Page image
Page image

A.—s

6

Enclosure No. 1. Memoeandum for His Excellency Sir W. F. D. Jeevois, G.C.M.G. C.B. ■Sic James Peendeegast begs to thank His Excellency for forwarding to him for his information the despatch of the Secretary of State, enclosing a copy of a letter from Sir Arthur Gordon, dated March 31st, 1883, written in reply to a letter of the Secretary of State, asking for Sir Arthur Gordon's observations on a memorandum written by himself, dated January 27th, 1883 ; and, while returning those papers, Sir James Prendergast begs respectfully to request that His Excellency will forward, for the information of the Secretary of State, the following memorandum. Wellington, September 14th, 1883.

Sub-Enclosure. Memoeandum for His Excellency Sir W. F. D. Jeevois, G.G.M.G. C.B. 1. In Sir Arthur Gordon's letter and enclosures there are statements with regard to certain matters within my knowledge, some of which statements are not according to the facts, and others so made as to mislead ; such being the case, I believe that the Secretary of State would desire that such errors should bo corrected. 2. In the memorandum written by me of January 27th, 1883, I endeavoured to confine myself to a statement of facts. I did not think it necessary to state what my convictions and opinions were with regard to the matters mentioned. Nor do I now offer any comments upon Sir Arthur Gordon's letter, studiously insulting though it is. 3. I do not reiterate the statement of facts in my previous memorandum, although contradicted expressly or impliedly by Sir Arthur Gordon. 4. Sir Arthur Gordon encloses a statement said to be made by Mr. Murray, of which Sir Arthur Gordon in his letter says, " which I have no doubt relates with accuracy the communication ho had made to Sir James Prendorgast and Sir John Hall on the previous day." Even as to this statement I perhaps might leave it unnoticed, for I have already, in my previous memorandum, stated what took place between Mr. Murray, then acting as my Private Secretary, and myself. I have, however, now to say that the statement is an utter misrepresentation of what took place between himself and me. It is now for the first time that I have learnt that any such statement, either verbally or in writing, had been made, or that any such account of the conversation had been given. 5. Sir Arthur Gordon (see paragraph 14) refers to the letter by me to him, from Wellington to Fiji ; he does not inform the Secretary of State that that letter was dated the 16th September, only three days after he left Auckland for Fiji; while the " Southern Cross" did not depart until the 26th September, carrying "that letter, but also the New Zealand newspapers to that date, and (as it appears from Mr. Murray's statement, paragraph 2) a telegram from Mr. Murray, with the latest news from Wellington to that date. The Secretary of State is no doubt aware that, between the 16th September and the 26th September, affairs on the West Coast assumed a very different and a very alarming aspect. For, though Sir Arthur Gordon states, in his despatch to the Secretary of State (see Blue Book for 1882, page 166, paragraph 3), written on the 22nd October, three days after his return from Fiji, " although I was unable to learn that any new or unexpected action on the part of the Natives had given rise to these feelings of uneasiness," &c. yet on the 19th September took place the meeting at Parihaka the speeches at which certainly very much alarmed the Government and the public rot large. (See account of the meeting, Blue Book, 1882, page 132.) 6. Sir Arthur Gordon (see paragraph 12 of his letter) says a promise was made that during his absence ho should be supplied with the fullest information of all that went on in New Zealand. I understand him to mean that Ministers made the promise. Lest there should be any misunderstanding, I desire to state that Sir Arthur Gordon never asked me to make any such communication. I have been given to understand that the gentlemen who wore Ministers at the time deny that any promise was made by them, officially or otherwise; but, on the contrary, on Sir John Hall, the Prime Minister, expressing readiness to make such communications, Sir Arthur Gordon stated that he did not wish it. James Peendebgast. Wellington, September 14th, 1883.

Enclosure No. 2. Memobandum for His Excellency. The questions to which Sir Arthur Gordon refers in his letter to the Colonial Office of 31st March, 1883, might have been allowed to drop, were it not that Ministers feel that their conduct of affairs in the government of New Zealand should not be prejudiced in the minds of the British Parliament and people by the publication of papers which are calculated to lead to erroneous conclusions. Ministers, therefore, feel compelled to reply to the letter of Sir Arthur Gordon, and to show that that letter is not an answer to the representations made by them in their memorandum of the 25th January last. — ». I. Sir Arthur Gordon says-that -Ministers complain of the non-communication to them of two despatches, dated the 22nd October and the 4th November, 1881, respectively, containing extracts from the Lyttelton Times : — Sir A. Gordon answers:—

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert