Hawkes Bay Herald WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 1879.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5352, 9 April 1879, Page 2

Hawkes Bay Herald WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 1879.

It would appear from some official correspondence published by the Auckland Herald that the Government have been for some time aware of the unsatisfactory state of native matters on the West Coast. In a memorandum from the Premier, written to show that he was justified in declining to allow the Hinemoa to leave the colony, a statement of Mr Moorhouse is given as to extensive preparations being made at Parihaka, whither, Mr Moorhouse had learned, all the young men had gone. To this Lord Normanby replied that he ought to have had long ago intimation of such a state of feeling among the natives ; that if the Ministry had knowledge of it, it was their bounden duty to have at once informed the Governor of it ; and if, on the other hand, they were not aware of the state of things depicted by Mr Moorhouse, the Governor could only say that it was of little credit to the Government that a private individual should be able to discover that which the Government, with all their staff in

the Native Department to assist them, had failed to observe. It would certainly tend to shake the confidence of the country; in the management of native affairs by the Government, for the conduct of which they have always claimed §0 rnueh credit. After a few more remai^ib.'. the same strain> Lofd Nowtf'anfey proceeds—The idea, howeve*S that the Government had no knowledge of the state of feeling among the natives in the Wanganui district until they fe6eiv^d •'-•ml? Moorhouse's report is so preposterous that the ' Governor 13 inclined rather to think that the information has been purposely withheld- from him till: now; that Sir George Grey has brought 1 ? it for* ward, not as a most iniporfc&nfc fact which should be communicated to the Governor, but simply to show that he really had good reason to hesitate and ponder in coming to a decision whether tho steamer should leave the colony for the purpose of proceeding to Melbourne' Sir George Grey must, however^ hdve. been perfectly aware that, h^d ne given the Governor the sftgMesis intimation that there was ©veil an uneasy feeling fcnkdnj£sfc the natives which niight require, the service of the Hinemoa, he would have been tho last in the colony to have • suggested that she should be taken even for a single day. It is perfectly true the Governor had seen reports in the newspapers that native affairs were not in the satisfactory state in which they were represented to be j but> a3 he received no official report and, as the Native Minister on the day on which he left for Auckland assured him that everything Avas gtting on in a most satisfactory manner, ho had. no reason to believe those reports, or think that the' natives woro.nqt in as qitiet and peaceable a state as they were two years ago. Sir George Grey having now officially informed him that this was not the case, and that there is cause to anticipate some disturbance, the Governor must request that he bo kept informed of what is actually going on, and of the steps taken by the Gtovernment to quell any outbreak that might possibly take place. The reply of the Premier is briefly to the effect that the Native Minister had given the fullest and most accurate information to the Governor, and would continue to do so. The Governor retorts that " Sir George Grey's idea of full and accurate information must differ very materially from what he understands by these terms. The Governor has not seen the Native Minister more than three or four timesin the last three or four months, and he has received no written communication fronihim." It is somewhat singular that these extracts should be published in an Auckland paper, and we can only account for it on the supposition that Sir George Grey was anxious to exculpate himself from the charge of wilful discourtesy in refusing the use of the Hinemoa to the Marquis of Normanby. But then comes the question — if the Government were so well aware, so long ago as before Lord Normanby's departure, of the state of feeling on the West Coast, how was it that they made no preparations? How was it that they risked such an occurrence taking place as the removal of the surveyors from the Waimate Plains ? Several of the measures that the Government have taken since that occurrence they could have better taken before. If the missions of Mr Williams and of Mr Mackay can be turned to account now, they would have been of infinitely more use at an earlier stage, and if it is necessary to have the Armed Constabulary reinforced in that district now, they were just as necessary before, seeing that the state of native feeling being known to the Government they niight easily have anticipated and per-' haps quite as easily prevented what has taken place. The matter certainly seems to call for explanation.