji is onepf the Jfirst intentions if the' w*d*h.e^sQY?TOWstQ'fW& i»

ac^eordariqe with it. The putting up of Itnese beacons, did not in any way mean 'taking the land. I have often given you -goodvadvice in advising you to have the titles to your lands fixed so as ,to know who are the proper owners. I have never asked'.y6u to sell land, but you should have your titles righted so as not to hinder tlie occupation of your hvuls, and to-, prevent .future trouble. I wfah you to understand that making our loads i< not taking land Roads confer a benefit on all, but more especially upon the Maoris it opens up their lands. Many Maoris are now of this way of thinking, and before long T am sure that they will all be. Now, to come back to Kawhin, I c.unc hoic fiist alone and unprotected, and had no soldiers with me. I did this to .show that I had confidence in you. I wished that a road should be surveyed to here, and that the harbour should be buoyed, which was for the good of the whole world. You ask me not to conceal anything unpleasant, and T say that you did very wiong iv pulling down the beacouo, and I was bound to put myself in a position to be able to say that they should bo again put up and not destroyed. I was bjund to do this m the inteiests of the Queen J serve. I will now speak about the soldiers camp. Let it be understood th<it it being placed wheie it is does not iv auy w«i,y indicate an intention iv my pai t to take the land. When the camp i» no longer required, the land will again revert to its pioper owner'). I say this to Tawhiao, that I am prepaied to woik with him to prevent trouble. I have no ill-will towards you, but good. When my actions or words aie not plain to you, you may ask for an explanation, and I will give it you. Tn general terms T can only say that I am bound to do my best to uphold the sovereignty of the l.ulv whom I serve, Queen Victoiia. So far then as we can work together without bi caking the treaty you speak of, I will do so. If I have not spoken plainly you may ask, and T will answer you. Let me repeat that I must uphold the rule and authority of the Queen. Tawhiao : T did not know that the beacons weie to be erected, but you did. I wish to impress this upon you, that T thought they weie maiks for the land. If they had bjen still down, aftei what J have hivml, I should hive put them up again. It is only you tli.it benefit by them. No pei sou is Responsible foi their removal but nivstilf. T was for som» timo ignorant that a load was being surveyed. What I wanted was that you should have fiist consulted me. 1 hold that T have that privilege by the Tieaty of Waitangi. Do not be angi y, T do not understand European customs. I thought they wore land marks. I ha\ c nothing to do with Wellington or any other haibour. Mr "Bryce : If you had been here during my foiiner visits I would have spoken to you about buoy.s, beacons, and suivey. You should have wutten to me if you wished an explanation. I have no right to speak to you if you shut your ears. If my advice is worth having it is woith asking foi. You appear to have been labouiing under a misconception in refeience to the beacon 5 :, and T will oveilook it. Taw lu.io . I am not clear yet about the road. I saw the .surveyors at woik upon it, and said, Stop when you come to Pakoka. That was my light. If I weie to steal a shawl you would say I was wrong, and you would be light. Mi Biyce: When you tiied to stop the road you weie doing something like stealing a shawl. The load covers the shouldeis of the people by making life more eii]oyable. Tawhiao : If you had worked in company with me it might have been diifeient. Mr Bryce : You should consider the advantage of loads. You have tiavelled, and know the benefit of them. In Taupo, some time ago, some Maoris objected to a load being made over a certain piecj of land. When I was in Taupo lately, the native-, wished me to make a, road where they had stopped the formei one. T lofiisud to do so on account of their formei action. They were sony for it, and it is just possible that you will be in the same plight at some futmo tune. Tawhiao: I shall always object to loads bring made. Next year I mean to go to Wellington. Mi Biyce : You will have to tiavel o\ei roads. Taw liiao : If I had boon here when the st'Minei cam", T should have gone abo.ud and asked foi haihoui dues. Mr Bryco : I would only have given you my hand. Tawhiao: I would have put it aside. I would like to make you a picicnt. It is usUiU to have a feast on such an occasion as the piesent. I should like to have a long talk w ith you about leasing land, but 1 think I will leave th.it foi the piosuut. Shortly after the meeting was over, Mr Biyce invited Tawhiao and some othei chiefs to dinner on boaid the steamer. Amongst the other strangers piesent, I noticed Messrs Neville Walkei, J. D. Hill, W. Duncan, Major Tuke, and otheis with whose names lam not acquainted. After dinner, some l."> or 1(5 cattle were bi ought by Ta.whi.ioV> men, which he offered as a present to Mr Bryce and Major Tuke. Mr Bi yeo thanked Tawhiao for his kindness, but said ho would lathci not accupt them. About 4 p.m. Tawhiao and the remainder of the natives came ashore, and the steamer shoitly left for Wellington. Dm ing the forenoon Captain Fairchild went with a covering party of ten men, and eiectod another beacon, and repaired the buoys, and the haibour is now in the same state as it was before the late outi age.