BEFORE THE WAIKATO COMMITTEE.

F—No. 3

express purpose, and that arrangement, as will be evident from the correspondence on the subject J which I now beg to produce for the information of the Committee, has never been departed from. I beg to lay before the Committee a circular Letter addressed by me to the holders of Bush Licenses, shortly after my election to the office of Superintendent, from which the Committee will perceive the precautions with special reference to Natives, I desired to take for the proper management of houses of accommodation, for which such licenses might be granted. I would also wish to put in a list of New Provisional Bush Licenses issued by the Provincial Government since my election in November, 1856. [The Chairman laid on the table a Letter from Rev. Mr. Morgan : same read as follows :] — Otawhao, Oct. 9th, 1860. Sir, —I received your letter of the 28th ult., together with Mr. Fenton's Report, by the last mail. I much regret that a press of duties, occasioned partly by the assembling of portions of various Waikato tribes under arms, at the several Maori villages around my station, on their way to Taranaki, prevents my writing fully on the several important questions submitted to me by the Select Committee of the House of Representatives. I will, however, reply briefly to the several points brought forward in your letter. (Seepage 7.) I. Question —" The true causes of the origin and progress of the King movement, its present aspect, its future direction?" First. " The origin of the King movement." Ist. A land league to prevent the sale of land by aboriginal tribes or owners to the Government; or the private sale of such lands to individuals of the European or " pakeha" race. 2nd. A desire to stop the rapid advance of European colonization. 3rd. A desire to introduce a code of laws suited to their own state and requirements. 4 th. And chiefly, a desire to establish, first in the Waikato, and afterwards gradually in all Maori districts, an independent sovereignty over all Maori and European residents in such districts. Many of the aborigines saw with fear the rapid advance of European colonization, and the earnest desire of the Pakeha to obtain possession of their lands. They also noticed what they considered the confined bounds to which some tribes who had sold land were reduced. As the promoters of this league knew there were many tribes favourably disposed to the sale of land and European colonization, they felt that their league would be powerless unless they could unite the various tribes of Waikato, and afterwards other districts, under one Chief or King, whose flag, when received, even by the minority of any tribe in any district, should cover and prohibit the sale to Europeans of all lands in such district. 2nd. The aborigines feared, as their own numbers were being so rapidly diminished by death, that, unless European colonization could be arrested, that the white settlers would in a few years greatly outnumber them, and that then the Treaty of Waitangi would be set aside, and their lands seized by the English Government. 3rd. The desire of the Maories to introduce and establish a code of laws amongst themselves. They saw and felt the evils of their Maori customs, and the advantages of law and order. A period of 16 or 17 years had elapsed without scarcely any effort being made to supply this pressing want; and this circumstance alienated from the Government, and centred around the King movement, the feelings of numerous Natives who would at an earlier period have gladly united to carry out a simple code of laws, framed to meet their own peculiar wants. 4th. The desire on the part of certain natives to establish in New Zealand an independent sovereignty in Maori districts, over all Native and European residents therein. This feeling ran high in the Maori mind, —and hence the chief feature of the speeches at the great meeting of the Maori Kingites, at Rangiaowahia: "The Queen on her piece, and the King on his piece, and God over all." There is in the Maories generally a strong love of independence, and an unwillingness to be placed altogether under British rule, without a voice either in the framing or administration of laws affecting especially their own race. Many of the Maori Kingites carried this feeling to extremes, and while willing to accept English law as a basis for a Maori code, they desired that the administration of such laws should be entirely in their own hands, and that no European magistrate or other agent appointed by the Government should be permitted to itinerate in the Maori districts. Second. " Progress of the King movement."—lt was far more rapid than expected, even by its most sanguine promoters. It has spread to nearly every place on the Western coast, south of Auckland. Nearly every inland tribe, in whole or in part, bows to the supremacy of the Maori King; and it has also been received at Ahuriri, on the Eastern coast; and it is fully expected that it will be received this summer by all the tribes residing on that coast between Tauranga and Ahuriri. Several new King flags are now about to be sent from Waikato to distant tribes; report states that four are being taken for Western coast by the Kingites now here on their way to the "South, and that five are to be sent to the Eastern coast. I had no idea myself that its progress xould have been so rapid. Third. " Present aspect of the King movement."—The present aspect of the King movement in Upper Waikato is warlike—not that the Kingites wish for war for the sake of war, for they rather wish for peace, but they desire to be allowed quietly to carry out their plans; and there is on their part a determination to establish and uphold in all Maori districts an independent sovereignty ovpr all Maories and Europeans resident therein, to the utter exclusion of any interference on the part of the Government ; or, in other words, the vital question with the Maori Kingites now is, whether the King or the Queen shall possess the " mana" of New Zealand. Hence the frequent expressions of the Waikatos now in arms, "We are going to fight for New Zealand. We sent them (i.e., to Taranaki) the flags, and it is our duty to follow the King's flag. We are fighting for the "mana" of our island." The Maori King movement is the strength of the Taranaki war. I must, however, remind the Select Committee of what I stated on the second page of this letter; the fears entertained by many of the aborigines

J. Williamson, Esq, 24 Oct. 1860.

Rev. J. Morgan

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