NEWS FROM PARIHAKA AND THE CAMP.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 22, 26 June 1880, Page 3

NEWS FROM PARIHAKA AND THE CAMP.

(730* OUB OWN OOBBKBEONDENT.) The meeting at Paribaka, which con-eluded-on the 18th instant, "was not. so well-attended as the previous one, but a large number collected notwithstanding. Te Whiti and Tohu told their followers that they were not to be provoked into a war, in consequence of the invasion of their land, and its attendant evils. Te Whiti told the story of the fall of man, through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, as an example of the sin of disobedience, and the ill effects ol giving way to the desire of the eyes. He said that from vexation of spirit die desire of his eyes at the present moment was to retaliate, but that he knew that, did he do so, the result would be disastrous to the success of his plans, and would result in disappointment and ruin, like the effects of the sin of our first parents. Tohu, he said, had discovered, a way of carrying on the war with Che Government without bloodshed, and be told the assembly that they were masters of the world, because they had subdued war, which* was the hardest thing in the -world to subdue.. The natives received the assertion that they were lords of the universe with the greatest complacency and without a smile of incredulity. A specimen of Total's manner of carrying on the war was given immediately after the meeting by a number of men being sent to re-erect the fence on the Parihaka road, which it had been found necessary to remove for the passage of the telegraph line and road now being made by the constabulary. It is said that Te Whiti and Tohu intend to persist hi thus renewing the fence across the road, and much trouble may ensue in consequence. These fences are some distance from Parihaka, and the whole neighborhood of Parihaka is studded with clusters of such fences enclosing the extensive cultivations which the presence of so large a population, resident and migratory at the headquarters of Te Whiti, render necessary for the production of food. It would probably be impossible to take a road through this district in anything approaching a direct line without coming in contact with fences of some kind, and lest it might be thought that the owners of the soil have been ruthlessly disturbed, it should be mentioned that the large alien population of Parihaka alone renders it necessary for auch extensive cultivations as are everywhere perceivable, and that if the tribal claimants alone tilled the soil of Parihaka, ibeir gd?&e>x>B tt>vA& he easily avoided. These men from distant tribes are collected at Parihaka to aid in establishing, and to participate in the profits to be derived from, the great Maori republican or communal settlement, which it is Te Whiti's most urgent wish to substantiate at Parihaka. When it is considered that perfect immunity from all British control is one of the. cardinal points of Te Whiti's policy, it will be evident that he has very little claim on our consideration in respect to the fences which have been erected at his command by alien tribes, who are engaged with himself in fostering rebellion. All unnecessary inconveniences are spared Te Whiti nevertheless, and those which he and his people have to suffer arise from causes which are inseparable from the presence of a large body of men, some of them with little discipline, in what is practically an enemy's country in the minds of many of the* military road party. All looting of potatoes, pigs, &c, has been strictly prohibited, and the breach of suojj orders, when discovered, is severely dealt with. The natives themselves will make no complaint of any kind,' and this fact renders the discovery of offenders and the prevention of petty thefts exceedingly difficult. Some of the men have been arrested who have been found pig-hunt-ing, and it is but fair to state that camp followers are in the majority among the offenders. The,' telegraph line is being pushed rapidly ahead, and the two camps will shortly be connected, and the Waimate Plains wire will be connected with New Plymouth. The road making is proceeding in a manner which does credit to all, when the bad weather, and consequent numerous delays, are taken into consideration. Before tin's reaches you, the Ngakumikumi camp will probably have advanced southward, but where is not exactly known. - There are signs that the beginning of the end is not very distant, and the whole of the men may be utilised in the vicinity of Parihaka.