3

A.-8

" Sleep and rest, 0 Ariki amongst Arikis, with thy mighty dead ! Thy house is desolate —the mid-post has fallen : sleep ! " My word to you is to let the memory of Makea ever spur you on to keeping the law, maintaining good government, and that in her spirit you will prove yourselves capable of accommodation to the developments of the age, riding abreast therewith and aiding to accomplish the great ideals for the betterment of all under our Empire rule. " Enough. In sorrow I greet you. " J. Carroll." Now you have heard the messages read, I wish to say a few words to you. You live here in your island of Rarotonga far removed from New Zealand; a great sea rolls between Rarotonga and New Zealand, and you may think that your voice does not carry over the sea to New Zealand. That is not the case. The Government of New Zealand is your parent, and the parent hears the voice of his child, no matter how far off he may be. Therefore do not be afraid to lift up your voice and tell the New Zealand Government what is in your hearts. The Government of New Zealand wishes to help you and to do everything in its power for you and so preserve youi race. The Chief Justice is here, and I am here. Let us know what you wish and we will forward your wishes to the Government. When we have gone away the Resident Commissioner will be here —he will also listen to any representations you may have to make. There may be people who may wish to sow dissension between you and your parent the Government. My advice to you is not to listen to them, for they will do you no good. I intend to visit you all in your villages before I return to New Zealand. If then there is anything you may wish to say to me I will be ready to discuss it with you. I have brought here with me Te Heuheu Tukino, an Ariki of New Zealand. He has a message for you. I will now ask him to deliver it. Te Heuheu Tukino. —Arikis, Mataiapos, Rangatiras, and people of Rarotonga : The Chief Justice representing the European population, and myself, representing the Maoris of New Zealand, have journeyed over the sea and have now landed in your island. Greetings to you, and a parting greeting to departed Makea Ariki. I wish to express, on behalf of the Maoris of New Zealand, the sorrow they feel at the death of Makea Ariki. lam a Maori like yourselves. You were the first ones to come into contact with Europeans and wo were the last. We have members in Parliament, and we take part in parliamentary debates. You as yet do not take any part. But this is only the beginning of things. I tell you, do not bo afraid of meeting man to man. If you are craven-hearted before another man then there is an end to the matter. Formerly we were in darkness the same as you, but after fifty years' experience we are enlightened. Some of the Maoris in New Zealand have sold their land to get money. A man who holds on to his land nowadays is going to be the man. One great drawback is when people contract sickness ; they are carried off. Generally they contract sickness through living in unhealthy situations. On looking around the place I find you living in fine houses. Looking around I see a healthy people. One thing I hear you do, and that is you brew too much of your Native beer. You must knock off drinking orange-beer. When people are drunk they go home and abuse their wives, and sometimes they abuse their children. In the land where I come from —the King-country —there is no liquor allowed there, so theiefore I can speak to you on this subject. lam Chairman of one of our Councils, and lam dead against drinking. I have not finished what lam going to say —it is very hot here and lam thirsty. lam going out to meet the Takitumu people and will speak again there. Do not be afraid of Mr. Waldegrave. Because he is the representative of the law he is the man who frightens everybody. lam not afraid of him. One of my great aims was to get good laws for my people in New Zealand, and I was fifteen years fighting for them. If I was not a man of much land I could not talk to you, but I have a lot of land, and my advice to you is never to part with your land. Referring to Captain Smith, I hope in two or three years' time to come down here again as a companion to him. On Friday I will speak at Arorangi. Kia orana. Raea (a Rangatira of Avarua). —The messages you have brought from His Excellency the Governor and Government of New Zealand we thank you very much for, and wish you to convey to them our appreciation. I greet Te Heuheu. The people have listened to his message and are pleased with it. They are very pleased to hear Te Heuheu speak in that direction. It is right talk. Teura (a Rangatira of Avatiu). —Greetings to the representative of the Government of New Zealand, and he who comes to speak for the Minister, and all those who have come with you as officers of the Government. Greetings to you all. You are officers of His Excellency the Governor, who is also under the jurisdiction of His Majesty King George the Fifth. You ask us if we have anything to say —any requests to make. I will make one now. Teura then read the following address : — [Translation.] " To the representative of His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, to you who are the Chief justice over all lands within the boundaries of the Dominion of New Zealand, and to all those of office who have come with you to the Cook Islands : Greetings to you all. " Here standing before you are Makea Karika Ariki and the Ariki family and the Rangatiras under her. This is what we have to say to you : You have heard about the Cook Islands, and we heard of you. To-day we meet face to face, and have clasped hands with feelings of satisfaction, we who are all subjects under the mana of His Majesty King George V, who has reckoned the Cook Islands as a part of his Empire —as part of the Dominion of New Zealand. " This is what we have to say to you : We are living here in peace, we have no trouble, the Resident Commissioner is performing his office well, and we know of no wrong in him or that he has done, and he has not caused any trouble with us ; what he says to us we obey willingly under our