AN EARLY HORROR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 93, 19 April 1940, Page 9

AN EARLY HORROR.

GILFILLAN TRAGEDY. CAUSE OP MISUNDERSTANDINGS. Commenting upon the article which appeared in the "Auckland Star" recalling the Gilfillan massacre at Wanganui in JB4B, Mr. George Graham states that the item gives an ungenerous account of this unhappy affair. Unless accompanied by a fuller statement explanatory of the surrounding circumstances, and the troubled condition of those timee—the bare account of the Gilfillan affair creates quite a wrong and unfair impression of Maori character. Viewed in the dispassionate light of .these times it is manifest that from 1840 onward the administration of native affairs was marked by much incompetence, , Difficulties were created, as a prime factor, by the ill-managed land acquisition operations of the New Zealand Company. Before that body had finalised, or even in some cases even entered upon ite intended land purchases, it was -in London already selling areas to prospective immigrants to New Zealand. When these unfortunates in due course arrived, there woe no land available for them. In some cases these people endeavoured to enter into occupation of allotted areas. Maori resentment and active resistance arose, and bitterness became intensified between both races. Many "misunderstandings" happened, followed by still continued official mishandling of both native and immigrant interests, i Conspicuous of these "misunderstandings" was the Wairau affair and'the affray there resulting in loss' of life to both Maori and pakeha. This was followed by the Hutt Valley hind disputes and the military campaign there. These troubles extended to the Porirua district, resulting ultimately in Maori discomfiture. The arrest of Te Rauparaha still further fanned the fires of Maori resentment.. Then, in immediate succession, came the Wanganui troubles—due again to New Zealand Company land claims — and Maori denial of their validity. Connected with the Porirua hostilities was the trial by court-martial of a chief, Te Whareaitu, and his execution (an act adversely criticised by both pakeha and Maori as unjustifiable). At that time military and naval activities at Wanganui ■were obtrusive. It was officially represented that these doings were purely defensive. Maori suspicion (justified in the result) was that the forcible occupation of native lands was the objective, and the natives were in a restless mood. The tension was brought to a climax when a midshipman of the Calliope accidentally wounded a local chief named Ngarangi, presenting a loaded pistol at Ngarangi's head and the charge exploded with serious result. The native population took this ae an act of war—blood had been shed and only blood could atone for that. The unfortunate Gilfillan family, were thus the victims of Maori customs, and their deaths were in Maori usage the sequel to an, act of war, already committed by the pakeha in the wounding of Ngarangi. An armed % force of friendly Maoris then set forth to seek the slayers of the Gilfillans. After a conflict they captured the alleged ringleaders of that affair. These men were handed over to a military tribunal and they were courtlnartialled, four of them being publicly liung, still . further aggravating displeasure generally, for the friendly Maoris regarded their captives as prisoners of war and not as criminals.

Then followed active warfare, at Wanganni, followed similarly by the same conditions in Taranaki (due to the bungled Waitara land dispute). Then came the disastrous Waikato and Tauranga wars and the subsequent guerilla warfare connected with the Te Kooti troubles. Not until 1872—a generation of time—was peace again in this land with our Maori people.