The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3676, 26 April 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1883.

The, banquet given to the Hon. the Native Minister at New Plymouth on Tuesday Avas a fitting termination to a hazardous and arduous journey. It Avas no common task that Mr Bryce had accomplished. When he took office in 1879 he set himself to Avork to break down the native He hoped before he relinquished his office to dispose of the one great stumbling block in the path of the North Island progress. He commenced by dispelling the surrounding and prevailing the Native department ; lie discharged or ceased to employ the ci'OAvd of agents avlio seemed to hang on and live by the native difficulty : and he abandoned the claim of the Ciwn to the pre-emptive right of purchasing native lands. Bold in his policy, and not to be sAvavcd to one side or the other in his administration of it, he has iiOAV virtually destroyed the aahati surrounding the King country. The Wellington Post says that practically Mr Bryce's passage from Alexandra to Waitara means the destruction, virtual relinquishment of aakati. Therein lies its chief importance. Had Mr Brvco marched triumphantly through the- King Country, along the route of the proposed Auckland-Wellington railway, attended by a military force of a thousand Armed Constabulary and Volunteers, with flags flying, triumpets sounding, and drums beating, there Avould luia'c been nothing in it. He could easily have done this. But it Avould have been a mere piece of empty gasconade. Or had he contrived, Avith the aid of a feAV friendly natives, to slip secretly through the King Country — to mcah through unobserved, in fact, just merely to be able to say that he had done tins, that, too, Avould have been Avorse than useless. No one avlio knoAvs Mr Bryce Avould dream of the possibility of his taking the latter course. He may be obstinate in his adherence to his oavii vieAvs, and self-willed in his determination, to carry them out eoirte que coute ; he may at times be Avrong-headed in his attitude toward the Press ; but his bitterest opponents will do him the justice to admit that he Avas the last man to " sneak" through a .place that he could not pass through openly. But there are many who, failing to appreciate, or interested in misrepresenting tho true character of the Parihaka demonstration of November, 1881, have jumped to tho conclusion that such a cheap military progress as that above sketched, Avould be a thing after Mr Bryce's own heart. The idea docs little credit to their power of character-reading. < History will do--Mr Bryce more justice by shoAving how clear has usually been his perception when was the right time to strike hard, and when to use gentleness. The Dunedin Star has also a flattering article on tho Native Minister's successful

journey, Onr Southern contemporary says : —"Mr Bryce is a man wno notably has the courage of his opinions. He considered that the time was ripe for asserting the right to traverse the hitherto tabooed country, and, in spite of threatenings, warnings, and tho maledictions, no doubt, of the whole Pakcha-Maori crew who infest the Native districts, in person undertook, and has successfully carried through a journey which could not have been entirely without risk in the present temper of isolated groups of fanatics who have not yet shaken off the old aiaaa of Te Whiti. The first step in a matter of this sort is of very supremo importance ; the spell, as it were, has been broken, and wo may now conclude that the opening of the country to European settlement depends simply on certain business arrangements with the leading chiefs as to the manner in which tho land is to be dealt with. As to tho survejof the through railway line, there is no longer any apprehension of difficulties being thrown in the way by the natives ; and indeed, the hearty co-operation of the great majority of them may be expected when the future and immediate advantages are generally understood, as they are already by Wahanui and the leading Ngatimauiapotos. 'The idea, of the Government is to employ natives largely iv tho construction of the line, and, as the aboriginal race have a remarkably keen eye to £ s. d., they are likely to see the philosophy of realising the position and making the most of it. The country traversed by Mr Bryce is almost a terra 'oierir/nita to Europeans—very little has been known of its character and features. It is satisfactory to loam that a great proportion of the land has the appearance of being of good quality, undulating hills and dales, with patches of swamp. It is throughout well watered, and the climate all know, is exceptionally fine, and favorable for the growth of cereals. When Parliament meets the Native Minister will, no doubt, inform the House as to the negotiations proposed or in progress with regard to a settlement of what wo may now consider the technical questions at issue between the Government and the Kingitc chiefs as to the complete opening - up of the country.