THE PARIKAKA MEETING

Grey River Argus, Volume XXIII, Issue 3610, 20 March 1880, Page 2

THE PARIKAKA MEETING

TE WHITI'S SPEECH. Wellington, March 18. After food had been taken, Te Whiti spoke as follows :—The floodß that God sent upon the land, commencing in the days of Cain and Abel, have continued unto this day, but are now subsided. I have stemmed the floods, and from this day the floods will be decreased, and will not come again after I have diminished them. That is one thing I have to say, nothing shall be trodden down of what I aay— the place that I have measured out shall remain sacred for my talk and for my people. That is the subject of talk thi3 day. The weapons that killed shall not be held over the heads of any in this place. I assembled you all here, and the place shall never be destroyed by anyone. There is no Saviour after this day, red, black, or white. It is settled that this place is a place of safety for yon all. Everyone this day should stretch out his hand and Jay hold of the place of safety. The waters have dried up to day to the wish that you all have. I shall not give way. If you stretch forth your hand and take silver, you will not obtain a place in the land. I know you have done this, for I have caught you at it. You must not think the weapons of the Europeans will be upheld, for it is a lie. You may fly under the wings of the Government for protection, but those wings are lying wings, and will never protect you. I warn you all of this. If any of you wish to let loose a flood from his heart 30 a* to obtain power, he cannot do it in my day. No flood shall come to destroy man. It is not according to law nor according to custom that evil shall come upon the land, but it will not be known by the words of the mouth whether the things be right or not. I am not taking of the things that are far away or the things that are coming, but of the war brought before my face. If it wera bidden, there might be some doubt in you in consequence of this. It is a cause of rejoicing for me that yovi ha^e come into this fold of safety; let no one have any doubt the words that I have said about the floods are old, but the truth of them will be shown this generation. Many generations have come and gone since the floods came, and many have wanted to see this day, but they were not permitted, therefore you have cause to rejoice. Let those who say they are not bliod see these things ; also those who by drinking spirits abuse their intellect. I am talking about the bayonets that have twinkled this day in my face. Ido not mean the guns that are hanging upon the houses, but the guns that are out ; so that I do not speak for nought when I say there is war. I talk of the flash of the gun before my eyes and the bayonet that is pointed at my heart- -who can deny it. Oh Maori, oh pakeha, can you tell that lam wronp ? What I have said v not a lie. If any great Europeans here to-day says that he can bring a flood on the land, I say to him, " Bring the ffood." I say the same to any Maori. I wish to tell the tribes assembled that they will not be lost ; if you have taken silver then indeed you may be lost. What good have you got ? When you stretched forth your hand, did it not all turn into spirituous liquors and make you drunk 1 You turning (to the Europeans) will not succeed in your work. If you had tempered your wisdom with kindness and leniency, then you might have succeeded, and a different state of affairs would have resulted. Then, perhaps, you might have obtained land by offering silver for it, but I am not sure. They think because I am a small man and a poor man, I can be treated with contempt, but they are wrong. They, have brought their swords with the land/ to kill men with them. They have brought their legions to take the land that is left, but there is none to take up a weapon in defence. This day, if I allowed the creek to overflow the banks then the Europeans and natives would have their wish, although some of you in the darkness of your heart, seeing your land taken from you, might wish to take up arms and still the aggressor. I say unto you, it must not be. If the tall man of arms in the tall hat, standing there (Colonel M'Donnell) was again in I

command to fight, he would be worthless to have a gin discharged at you. 0,. Carrington (tangi to wi Carrington), and all of you Europeans do not think that because you have plenty of guns and men that you will succeed. You may be numerous, and the sons of Israel, and then not succeed. I do not want war, but the pakeha wants war. The flashes of their guns have singed yjur eyelids, and they say they do not want war. The Governor dare not come and talk here, because he had nothing to say. He goeß to secret places, but I talk iv the open here, so that everyone may hear. Referring to me, what do they say ? They say I am a lunatic, a fool, and a madman, but I am neither. The land is yours, but what I have seen lately (meaning the occupation of the plains by the constables) is enough to turn the blood which drains with my heart into the brains of a fanatic. Still we must not cause more trouble to come on to the land by any action of ours. I am not drunk, but it is the anguish of my heart that is turning my head. There are only two things I have to say. First, that the floods have subsided ; and secondly, that none shall step outside of that which I have measured. Let the Government and all men of wisdom think of these two words. The Government have taken the prisoners and put them in a secret place, but still they are not hidden. They are before us now. These words do not come from Te Whiti, who eata potatoes, bnt have been handed down by superior men to me. That is all. Tohu immediately followed Te Whiti, and said — There are two things to be given to this generation — the subsiding of the floods, and the measurement of the land that has been spoken of this day. The floods have subsided. Formerly the ground was measured out for use, and we are living upon it. It was not given for two people to stand on the measurement, but was settled by former generations, and no man shall take it from us. The pakehas want to fight you for your land, but a3 the land belongs to you there is no occasion to fight. Yesterday we knew that today it would be known whether it was their intention to kill us to-day. You natives and Europeans know that you are to be killed who brought us to this, and we cannot find out who is the cause of it. I say that the two roads now being made will never meet each other. In the struggle for dominion— always going on — it was arranged that evil should be judged, but now the Government has twisted and turned about from one side to to the other, until at last one is to decide. Different Governments have from time to time put the thing off, and Fox the other day even declared he had nothing to do with the surveys. Yon may judge from that what trust can be put in anything. They say there is no need to change anything that has been aaid to-day. It has been known for some time past that Taranaki is the land, and Te Whiti, the man who stands upon it. The land is all covered with my blanket, and there is no room for any Judge or Commission to stay upon it. The blanket is mine, and those who want to know more about it mu9t come to me. Tohu did not speak again, and one talk finished. The last speech of Te Whiti is considered the most definite he has ever given, and the surrender of the question to Tohu is significant for war. Tohu is looked upon as a man of action, and interference with the road parties is now expected.