The Press. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1881.

Press, Volume XXXVI, Issue 5063, 29 November 1881, Page 2

The Press. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1881.

Mr. Ro_._3S_o_f_ speech ait Papanui cannot fail to exercise a considerable influence upon the approaching elections. It puts the case for the Government in a clear, logical, and forcible light, and it deals with the different questions. which are occupying public attention in a manner which can leave no doubt whatever in the mind of the reader as to what the views and urns of the Government are regarding them. .-' When we took office," said Mr. Bolleston, "after the last general " election, we were plit there by -tie " people to accomplish certain objects. "We were putt there to effect a reform in " the finance of the country, and to effect "largoretrenchments, and a reorganisal "tion of the Civil Service; we were put " there to open up the country, and io "devise schemes for the settlement of "tho land; we were put there to do " what onr predecessors ; talked about " doing, but did not do—-to carry out a " system of electoral reform, which is " coming into /"play; wo were put there to cleanse the " Native office and to teach the Natives the "supremacy of the "Queen's law. And, " gentlemen, I main—in. that upon these " broad points we have, on tie whole, " dona our duty as fully as the people of " the colony could expect, if not as fully uas we ourselves wished, and as I " believe in the future we shall be able "to do." Having thus boldly asserted' tiie claims of; the :Qoyeri_lent upon the support of the country, __. Bolleston at once proceeds to furnish for putting them forth. He briefly reviews what has been accomplished in the Way of _na_c_land electoral reform, out as these points had been strongly insisted on by the Premier when addressing his constituent- at Leeston, on that account, probably, the speaker refrained from going at length into their consideration.

As. might have been expected, Mr. Bolleston- speech was mainly occupied with an exposition of the manner in which the Lands and Native departments have l been administered by the Hall Government. His explanations with reference to Pate—re, f_r instance, must, convince every candid mind that in dealing with that block aa they have done, Ministers have acted in the interests of ths people of the colony, and are entirely innocent of the terrible crimes : at one time imputed to them by a certain section of the Liberal party. But Mr. B.oUesfon isr able not only,to exculpate the Government from the charges brought against them: he is in a position to furnish excellent reasons vrhy tha country should be gratg&l to_ them for what they have done towarcis. aeHling people upoii the land. He was able to point with pride to the fact that during the year ending March last "more "bonafide settlement of small holders "had taken place than was the case during " _ie pre a-half years." There ia b—ides, the very remarkable success which has attended the settlement of the Waimate Plains, than which, said Mr. Rolleston, " I cannot conceive that anything more _i_-ad-igtflt&lt 'has been the fashion in some quarters tospeak of the present Government as Qt% opponents of settlement, as the friends osf

the __d-_iar_s and the large But it is becoming increasingly difficuM to get people to listen even with patianal to such language it is so obviously am variance with the well known facts of th& case. Unlike their predecessors, Government have aot confined thoir efforts to the airing of fine theoriel merely. They have had theories upon the point undoubtedly, but the only use they dream of putting them to is to carry them into practice • and the facts and figures placed before tha public on Saturday.! night proved conclusively that under Mr.| Holieston's administration more had been*

done towards covering the land with ay tiiriving population than, judging from* past experience, would have been effected] In twenty yeairs had the matter been, leftfi

Mr/ HoUeston*s remarks on Native affairs were naturally looked forward to with some considerable interest. He had occupied the position of Native Minister for nearly a year, daring wWeh period so much had been attempted towards bring-

ingJ|e disaffected among the Maori race to atsense of tha wisdom, not to say pfWjjfflity, of living on friendly relations ,wisli the European population. He had on the retirement of _ colleague who differed froitt |1% majority of the Cabinet as to _b£ proper course to be taken >l»a-ftw%re months ago; and when : |4i%»early» year's patient waiting the go9»t at last decided that the policy : _Er. Bryce originally advised must at last be put into practice, Mr. Rolleston had the courage to retire in favour of his former colleague, in order that Mr Bryce might - havn -the credit -of carrying into exeentaon the plans which he had matured twelve .months previously. Bnt Mr. Bolleston was was In office during the critic—, period when the conviction forced itself upon the minds of the Oabinet that the time for action had arrived. His name is attached to the proclamation which embodiw, f the case for the —Jovernment, "and -he"was consequently in a position to place the question exactly in the light in w__h he wished it to be seen by the people of New Zealand. And there are two points which it was most desirable should be made thoroughly clear. First, assuming that Te Whiti was thoroughly informed of the intentions of the Government, were Minister-- justified, in the circumstances, in compelling the Natives to accept those terms or suffer punishment ? Secondly, was Te Whiti perfectly acquainted with the views of the Gove—iment, and was he informed regarding the reserves which had been set apart for _is use ? On both these points Mr.Bolleston- remarks are absolutely conclusive. Not only was the vigorous policy right on tbe grounds of humanity to both Native and European alike, for the safety of the State must always be the first consideration with the Administration: there cannot bethe shadow of a donbt—s to the Government's [right to take what portions of the confiscated land they thought necessary, for the progress of settlement and the peace of the district. The legality of the confiscation has been questioned in some quarters, and it has been held that the Government should give the Parihaka Natives an opportunity of proving their right to the lands they claim in a Court of law. But, as Mr. Bolleston very justly points out, the Courts of law will not go beyond the laws of the country. No Court will order that land sold by the Crown and occupied by Europeans should be given back to the Natives. " There is no question that the West Coast Settlement Act, which ought to be looked upon by, the Natives as the charter of their liberties, could not be set aside by any Court of law in th- country." Supposing for a moment, then, that the legality of the original confiscation could be called in question—which we think Mr. Rolleston has conclusively shown could not be done—-the Settlement Act of 1880 decides the question, for it declares the whole of the confiscated landnot sold, reserved, or set apart for the Natives, to be "Crown lands," to bs dealt with by: the Government of the country in accordance with the provisions of the Land Acts. The other point upon which Mr. Bolleston has succeeded in throwing some additional light has reference _o the steps which hare been taken to inform Te Whiti fully regarding the intentions of the Government, and to bring him to accept the benefit- which the West Coast Settlement Act proposed to confer upon Jhim. On this subject Mr. Bolleston is perfectly clear and. explicit. Te Whiti, k6 says, knew as much about the inten-tion-of the Gove—uhent as the Government did themselves.. , The position of the reserves was more than once fully explained to him through a gentleman who kn.w him well and who was on exceedingly friendly terms with the chief. A. series of negotiations finally terminated in an interview between Mr. Bolleston himself and Te! Whiti, which was not of ia satisfactory character. The latter refused absolutely to .discuss the sharing of the "lands, and they without any good being accomplished. Before proceeding to extremities, however, the Native Minis—r made one mora effortto save Te Whiti from self-destruc-tion, but without Success. He had probably gone too far to v retrace his steps with-safety. With the final scene of the drama our readers are all familiar, and so we need net retell it here., We ha—t only, in conclusion, to express bur conviction that .the more closely the Government Native policy is looked into the more convinced will the public become that it vvas in an eminent degree a humane and wise, one; and we are indebted to Mr. Bolleston for the very clear and masterly exposition of that policy which he placed bef ore the colony on Saturday evening at _« Papanm Town HalL - - v , r