LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1054, 17 February 1911, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

MR. GLOVER AND THE COOK ISLANDS. , ®'/' 'jlr)\'er, M.r., hns stated openly from lus scat in tho Houses that ho alone is the authority on • Cook ■ Islands nllairs, apparently by virtue'of the fact that ins wife is tho niece of the Queen ot Rarotoiiga. It may be that Mr. mlover, in his innocence of island affaire, believes all that he has said, and deServes consideration to that extent:' •• I am, hoirevwyiin-a :l ;positiom. to set hie mind at rest on One ' virjr;. important point, and that is that neither he nor any of his iamily are in! any way connected with royalty.- - In the first plncoil <io not know' that there is or ever has been a-Queen of Karotonga, and if Mrs. Glover has conferred that title upon Makfca, then I can assure him that not only is'.his family not connected with Jlakea, but that tho Old lady will herself repudiate the relationship when sho .lioavs of this claim. . It may perhaps be of interest to Mr. Cilover to know who his wife's people are. ihey nro junior members of the Tamakeu family who,'perhaps 150 years were fugitives from and having succeeded in reaching Rarotoiiga, • were 'hero received and protected by Tevei. who employed them in his tribal fights, and save them lahds Within his jurisdiction. The Tamakous are, indeed, among tho few survivors of the ancient tribo of I\gariki; but they are not of Ariki rank or family, and are certainly not in such a position as to givo'Mr. Glover any knowledge of tho affairs or politics of tho Cook Islands.—l arii, etc.', . ' W. C. GUDGEON.