Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1898. THE PROGRESS OF KING RICHARD.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10894, 20 April 1898, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1898. THE PROGRESS OF KING RICHARD.

The meeting which reoently took plaoe between Mahnta, the Maori Klag, and oar Liberal tatooiat, ie like a aoene from medieval times. Some centuries have pawed elnoe Henry VIII , with bis long train of noV.at, met JVanois I and bis mßgdficent following at Ardrei, Dim ea tbe reoolleotlon of that foregathering of potentiates has grown to the modern mtod, U mnit yet be relegated to a farther i oblivion when oontraited with thh latter "Field of the Cloth of Gold." HUtory tells ni that the nobles of the rival Kings of England and Fcanoo miaed themselves in vlelng with each other lo their magnifieenoe of display on that memorable occasion. Indheotly King Klohatd and hie retlnne, in their proßresa through tbe oonntty, have followed out the aimUltnde to the letter. It la true they have Dot mined themselves over the affair. Mod* era "Liberalism," as it has evolved ilnoe the eixtesnth century, has taught its adherents a higher philoiophy. It It infinitely more agreeable, to thoae who hold tbe reins of power, to ruin the people they represent rather than themselves Incur expense. Indeed. & patriot can now in the name of " Liberalism " aa developed Id this later age, bleed tor hit oountry, and bleed that

oonoiry at the same time, so aa to equalise matters between tbe country and bimielf. The Maori has yet to learn that acoret. It Ib not linprob&ble thab the brilliant galaxy surrounding (he native monarch bave, la their aboriginal Igaoranoe, expended all bheir available oash In order to put a fitting veneer on the ceremony. The meeting waa arranged In order tbat the oanditlon of the Maori raoo might be improved, It followi that In order to give his pakeba contemporary a suitable reception and lmpreii blm with natlvo grandenr, Mahntaandhls gilded ooartlera expended muoh of their substance in roast beef, dried shark, rewals, and walplro. The Liberal autocrat la a bold man as men go, bat ue wonder 11 a cold shudder went down bia back when the odour of dried sbaik Issued from the hospitable domicile of the Maori potentate, and he contemplated the horror of the trying ordeal through whloh be bad to puss, and pondered as to whether the sactlfioa was really worth enduring far the take of the two or three votea attaching thereto. It Is In the undergoing of aaoh tests that the true oolonlal Liberal statesman betrays bis aplitnde for cffi;e, and to give Beddonlans all dao credit, they have suooseded admirably la this notion oi their arduous duties, Tbe tapaolty to stow away innumerable banquets, even Maori banquets, In a remarkably short space of time, Is a faonlty whloh has been developed to almost a state of perfection by the Indlvldnala oompoßlog the present Heaven-bom Ministerial co.eric. The Maori land qaestlon is still an unsolved problem. Id Is likely to remain so as long as there la a Maori. Our Native Land Courts are evidently worked on the same system as the Courts of Chancery, It requires years of oootldcrallon, and the replication of the in tensest legal acairea, to decide a title to a piece of Maori land, This is all tbe more remaikable slnoe the natives themselves know, almost from the day they assume a perpendicular position, the boundatlei of their Inherited property. They oan deioilbe with the ntmost aocuraoy, almost with a tort of lnatiaot, the position of a block whloh is their own. A tree marks one coiner, a rook another, and the bank of a oreek la the boundary on one sldo. If tbe oatlva land law is one of snoh simplicity how is it that tbe Native Land Conrts Gad so mnoh difficulty la resolving titles ? A block belongs to a Tmpu or family, and tbe different members of that family have their portions assigned to them bb soon as they are born, Mnoh Is said as to the degeneration of the Maori race. The cause is not far to seek, and in their case we see the tallaoy of communism, for the Maori system of living is socialism realised, They all oolleot in one large Maoil house, and live and sleep In it, all breathing the same foetid atmosphere, and feeding together. '.The property of one is the property cf all, and as long as a Maori has a large traot of country and an inoome he will have innumerable brothers and tisters partaking of his hospitality, and like Mrs Mloawber, they will never, never desert him. Mr Ballance wo think It waa who Buggested that lv order to break up this perulcnna mode of living each Maori should be forced to reside on his own pio« party or forfeit It to tho Public Trustee, who would leaee It to a European tenant and give the rent to the Maori owner. The Maori is to jsalons of bis landed property that some system of this sort would have the iff dot of minimising the evils whloh are undoubtedly the cause of the gradually, approaohing extlnollon of the race, We ate, however, forgetting Mr Seddon and his royal progress through his subject land, It must have grated upon his dignity to meet a rival in the broad land which obeys his m&jestio rule. Bat arts of diplomacy are a kingly attribute, and when the balance of power is going In an oppoiUe dlieotlon Id Is well to oatob. at every straw, and snbmlt to the humiliation of comparison, when there Is a native vote io question. No political foroe, however Insignificant, must be neglected, and if the Maod obtains, concessions, wbloh are wisely distributed over a period, ho will give his support to that tide wbloh mßkei tbe concessions, When Mr Seddon and his colleague, the Hon, James Carroll, crossed the river In royal stata to meet a king they must bave been transported in fanoy to tbe Elizabethan era, when tho royal galleys with their sacred bnrdens passed over tbe historic Thames. The Maori likes pomp and show, and a rangatira Is a sacred personage to him, Mr Seddon knew ' when he made his royal progress, and attended to those forms wbloh the Maori reverenoeß, paying dae homage to the Maori klogshlp, that he was doing more good for himself and party as far as tbe j native vote was concerned than if he made innumerable oonoesslons to the raoe from a distance. It Is mnoh to be deplored tbat Buoh wiles have to be adopted by oar " »iateimeo,'« etpeolally Liberal statesmen, who deprecate any class dl«---tinotlons, and whose revolutionary ren> dendep, continually uttered and In* ssilbrd, lead them to contemn all men* arobloal Irstltutlocs and all assumption cf antooraoy cxcfpb that whloh Is neoes sary for the sggraQditement of the party wbloh distributee Its honors aooordlng to the " oolor " of the fortunate recipients, There 1b a farther comparison to be made between the two oentral figures of that memorable meeting at Huntly. The one is the king of a dying raoe. ilia Mt jetty la a fading quantity, and even among the fast diminishing number of bia snbjiols there are many who do not give him their allegiance. Ho inherits bat the shadow of a power once far greater than it Is now, That power which be wields now Is In lie eisence only remlnißcent of former royalty, and granted blm on tnfferanoe. Is there not a striking analogy between his position and that of the Liberal autocrat ? The subjects of the latter are falling away from him, and his kingdom In the region of politics is narrowing, A people betrayed into debt, and victimised by political frauds, are ' in revolt, and the majesty of King Richard bids fair to be relegated ' to tbe shades. Tho royal meeting at Huntly la an obJeoMeaaon in the field of politics, slnoe the commanding figures of that great fnnotlon are both representatives of a power that Is paaalng away. It la a melanoboly contemplation, this dcoay of what was onoe greit and grand, but there is a oonsolation In the thonght that there are individuals existent who may be capable of governing our poor stricken country with even more advant. age to Its inhabitants than tboie who are reoedlcg into the shades of political oblivion.