The press MONDAY, MAY 7, 1866.

Press, Volume IX, Issue 1090, 7 May 1866, Page 2

The press MONDAY, MAY 7, 1866.

When we published a letter from Henere Te Herakau protesting against the sale of the Manawatu, the Wellington Independent stated positively that Henere was one of the first who had signed the memorandum of sale of the land. What reliance may be placed on the word of the writer in that journal may be inferred from the letter we publish to-day from Henere Te Herakau himself. Once for all we may say that the originals of these letters are in the hands of the editor, who will be happy to show them to any one. Aβ some stress has been laid by the Wellington journals upon the originals not being published, we print the original in the present instance. But however the Wellington journals may profess to doubt the genuineness of these letters, their anxiety to explain and contradict their statements and to discredit the writers, are sufficient proof that they are satisfied of their authenticity. Prom what we learn from the recent articles on the subject the affair takes a very- different aspect from what it did at first. We were told that Dγ Featherston had definitively bought the block of land from all the owners. Now we are told that Mr Buller, the Resident Magistrate of Whanganui, is going about collecting signatures to the memorandum of sale!! This puts the whole matter on a different footing, and may explain how some who opposed the sale on the 14th April may be induced to sign the memorandum afterwards. We have not heard that they have done so, and after the bold invention of the Independent as to Henere Te Herakau the public is not likely to accept any statements made by that journal on the subject. But we happen to know that hardly one of the assertions made by that journal in this matter is to be depended on. It began by asserting that the block of land described in the first letter was wholly on the east of the mountains. We showed that the statement was untrue, for one of the boundaries was on the Manawatu river. The whole story about Herakau saying at the meeting with Dr. Featherston that "he did not mean anything," when he spoke against the sale is, we are assured, a fabrication. The statement that Parekaia Te Pouepa is a man who has a doubtful claim to "an acre or two," is a great mistake. He and his hapu own, we believe, several thousand acres, and we hear have been employed, since Dr. Featherston's visit, in marking off the boundaries in order to prevent their occupation. The Independent says that ita readers must be weary of this discussion. We don't believe that its readers can be so utterly blind to their own interests. If they are, we are not blind to ours. We know the fatal result which will arise from a disputed land sale, not only in the misery of a renewed struggle, and the additional pecuniary losses which it will entail upon all of us, but in the deep and lasting disgrace which will attach to the colony if the Government is once more involved in a dispute about land. Mr. Stafford's Government has already one crime to answer for. A military expedition has swept through the country burning and destroying the villages of some of those Natives who have been faithful to us throughout the whole war, and to whom we were under peculiar obligations for saving the lives of the shipwrecked passengers by the Lord Worsley; and this in the face of a Eoyal proclamation promising that no more such attacks should be made. An account will yet have to be

rendered of that affair. This Is, perhaps, what Mr Stafford described as his policy of—" letting the Natives alone: . Is he going now to add to this creditable act over which—although, he ought to have had, he may plead that he practically had, no control,—is he going to add the additional honor of renewing on the banks of the Manawatu the policy which has made the Waitara a bye-word throughout the Empire ? Dr. Featherston is, after all, but the agent in the matter. He is not acting as Superintendent; he is acting as the Land Purchase Commissioner, the servant and agent of the General G-overnment. It is the General Government which is really responsible for what is being done. The plain fact, at present as clear as daylight, is that the Commissioner, on the 14th April, formally announced his intention of buying the Manawatu block, ignoring the claims of some of the proprietors, and in spite of their protests. The subsequent meeting, on the 16th, was solely to determine the amount of the purchase money. The question for the Government, and for the whole colony, now is, is this purchase to be completed and the land sold to settlers before the proprietary claims of the dissentients are satisfied ? It is useless to ignore them. A year or two ago they might have been ignored; and the first notice we should have received of their existence would have been from some forcible resistance to the occupation of the land—perhaps resulting in bloodshed. For one European who would have known that the aggressor was really only defending his property, ten thousand would have raised a howl at the determined savagery of the Maori. Now, at all events, the thing is not done in a corner; we all of us. hear what the Natives say themselves. Hitherto the English public has been compelled to rely upon the " Maori doctors" for their opinions of the Natives. "The Natives say this" — "The Natives think that"—"ANative will never do so and so." But if we are really to govern these people is it not much more rational to hear what they say themselves ? —to encourage them in every way, when they have a grievance, to state it—not to one or two Government officials only, but so that we can all of us hear and understand it? The "Wellington papers say the Press is doing mischief by publishing these letters. We confidently believe the universal feeling will be that we are taking the surest means to prevent disturbance. We appeal to the public of Wellington! itself as the most interested in the! question. A bad or disputed pur-i chase of the Manawatu will ruin Wellington. If we thought the Wei- \ lington public were capable of insisting on the completion of a doubtful pur- • chase for their own temporary advantage, at the risk of plunging the colony again into strife, we should say that the safety of the colony demanded the removal of the seat of Government to the Middle Island, where it would be out of the reach of such dangerous influences. But we give the Welling ■ ton public full credit for disclaiming any such idea as indignantly as we should. We are fighting their battle far more than our own, or even than that of the Natives, in calling on the General Government not to permit the occupation of the Manawatu until it can be done by the free consent of all the Native owners. Far more when those Native owners are men who have all along been our closest friends amidst the troubles through which the colony has passed. The public of Wellington are intelligent enough, and generous enough, to reject with all the contempt it deserves the snobbish notion—there is no better word— which their journals have expressed, that we have taken up this question out of a feeling of jealousy at any success in a neighboring province.

The writs for the Provincial Elections are not yet sent down. The Governor is in the "Waikato. When he may return lis uncertain. For this delay we must ! thank the gentleman whose peculiar vanity induces him to undertake two or three Government offices at once. Had there been a Colonial Secretary we might have been inclined to ask what sort of administration it was which allowed the Governor to leave the seat of Government for an indefinite time, without procuring his Excellency's signature to the documents necessary to allow the Government of the CQuntry to be carried on. The Constitution Act is now daily violated, and will be for some time, by the delay in this election, and there is no remedy. The expense and annoyance of a contested election is prolonged for weeks, solely because Mr. Stafford neglects the duties of Secretary. As, however, he is doubtless very busy in studying —not how he can save the colony £240,000 a year —but how he can prove that he has saved it, we must not be surprised that so arduous a task in the Treasury leaves little time for the duties of Secretary.

The Wbits. —The "New Zealand Advertiser" understands that it is his Excellency's intention to return to Wellington immediately after his interview with William Thompson, and has ordered all letters, &c., to be sent on there to meet him. Mirage.—A very extraordinary instance of this phenomenon occurred lately at Weeden's. From the lawn of Mr. Tuckey's residence the whole of the vessels in port were distinctly to be seen, many other objects being visible but not so distinct. The illusion had a very pleasant appearance, and after lasting for about half-an-hour gradually faded away. We are informed that on one or two previous occasions a similar mirage has been seen in this locality. Avon Road Bojj&d. — A meeting of the J ratepayers of this district was held at the Carlton hotel on Saturday. Mr Thomas Preston, the chairman of the Board, presided. The meeting was called for the election of a member in the room of the late Air William Thomson. The following gentlemen were proposed : — Messrs J. B. Stiffe, A. Knight, W. DeTroy, and on a show of hands being taken, which, was declared to be in favor of Mr Stiffe, a poll was demanded, which resulted as fellows :—for Mr J. B. Stiffe, 140 ; Mr DeTroy, 62 ; and Mr A. Knight, 61. Fibe.—Yesterday morning a dust-bin in the newly-erected shed at the Government buildings was found to be on fire. A few buckets of water were sufficient to put it out, owing to the danger being luckily discovered before it had made much headway. Acclimatisation. — The annual public meeting of this society will be held at the Mechanics' Institute at half-past seven this evening, for the purpose of receiving the annual report, and for the election of members of the council for the ensuing year. This being the last day for receiving subscriptions in time for the printed list, persons desirous of becoming members should avail themselves at once of .this opportunity. Chtzbch Meetings.—An adjourned meeting of the parishioners of the Church of England, Lytteiton, was held on Friday evening at the school-room. The Rev. F. Knowles occupied thechair. About forty gentlemen were present, and after a long discussion, in which many gentlemen took part, it was finally put to the meeting whether the sittings in the church should be let or not ; an equal division took place, and the Chairman gave his casting vote in favor of free seats. No. 8 Company , . —A general meeting of this company was held in the Drill-shed on Friday evening. The principal business done was deciding on an uniform, which. it was settled should be rifle green, with scarlet facings and black trimmings, i When the meeting was concluded, upwards of forty members fell in to drill.