The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1968, 17 February 1885, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

J'.qnal and i xact justice to all men, Ot whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or pnlitiril. Here sli ill the Press the People's rifjnt maintain, Unawcdhy influence and unbribcd by ({am.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17, 1880.

VV ITII the lio^t intentions Jii the world men oft**n do very mischievous tlun^s. Mr Ashbtiry, sometime Member of Parliament for Biighton, is ono of these. When Tawhiao and his friends were in Kngland, on a wild goose clia.se in connection Mith the Treaty of Wait.mgi, they found themselves, in the f nurse of their peregrinations, at th.it fasliionable sea-side resort, P>i lgliton, and, however it came about, were very hospitably entert.lined by Mr Ashbury. Nobody (oukl object to this. That the English people should show kindness to the native chieftains, whatever the object of their mission might have been, was what colonists would above all things desire. We are all proud of our extraction, and one of the highest attributes of our r.we, and the one that Aye t.ikf the greatest pride in, is hospitality. Every act of courtesy extended to the dusky visitors would of ne< essity do much to complete the building of the bridge which colonists hope will permanently span the gulf which past misunderstandings opened up between the two races. Inasmuch, therefore, as the

ex-Member for Brighton adhered to the traditions of his nation, and took the stranger in, we applaud lu>. conduct. Our regivt is that he lias presumed upon his casually gained acquaintance- with Tawhi 10, and put his finger in a pie that does not belong to him. In all our dealings with the Maori race, and they have been nnny and varied, the difficulties we as colonists ha\ c had to contend against, have been, almost invariably, created by our own kinsmen across the ocean. There is a deeply lived com iction in the minds of a certain class of Englishmen that colonists arc not fit to look after their own business. 80 long as they were privileged to put this belief into action, these amiable indi\ iduals managed to make matters very uncomfortable. Tfappil) we are now, and have for a long time been, conceded the right to govern ourselves. Though the lip naturally curls at the mention of Exeter Hall and its pack of meddlesome old women, that glorious institution lias long since ceased to hold any terrors for us. But occasionally .some Englishman, endowed with a larger share of philanthropy than common sense, takes up the part of the poor persecuted native against the cruel and haughty colonist, and some evil consequences are bound to follow. The down-trodden nathe spins a yarn about the great Treaty (what some nathes would do without this instrument we cannot imagine), and anathemas aie thundered at the Colonial Goveinment, and noisy protestations aie made in the House of Commons. It is nothing to the champions of the oppressed aborigines, o\erflowing as they generally are with the milk of human kindness, that Dow n-ing-street, with unvarying monotony, refers them to Wellington : nothing that the Imperial Government is almost tired of repeating that the whole business has been handed over those best fitted to manage it. A saeied treaty has (so they say) been \ iolated, and England must see that justice is done. All this affords aei y good amusement for people like Mr Gorst, Mr Labouchere, and, we suppose, Mr Ashbury, but it is producth c of much mischief as well, and has the effect of deferring the consummation of a thorough entente cordinle between the two races within the colony. So long as the soi-disant King thinks he possesses friends in council in London, so long will he cling to the hope that his imaginary wrongs will be righted, th.it he will be confirmed in his position as " King of New Zealand," and that the white intruders am'll be drhen back to the Maungatauhui creek. Probably Mr Ashbury does not know the nature of Tawhiao's griei ances. Well, we offer him this piece of information. Each progressive step, every road laid out, every survey line cut, every proposal for railway construction is bitterly opposed in his heart by the man whom the ex-Member for Brighton addresses as " King of New Zealand," and whose cause he pi onuses to advocate when he returns to England. Mr Ashbury says that the Parliament of England, consisting of " G") ( S chiefs," will see "justice" done to the natives. We do not intend to get angry with Mr Ashbury, but it is not e.isy to be polite to one who, by implication, denies that we can mete out justice to our fellow subjects of a darker hue. We are not impatient of criticism, but it is not pleasant to be called blackguards, be the synonym employed never so euphonious. Mr Ashbury's action is the outcome of either ignorance or impertinence. We piefei to think it is born of the former.

Tun intelligence from tin 1 "Cpper Nile which we publish to-day seems almost too good to be truo. That the gallant Gordon is yet ali\c and engaged in defending lmnself against the horde of the M.ihdi is, however, by no means beyond the bounds of probability. ]t is likely enough that, though the rebels, aided by the treachery of the Soiulane.se Pasha, have gained the outworks, Gordon may be safely housed in the Coptic Church. The report of his death may have been spie.id by the enemy in order to retard the pi ogress of Lord Wolseley, who, finding that all hope of sa\ ing the life of the GovernorGeneral had been cut off", would as a iiist precaution take measures for the safety of his own foices. Assuming for the moment the report that Gordon atill lnes to be tiue, it is (juite reasonable to suppose that, hemmed in as he would be, he would be unable to communicate with Sir Charles Wilson, who, exposed to the fire ot the shore batteiies, was chiefly concerned in de^ ising measures for his own safe K-tuni to Mi'tiinniH'l), The news, we repeat, is almost too good to be true, but we de\outly hope that it has a foundation in fact.