BISHOP HADFIELD

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20215, 18 April 1931, Page 13

BISHOP HADFIELD

MISSIONARY AND STATESMAN. (specially wbxttjk roa, the p*esso [By R. G. C. McNab.] (VI.) From 1840 Hadfield had studied the native tenure of land, his attentioA being drawn thereto by the constant disputes about the purchases of the New Zealand Company in and around Cook's Strait. His qualifications to express an opinion on the matter were the knowledge gained by four years' residence in a Maori pa in the midst of the disputed areas, and the unreserved confidence with which the Maoris spoke to him of their life and customs. That his knowledge was at least respectable was shown by the facts that Hobson called him into council with Martin, Swainson, Clarke, and Colonel Wakefield to consider the Company's rights to land in the Cook's Strait districts and that Land Commissioner Spain resorted to him for aid in elucidating Maori land customs. In 1845, at the request of Grey, he drew up a papef on the tenure of native lands, a paper of which Grey thought so highly that he sent a copy to the Colonial Office.

The Land Problem. Throughout the decade, 1850-1800, it was clear to even casual observers that a stute of growing dissatisfaction not far removed from disaffection was pervading the Maori communities. This discontent, as' John Gorst revealed in evidence before a Royal Commission in 1860, was due to the lack of Governmental institutions for the well-being of the Maori people and to the conviction held by them that the Government wanted only to alienate their-lands, A change in the land purchase system about December, 1857, was keenly resented, for the practice of extinguishing the tribal rights of property was replaced in some cases by purchase from individuals, a change calculated to sow dissension among the natives and to breed distrust of the Land Purchasing Department. For eighteen years Hadfield had lost no opportunity of giving to the Government his opinion on land questions and of urging the necessity to define the native title to land. In January, 1858, he addressed himself in Wellington to the Native Minister, C. W. Richmond, condemning the individual purchase system and emphasising tho natives' feeling of insecurity arising from a want of protection and want of law, and the disaffection created by the proceedings of the purchasing officers.

Trouble in Taxanaki. In Taranaki the Europeans, growing in numbers and prosperity, had littlo land and were surrounded by fertile lands in the occupation of Maoris who, refusing to sell* were regarded by the Whit© population as perverse obstructionists. In 1859 Governor Gore-Browne had declared in a dispatch to the Secretary of State that by fair means or foul the Europeans •would secure some surplus-Maoriland. In March of this year a native. Teira, offered for sale part of one jof the most coveted tracks in Taranaki, the Waitara block. The sale was forbidden and the subsequent survey resisted by Wirerau King! (Te ilangitake), chtet of the NgatXawa, . who owned; the block. With 600 followers Kingi had returned to Taranaki, hie ancestral home; from Waikanae, in 1848. Kingi -thought that Teira had no, right to Bell any land at all for no tribal agreement had been made and Teira, held no posilpMi of rank. Teira bore enmity to Kingi for domestic reasons and at most, according to the new landbuying practice, he might have Bold the few acres to which his personal occupation and 'cultivation entitled him. It is hard to understand how, even with special genealogical trees to prove his noble birth, the Government oould imagine that Teira could part with -more than the plot on which his house tested. The Waitara block was owned by the Ngatiawa, profitably occupied by them, and the chief and ttufrjority of the tribe did BOt Wiflfl, Kingi had for twenty years been & close friend of Badfleld. On. the latter'e return frotn • England in April, 1859, Kingi'wretp to him Beyerai times saying that he feared force *£ujd be used' to drive him from his land and asked fiadfield to intercede with the Governor. Hadfield replied rebecame unsettled, he grew alarmed and wished to give Kingj'a message -to at once, .pis diocesan advised him to wait till ihey Wfts as astounding to Hadfield as ot nearly.everyone else in the countw. The decision was the Governors and in it ho was both to be blamed and pitied. Jlard pressed to open the way to land development m Taranaki, W tbok what his advisers/told him wttd a Mod oonortunity in Terra's offer, ana decided that force should be used to brine Kingi to reason, but a tion of martial law was made £0 hastily and in such an injudicious form that it seemed to the Maori an incitement to trial by arms. as Jealous of the dignity of the "as if he wore it under his hat, was supported by a loose public opinion which thought that "the of the Crown" should he upheld and that therefore the war Bhould be vigorously prosecuted.., , 1 . ' , "

I \ tfadaeld'e Courage. Meanwhile tii© position of Hadfleld. known to bo the friends and adviser of i Kiiiai and surrounded by. native ,Bynipathißers tho ' 'rebels, was not enviable. He' himself was persuaded that the war was unjust, that JUngi was driven into hostility to the Crown, and that Government, neglect antl carel'eamess extending oVer years were responsible lor the position. He wan one;of the first to Understand that tho Maori people had been set -in a blaxe that would perhaps be extinguished only with their own extinction, con* vinced that tho Maoris were driven into resistance and that the justice of their cause was obscured /by .immediate considerations of land-buying, political aspirations, aijd the expediency of supporting Gore-Browne, ne plunged into the defence of the native race, and of Wiretnu Kittgi in P®*; ticufar, with a complete disregard of the obloquy h© was to draw upon himself. a storm of unmeasured vituperation which would have given pause to all but a man of courageous instincts and clear conscience/ Wiremu he felt, w»s treated with peculiar cruelty and injustice, for he had in many ways and at personal risk proved TfrpH* » loyal and energetiQ British subject., ' t The Government's Defence. , Hadfield went in July, 1860, to Auckland, and wm the leader id a c»mpaijfn < in w kohtefought beafdo Abnaham, Bftlwyn, Martini «*<* Swainson. The activity of these men is to some extent represented by tho order of their names. Mi* Swwyn wrote of Mm: "The paper's assertion that he iff fitted for the cloister rather tbanthe world is not worded by, anyone 'who .really knows that -fiery epirit; wo' new eaw him so well as now thai he , fat, donned his annonr fot} battle." j ! r 'i ' 1 ,

Hio departure from the south had been delayed by the need to assure himseir that his own- natives would not join tne combatants. The General Assembly was in session in Auckland and was considering the war. Almost the fir3t words uttered condemned Kingi and maintained that he neither asserted nor possessed any title to the purchased block. The incredible falsity of this last clause made Hadfield, who was following proceedings from the gallery, hand the letters he had received from Kingi to a member well disposed to the Maori cause, in the hope that their reading would open the eyes of the House to the wrong being done. C. W. Richmond, Native Minister, conducted the case for the Government. This man lived in Taranaki, shared all the prejudices of his neighbours, and believed that for the welfare of the Colony the Maoris should once and for all be taught a lesson. His unfitness to be Native Minister shines from the language he applied tc the "beastly communism" of ''this mob of beggars" and "old blanket men." He attacked Hadfield with all the violence of nn able and misguided enthusiast. At first, secure in the knowledge that the subjeot of his irony was soated in the gallery, he referred to Hadfield as a "Guy Fawkes lurking in the precincts of this House"; then when Kingi's letters with their unequivocal assertion of his ense camo as q, bombshell to the Government, he turned attention from the main issue by accusing Hadfield of deliberately withholding the letters, and thundered: "If such advice has really been given j,i.e.. Hadfield had told Kingi that his claims were sound), then T say upon the head of the man who gave it rest, I believe, the blood and misery of the present war." Weld and others added their share of abuse. Discussion of the Waitara question raged for some days, Richmond's acrid speeches being supported by his brother, by Dillon Bell, and by Stafford, while Cnrleton, Forsaitb, and Fox spoke for Wiremu Kingi and Hadfield. Carre ton wished a committee to be appointed to investigate the whole question, but/ in this case as in the real subjeot of debate, a harsh Offenders "Bill," the Government won the divisions through the support of mombers from districts not vitally affected by the war, who thought it their duty to maintain the Governor's prestige. Finally, it was agreod that Hadfield and the Chief Land Commissioner be requested to attend at the Bar of the House to be questioned as to the causes of the Tarnnaki War.

Hadfield Before the House. On August 14th, 1800, Hadfield stood before the Bar of the House for lour hours while 89 questions prepared in writing by Richmond and Fitzherberfc wore submitted to him. He answered each question deliberately, and by his directness the traps sot by Richmond. At\ times, carried away by his feelings, he had to be '•autioned for speaking too quickly for the reporters. In effect, lie recapitulated the rights of Kingi, defended his character, and that or other Maoris whose names had been mentioned, and repeated that the Maori discontent was due to the lack of Governmental institutions to be applied for the nativo race, and to the lack of a guiding principle in land purchase. Although he was unprepared with primary evidence and unsupported by witnesses, nothing he Assorted h&i since bfean disproved. The examination of Commissioner McLean resulted in almost a complete contradiction of Hadfield's evidence. The episode brought one direct and many indirect advantages to the native race. On September 25th the Native Offenders Act was discharged from the Order Paper. If the Waitara purchase, "will always r«mftin for New Zealand the classic Instance of a blunder worse than a prime," the efforts which sought in the House to uphold that purchase and the\tonr it- caused must bo regarded As equally criminal without the saving grace of being dictated- by Stupidity* The greatest achievement of the debate. in the credit for which Hadfield could claim a share, wits the enlighten, ment of the House and the colony about the State of the Maori people. It was plain that greater consideration would be given tothe native race both by the logislative and executive branches of Government.

A Stem OtdeaL ■ It is npt to be supposed that Had" field, a protests against the Government Bolioy_ ended in th# proceedings -before 10 House. With the resolution that characterised him whenever a principle was at stake; he entered upon a courageous, open .Course that brought upoh him calumny and insult, from Government supporters, ardent land seekers, newspapers, and those inveterately op* posed to missionary enterprise. Hnd* field endured all this without turning from his purpose and without replying, unless fry a reply ho oould further the aims of His policy. Any stick was strong enough to beat him,with and his enemies seized upon nlmost everjr word he spoke in the effort to turn it against him. (To be Continued.)