WAIKATO.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 192, 24 May 1860, Page 2

WAIKATO.

[From the New Zealander , April 28.]

Substance of an Address delivered by Rev, . Thomas Buddie, in the Wesleyan Chapel. Auckland, April 18,1860, on the present state of the Native Tribes of this Country, and on the Maori King movement.

Having lately paid a visit to Ngaruawahia, the abode of Potatau, and the centre of the Maori King movement, I have been requested to address our Wesleyan Congregation on the present state of Maori politics, and the present movements of the Native tribes.

The purchase of a block of land at Waitara, in the province of New Plymouth, by the Government, has brought on a collision between the Government and William Kingi, Te Rangitake. King is connected with & party that are leagued together to prevent the sale of Native lands; pledged not; only to hold their own, but to oppose, and prevent all, sales o£

land by any party or tribe whatever. Acting on this principle, this chief has opposed the sale of a block of land at Waifava, to which lie acknowledged he had no claim, and by force resisted the survey: The Government having openly purohased and paid for the land to those who were believed to be its rightful owners, of course pushed the survey by force of arms; and hence the present crisis. Tlie question that most concerns this Province is, what course will the Waikato tribes pursue ? Will they join King, and by so doing bring themselves into direct collision with the Government ? I think not, at least not at present. This subject was largely discussed by them last week, on the arrival of the deputation sent by tho two great tribes of Taranaki, i.e-, Ngatiruanui and iVgatiawa, to present the allegiance of the tribes to the Maori king, and was for the present negatived. ■■The-subject was strongly represented byNgatimaniapoto, the tribes that occupy Kawhia and the upper Waipa district. The leading chiefs of those tribes expressed strong sympathy with the Taranaki belligerents, and earnestly ■ exhorted tlie Waikato chiefs to join them in an expedition to the seat of war to succour King. : Violent speeches were made, • special pleading 'employed, tlie sins of the Pakeha against the Maori counted andcomraented upon? and instant action urged. The Waikatos, however, were not to be moved at present. Some said, “Our pa is not finished; let us complete what we have in hand ” (referring to the King movement). Others said, “ How oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him ?” Others said, “ Why should we go to Taranaki to have our blood shed ; if it must be spilt, let it be at our own home at the foot of our own Taupiri (a mountain).” The result was, that the Ngatimaniapoto and Taranaki tribes returned disappointed. I am informed {bat the day after we left, Potatau, who was not present during the public discussion, delivered himself very. decidedly against any movement on the part of Waikato. “ I am not willing,” he said, •* that tlie evil work of former.times should be brought back ; I will not consent ; nor. will I consent that yon (Ngatimaniapoto) should take your guns ” referring to their accompanying the -Taranaki strangers on their way home. “ You found me living in the presence of the Governor, his servant. I wished to live and die at Mangare; at your request. I came here. Now yon would .paake me like Te.Rauperaha,” (an old chief who was captured during the Wanganui war and brought as a hostage to Auckland.) It is said that the proposers of violent measures were much ashamed, and left greatly disappointed The question of . Waikato uniting with Taranaki then seems settled for the present ; but what are the Waikatos doing ? . What is the nature and object of their great.gatherihgs and Runangas and Koreros ? I will give a few facts in order to throw a little light on thair present movements. . ‘They are endeavouring to establish an independent kingdom. They have chosen a King, to .whom they have pledged their allegiance and given over their lands. I witnessed tlie ceremony of presenting allegiance to the Maori Jting the other day. A deputation comprising'about forty fine young men, some of them principal Chiefs, arrived at Ngatiruavahia while I was there, for this purpose. Tliey were accompanied by a number of Ngatimaniapoto; m all about 150 men, wearing favours to distinguish their’ tribe. They marched up Jo the flagstaff three abreast On reaching the flagstaff one stepped forward, and with a clear distinct voice said, “ Honour all men; love the brotherhood ; fear God ; honour the king;” then turning to the train he said, “ Honour the king;” all responded by uncovering and kneeling. The leader of the Ngatiruanui then “read from a memorandum book ah address beginning, “ 0 king live for ever ! Thou art bone of our hone, and flesh of our flesh ; thou art a saviour for us, our wives, our children,” &<\ &c., and pledging their allegiance. The leader of the Ngatiawa then read a* similar address, “ Honour the king,” was again demanded, and a low salaam, and a general cry of Hear, hear, hear, was the response. A native Teacher then stepped out, and gave out a verse of the Maori hymn beginning “ Ka mahue i Ihipa, &c. We have left Egypt the place of .bondage, we seek another land, a land of rest,” <fec. The verse was sung, then prayer was offered for God’s blessing on their King and on their people. This ended, they retired backward, the whole 'body moving back till out of sight of Potatau, then tliev wheeled round and marched off to ■the place appointed for korero. This ceremony and attempt - to imitate Court etiquette 'is not Maori, they have no doubt had some schooling'from some quarter in these matters. But what are the objects of this movement ? They appear to be aiming principally at two things, to assert and maintain an independent sovereignty and to preserve their territory. They seem much concerned about their independence, their Mana, as they term it. “ We do not like this Mana (this sovereignty) of the Queen,” said one. “ We have no objection to.the Pakeha, or to his commerce, we like to be able to procure tobacco, shirts, trousers,, caps, &c.. but we do not wish to become the white 'man’s slave. Nor do we want the Queen’s mana to rest on our shoulders.” “ What,” I inquired, “ do you mean by the Queen’s mana ? What is it? Give me a definition of it.” . But nobody made the attempt. I will tell you,” I said, “ what is implied by the Queen’s mana. It is simply the Queen’s protection ; she exteuds her protection over us botli individually and nationally. So .that if I were to oppress my neighbour, to. injure his person, or property, or character, I should have the . Queen’s mana upon me in the shape of law and penalties, au’ci my injured neighbour would be protected,'

and obtain uiu (satisfaction). Again, the Queen protects us nationally ; while her flag floats over the island no foreign power can oppress us, or disturb our commerce with impunity. Ami the probability is, if we did not sit under the British flag, that the French would take the land and treat it as they treated Tahiti, when they deposed her queen and took possession of her country. Or perhaps the Americans would deal with you as theydiave dealt with the Fijeeans. At this very moment, while you are wishing to throw .off; the sovereignty of Queen Victoria, the men of Fijee are earnestly entreating her to extend her protection to their land and take them under her flag.” Tliey listened to this with great attention, but made no remark. To. assert their independence some of them, propose that no Magistrate appointed by the .Governor shall judge native offences within their territory, that native offenders, shall not.be arrested, and the Queen’s Mail shall not 1 be permitted to pass. On the two former subjects they are unanimous, but I do not think that Potatau approves of the latter. A Ngatimaniapoto chief said to me, “We intend to stop the mails.” “ Why so,” I inquired, “what sin has the mail committed ?” "We consider that the Government is serving us as the Jews served Jesus Christ,” was the reply. “ How so “ Why,” he said, “ they made him bear the cross on which they crucified him, and we think that the Pakehas write evil reports of us from Taranaki to Auckland, and from Auckland back to Taranaki, and make Maori postmen bear them to and fro, and we intend to stop the mail.” Another object they, have in view in this movement is the conservation of their lands. This is, perhaps, the principal object of the league; seeing the rapid spread of colonisation, they fear the complete alienation of their territory, and wish,, if possible, to prevent the white man advancing any further.. I do not think tliey contemplate a general insurrection, or wish to repossess the lands they have ceded, and which the British Government, has honorably bought, but they Wish to have all the tribes bound in a league not to sell more, —and hope to accomplish this by obtaining the cession of the respective tribal territories to the Maori King. Many of the tribes south of Auckland have joined this league—some, few even in Waikato still hold out. The land between Auckland and the banks of the Waikato having been fairly purchased, is looked upon as Queen’s territory, and when a chief residing near to Auckland offered his land to the King party the other day at the meeting at Wiuku, the leading men of that party said, “ If your land had adjoined our native territory, it would have been good for us to accept it; hut your land is surrounded by the land of Pakeha, and were we to accept it it might bring us into collision with the Pakeha ; it is not good, therefore, that we should accept your offer.” A proof, I think, that they do not wish to disturb us, nor have any collision with us, but to prevent any. further advance on their unalienated lands.

In carrying out the object of this movement, they have adopted three mottoes, by which they constantly profess to be guided,Te Whakapono, Te Aroba, Te .Pure , i. e., Christianity, Love, and Law.. It has been asserted by some who paid a flyiug visit to native districts, that the Maori evinces a strong inclination to return to heathenism. This is not true. His old ritenga (customs) have passed away, to he resumed no more. He is so fully convinced of the superiority of the new ritenga, that the first motto adopted in cairying out the Maori King movement is Christianity. Do not let us suppose they are renouncing the word of God, or that divine truth has no hold of the Maori mind, they professedly take God’s word for their guide, and think they are supported by revelation in this new movement. Their danger is fanaticism. We endeavoured to point out to them the real state of the question as between them and the British Government, and to bring the subject before them in its relation to their Christianity and the word of God., We reminded them of the Treaty of Waitangi, and of their signatures to that treaty ,; insisted that, it was of the nature of a solemn covenant made between the British Crown on the one partj arid themselves on the other; and that tlie covenant could not he dissolved but by mutual consent; we reminded them, that in virtue of that treaty thousands of white, people had come to the land, hoping to find a home under tlie British flag, who would not have come under any other arrangement.; and therefore they could not either justly or honorably set up another government in the country, that to do so is to do that which the word of God condemns as unrighteous. Some’ of the young men endeavoured to evade the force of such a line of argument by saying that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed when they were in their minority, and did not fully understand the subject; but I have reason to hope that there is truth enough in some minds, arid conscience enough too, to cause them to feel its force, and carry them to right conclusions.

The second motto is Love. They profess to be influenced by a desire to restore the union among the tribes that their former customs had utterly annihilated. The constant aggressions of tribe upon tribe had induced mortal enmity and caused them to hate and and dread each other —in those days when might was right in the land. Now they say they wish to bury old grievances, to love one another, and live united under one head. This is a most comfnendablc object, assuming, of course that nothing ulterior is intended. The third motto is Law. They profess to aim at abolishing war.. “Let there be no war,” they sav, “ none among the. Maorios, and uoue with the Ihikchs. Let all disputes

he settled by an appeal to Jaw, or arbitration.” Acting,oil this principle, thevj&oud a deputation of chiefs as mediators 'wherever they hear that disputes exist or war impending, and having succeeded in reconciling the.disputants, invite the parties to join the League aa a means of preventing future squabbles. Taking their stand on this principle, thdy loudly censure the Government -for-son'-tiug troops to settle dispute 'with William King, and say the Governor should hayejinvited their mediation'. A course his Excellency could notSulopt without giving a tacit recognition of theirself-consti tilted government, and acknowledging their right to interfere between the : Government, of the country, and the parties who.had committed a breach of the peace by faking away the surveyors’ chains, and forcibly preventing a survey, of the land that }Tad>M»f''purchased. They also profess to dcal|j||||i'ajl kinds of misdemeanour and . ..felony.find;,.have appointed Judges and Courts fnrrthis purpose. Parties impeached are duly summoned, cases tried and decided, and fines levied as penalties. A compendium of British law. compiled and translated by direction of His Excellency the Governor, is in constant.use as their guide in the administration of justice.

Such are the objects of the Maori King movement as far as my- observations have extended. A movement which . could it be pruned and stript of that which implies rebellion against the British Crown and an antagonism to the Queen’s 'Sovereignty, might be turned to some good account. Aml I cannot but hope that divine Providence will overrule these struggles for thefuture good of both races. ' What ought we to-do at the present crisis ? Tam sure you will-agree with me that we ought not to create or foster unnecessary excitement. r ;

Excitement will, be injurious to our commerce, and to our peace, iind: perilous to our friendly relations with the native race. You will also agree with me that we ought not to manifest unkindly, feelingstowards the natives.. The atrocious murders that have been committed, by the Taranaki natives on five of our unoffending countrymen when going about their peaceful occupations, may excite angry and vengeful' feeling, but this is to be guarded against. The natives generally will not attempt to' justify that wicked act. /Filliam King himself disclaims all sympathy with that crime, and. declares.that'.lie will not prosecute the war in that style, h,ut meet the sofdiers fairly in open field. . Especially as-Christians, let. us commend the subject to Almighty God in earnest prayer. Do not let us forget our own unfaithfulness and sin. God may justly have a controversy with us, and permit trials to befall us on account of our sins. Jjet us humble ourselves before God .and seek .his gracious interpositon. Humiliation's always becoming; and prayer always appropriate, but both are especially so in times of fear and peril, - It will' be well for all should the events of the day lead ns to a throne of grace. Then peace and blessing will follow, and all will be overruled for the general good. The great revival in America was preceded by a season'of commercial distress, which led the people to penitence and prayer. May a similar result follow our present trials.