LAST PARIHAKA MEETING.

Auckland Star, Volume XII, Issue 3384, 1 June 1881, Page 2

LAST PARIHAKA MEETING.

(From our speclvl corrbsi-ondent.)

INTERESTING DESCRIPTION,

THE meeting at Parihaka ou the 17th inst. was very largely attended, upwards of 2,500 being present,; The great attraction was undoubtedly the returned prisoners. At an early hour in the morning, tbe meeting-place was occupied, and the food piled in the centre. Thisconsistedofthcusual pork, bread and tea, and was supplemented by many geese cooked whole and deposited oil the pile in kits. After this had beeu distributed, the returned prisoners marched, in single hie on to the "marac," each enveloped id some gaudy shavyl or rug, aud having his head decorated with albatross or.gooae.feathers. These,.with theaddition of those who had been appointed to fence', and, although not arrested are called I prisoners, took their place in the centre, . and a few minutes afterwards Te Whiti commenced speaking. TE WHITI'S SPEECH. Te Whiti said :—Good, bad, peace,* and. war, were in existence from the beginning, even from the creation of the world, when, one God created the heavens and the eaith aud appointed all things for generations to come. There is uothing left to be arranged by the great, wise and learned, the riali, "the brave, and the strong, all is in the hands of i thelman who made tho clearing, and had the conduct of all things within the cultivation. The quarrel of this generation was. foretold of bid, that all might see the great and the small in contention—when the small Bhould overcome the great and evil should yield to good. Let the rich and great, strong and brave, wise and learned work accord i tig to his desires, but all shall be fulfilled according to the words which issue from my mouth. Though winter is upon us tho geuFal warmth of Jauuary is not forgotten, but though any should desire to reach the heat of Jauuary to warm his frigid body, he cannot in these days experience that welcome warmth because of the icogth of the months which separate hiihl " The whole of this generation are suffering from the cold b£ oppression and injustice, and altogether they wish to reach a state of settlement, quiet happiness, and lasting rest they cannot at present attain thereto on account of the many troubles which, intervene which only time will remove. Great is the gladness of my heart for the bad which Ist abolished, and for the return of my people soathless from oppression. Let good always overcome evil. You are advised to take heed to your going lest harm befal you, but your surest sa-'eguard is to refrain from evil. The land both north and south is suspended on inheritance for this generation. Many brave, great, wise and learned men have desired to fulfil the words ot God and overcome the evil by good, by' restraint from retaliation, anil passive behaviour under trial, but none have succeeded previous to yourselves on account of the many insurmountable obstacles in their path. In their inner hearts the brave aud strong still nourish a desire for war, which is kept alive by the breath of Satan, but by your passive nonresistance, you have. rendered their longing ineffectual/ You are all alive and well and remain a mark for all time and all people, a sign of the triumph of peace aud the total inoperativeness of the laws to' punish the. innocent who persist only in maintaining their rights. The laws concerning you are dead. According to the words of Te Whiti you were arrested, not from any crime of theft, any stealing of blankets, but' in consequence of a host of the people of Satan to steal your land. The prison houses are not bad things in these days,! they aro thiug3 to rejoice in, aud to those you were sent that you might be a sign to all people of the triumphs to be achieved by a maintenance of the right. Those who im-; prisoned you, those who enslaved you, upou them shall rest the onus aud responsibility , of your imprisonment, and of your slavery, - and they alone shall wash away the dirt with which they have covered you, even they who have wantonly disturbed you. Blameless aud untried, you were imprisoned, and he who imprisoned.you shall be ' imprisoned, and he who scattered you shall be scattered.. . ~ TOHU'S SPEECH., Consisely tho above was Tc Whiti's speech, ;and he was immediately followed by ToliUj who spoke''of the oppression of the imprisonment of the natives. He continued: "On this very day is completed the 400 years toretold of old of Abiabam, and all wars shall cease. The God iv the days df Abraham was Jehovah; and after him came Moses ; and subsequently Jesus Christ; but Te Whiti is the god of these | days. I.amthegod of theso days (god is evidently intended to mean teacher). I did not scud you to die or come to any harm, but to contend in tlie houses of the king_for righteousness' sake ; aud now all laws are dead for those who were sentenced, are returned, notwithstanding their sentence, and many who were never tried are illegally retained in captivity. The ministers of religion came amongst us and preached the gospel, telling us'not to tear those who could kill the body only, but' to take heed of Him who could kill the soul; but on the outbreak of hostilities tbe ministers all fled—not one remained; and yet the Maoris are not a soul-killing people. Te Whiti spoke-much more to similar effect. TE WHITI'S NEW HOUSE. Tc Whiti has a new weather-board house being built which is to be comoleted in Juue, when a house-warming feast is to be given. The house is to have nine rooms, the timber to. be rimu, and is being^erccted by the natives under the direction of a European | carpenter.

THE PORT OF OPUNAKE.

_ Opunake is rapidly. increasing—buildings for stores are erected and butchets' Btiops and private houses abound. Another public house is about being built, and everything bears a go-a-head look. If the money now being . spent on Taranaki Harbour, or even a little of it were layed out at Opunake to supplement the work of Nature in forming a harbour, Opunake would become waat Nature cvideotly intended it to be-the Port of the Waimate Plains. Most reluctantly do the settleis see 25 per cent, ot their land fund taken to be thrown into the sea at New Plymouth, whilst their own bay is neglected. The success of the New Plymouth harbour scheme is problematical. With the funds at present at the command of the board it is csrtaiu the work cannot be completed. The management of these funds is notorious, and thepeople whoprovidethem can donothingbutmournthattheirownOpunake Bay is neglected to furnish means tor a costly expenditure which may never be remunerative, and, should it be so, will not benefit them.