The Hawkes Bay Herald SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1865.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 8, Issue 637, 22 July 1865, Page 2

The Hawkes Bay Herald SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1865.

Our attention has been called to an article which appeared in a late issue of our contemporary — condemning in very summary terms the armiDg of the friendly natives j and, as usual, directiug its attack, although more covertly, against the Government of this Province, through whose agency the natives under the chief Morgan, who are now fighting on the side of the Europeans, have been armed and supported. We do not usually notice the remarks of our contemporary, but in this case we feel that the tissue of misrepresentation contained in the article in question should not be allowed to go forth without refutation. We refer more particularly to the unfair and unfounded attack upon the chief Morgan, who is, without question, one of the most reliable natives in the Island, and who is now proving his devotion to the cause he has espoused by freely shedding the blood of himself and followers. Probably the best course will bo to put our readers in possession of the real circumstances under which the Government have thought it their duty to uphold that chief aud those natives on the East Coast who desire to continue on friendly relations to the European settlers. It will be remembered that, shortly after the brutal murder of Mr. Volkner, at Opo-

tiki, by the Pai Marire fanatics, some of the chief actors iv it made their way to Poverty Bay, proselytising large numbers of the natives in that district, and obtaining so strong a hold upon the native mind as^to make it extremely doubtful whether those chiefs who declined to join the movement would/be able to hold their own aud support the European settlers who were residing amongst them. Chief amongst those who so declined, was Morgan — proving himself then, as he had always been before, to be actuated by the most friendly feeling towards the colonists. So small, however, was the party on the side of order, that the European settlers resident iv the district (aud their number is considerable) thought seriously of abandoning their homes ; and nothing prevented them doing so but the firmness of that section of the natives who remained true to the government — to which firmness, indeed, their lives aud safety are no doubt attributable. Such, at least, is the testimony of the settlers of Turauga and neighbourhood — men who may be said to live in the midst of the natives, and who know rather more about them than the writer of the article to which we have adverted. We have now arrived at the time of which our contemporary thus writes :-— " There are there two parties, one under Patara (Butler), professed rebels j and the other under Mokena (Morgan), of something less than merely dubious loyalty." The inference from this aud the sentences which follow after it, is that the scoundrel Patara — the real director of the Opotiki tragedy; the wretch who, had he not been checked by those very natives who are sueeringly described as of " dubious loyalty," would have continued his bloodthirsty career at Poverty Bay, — is only a professed rebel, a sort of fellow we ought to admire as a manly enemy ; whilst Morgan — who, at the time this disgraceful article was written, had fought against this Patara, had seen many of his people fall in eudeavouring to take him prisoner, and had lost a number of the women and children of the tribe taken by the enemy, — is represented as a man- of dubious loyalty, one, who has drawn the Government into a quarrel for the advancement of his own interests aud to supply his enemies and ours with arms and ammunition. But such statements as these carry with them their own condemnation. One cause — indeed "the immediate cause" — of the present fighting, is said to have been " the setting up of the Queen's flag by Morgan upon a piece of disputed land." The author of this statement simply, proves his ignorance of the geography of that part of the Island he is referring to, as well as of the subject generally. There was a flag erected by Morgan on disputed lavd — not where the fighting^is, at Waiapu, or near it, but at Turauga. The people concerned in that dispute with Morgan are not concerned in the fighting ; and the questiou, by consent of both sides, is left iv abeyance until Mr. M'Lean is able to go into it with them and settle it. The dispute has nothing whatever to do with the war now going on at the East Cape. That war had its origin in Morgan, acting with Mr. M'Leau's concurrence, endeavoring, to capture the fiend Patara, iv order that'he might be handed over to justice. We quite concur in the remarks of His Honor the Chief Justice, quoted in last Herald, with reference to the Opotiki tragedy. We believe it to be a disgrace to the government of the country that Kereopa and the other perpetrators of that diabolical outrage should so long have escaped the vengeance of the law ; nor is it, we admit, to our credit as a people, that the only attempt — putting aside the abortive expedition of H.M.S. Eclipse— to capture those inhuman murderers, should have been made by the Arawas on the one hand, and by the friendlies of "dubious loyalty," on the other. There is no occasion, however, that we should further expose the unfair attack which has been made upon the allies of the government. We shall now say a few words upon the general questiou of arming the friendly natives, and the immediate effect of such a policy upon provincial interests. It is a question, we admit, on which a diversity of opinion may exist, and upon which every man is entitled to form his own. Experience, however, we think, daily shews more and more strongly that it is good policy to accept the services of the natives when they tender them. There is no instance recorded iv which natives, trusted and armed by the government, have abused that trust ; but, on the contrary — and we write this not without a feeling approaching to humiliation — the most brilliant successes of the war have been effected by our native allies. In so saying we shall not, we trust, be understood as implying any want of faith in the courage or fighting capabilities of the men of our own race. It is not the fault of the gallant soldiers of the British army, or their officers, but ascribable wholly to the manner in which they have been handled, that the war has dragged on its weary length, and the successes achieved been often of so questionable a character. It is, however, beyond dispute that successes such as were attained by the Arawas and Ngatiporous, and by the Wanganui natives iv several engagements, have been scarcely rivalled by anything the immense British army in the colony has been able to effect ; and we believe that the true interests of the colony require that advantage should continue to bo taken of the willingness of a considerable section of the natives to fight on the side of the government. As a people they like excitement. If we retrace their history, so far as it is known, we shall find that they have never been long quiet. If fighting be going on, very few of their number have abstained from taking a part on one side or the other. When the day shall come when the question of dominance of race shall be settled — and it is not far distant — the go-

vernmeut of the day will have to provide, probably by suitable institutions, some other outlet for this natural temperament of the native people. But, meanwhile, it is true policy to direct it into-such a channel as will serve the cause of law aud order. The only question upon which we have a few words to add, is, — What has been the effect of arms having been supplied to the natives by Mr. M'Lean's government, in our own province and on its frontier ? We have not the space to pursue this subject to the length we might do ; but we may fairly appeal to the common sense of all, and ask, — What saved the Wairoa settlement (and it must be remembered that a large and valuable landed estate in that district belongs to the province) on a very recent obcasion, from an incursion of those very same Hau Haus who are now fighting Morgan at the East Cape ? What say the settlers of the Wairoa— the men who were present duriug the late crisis in that district, and saw all that took place ? Why, that Kopu aud the other friendly chiefs — whose men had been armed and trusted by the authorities — stood in the ring, and, although far inferior in point of numbers to the Hau Haus, dared them to take a single aggressive step. They had no personal quarrel with the invading party ; they were simply upholders of the maintenance of peaceful relatious with the colonists, and were ready to fight on their behalf. What Morgan is doing we have already referred to. The effect on the interests of this province, of the present war on the East Coast, cannot but be advantageous, if ouly on account of its removing the seat of an inevitable war from our settled districts. Natives of this district who are enemies of the European will, beyond all doubt, join Patara aud fight it out against us at the East Cape. Better far for the interests of the proviuce that they should do so than begin fighting here, where no power on earth could effectually prevent murder from stalking abroad or save homesteads from desolation. The East Cape has always been a standing menace to this province. It is the most populous native district in the Island ; it has furnished probably the greater part of the supplies which have enabled the tribes of Waikato so long to resist the troops by force of arms ; and, iv view of the future peaceable settlement of the colony, it was probably the most formidable obstacle the government had to encounter. Lately, however, a great change has been effected. European interests in that district are now represented by a force equal to nearly one half of the population j and this force is prepared to assist in, and at this moment is engaged in, putting down those of their own fellow countrymen who are opposed to British supremacy and the colonization of the country. Mr. M'Lean's influence with the native people has tended greatly to produce this result ; and he deserves, and will receive, the thanks of the colony for having so opportunely exerted it.