DEPUTATION TO THE NATIVE MINISTER.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume II, Issue 153, 1 October 1881, Page 2

DEPUTATION TO THE NATIVE MINISTER.

A deputation of settlers waited upon. the Native Minister at the Manaia JRe-

doubt on Wednesday last at 2 p.m. Messrs. Martyn, O'Brien, A. Langleyj Alexander, J. J. Mitchell, £tnd Yorke " formed the deputation.

DRILL SHED.

Mr. Martyn introduced the deputation and asked the Native Minister 'whether : the Government would- make a grant in aid of a drill-shed at Manaia. In. the WaiKato he knew -that such grants had « been made.- * A- she'd to be of any service ' \ron\A cosh &i least .£3oo^ &»tl lleWrae corx-

fidenfc that if the Government would contribute £200, the settlers would make up the balance.. The Government, no doubfcj knew that the necessity for soldiering-was

a heavy tax on new settlers, and that the erection of a shed would, reduce the tax, as it would be open on wet, dayff r and in the evenings. In case -of- any panic among the settlers, such a shed would be a good place for the women and children to rally m, and he was sorry to say that such a panic might set in at any. moment. Even now he was assured that several settlers' families near. Okaiawa had left

the district.

- '-t ','7 .' "X Mr. Eolleston would consider the application for a grant for a drill-shed. There was no .vote put upon the Estimates for such a purpose;' nevertheless, ' he was 1 ' anxious to encourage settlers to join the volunteers, and to .show that the Govern: , ment appreciated the spirit of self-reliance .already shown. He" would give' the sectiers' a definite answer in*the course of a '■ day or two. He had no doubt that Parliament would readily sarictiQh such a vote if brought up next year. He hoped sincerely that the report aTlo the families having left the district was not .true : he could not understand why they should have done so.

The names of Messrs. Hendy and Short were mentioned as those whose wives were believed to have left the district.

' FALSE RUMORS.

- Mr. Rolleston thought that the newspapers had a great deal , to answer for ; a? number of utterly false-reports had been lately published by the- -Press, which damaged the credit of the colony, and cost a great deal of trouble and money to refute. For instance, the report 'about Daniels, was, he believed, absolutely untrue. Colouel Roberts knew nothing of it. Daniels certainly never came to him. He (Mr. Rolleston) was knocking about Rahotu the whole of that day, when the assault was said to have taken place, yet he never saw, or heard anything of it. Again, the story about his being accompanied by a mounted escort of eight or ten men was a pure "fabrication. An orderly went with him, and one with Major Parris, to hold their horses when they got off. The story about the person* being stripped and left naked, was' altogether false. He held that the Press, which published such false reports — reports which cost an infinite amount of trouble, and large sums of money to refute, was worthy of condemnation and censure. An infinite amount of harm was done by them. People throughout the district were alarmed, and as a "representative of the Press was present,- he hoped that attention would be called to < the abuse of their liberty, which • the 1 ; newspapers had been guilty of. Mr. Yorke stated that he thought ifc ' was scarcely fair to condemn the whole • of the Press in such sweeping terms. Ha appealed to the gentlemen' present to support his statement, that such wild and false rumors had found no place in the Stab, which being almost on the spot, might be reasonably expected to ascertain the truth. He knew that the journal had been blamed for not giving more native news, when there was none. But although .'sensational reports might help to sell a newspaper, he believed it to be their duty to publish facts, not falsehoods. The welfare of the district was the main object in "view, and as he knew that by publishing alarming and highly-colored rumors, the wives and families of settlers would be alarmed, and would ask to be removed into the townships, the paper' he ,' represented, had declined to publish such rumor. The story about Daniels came to the Star the Press Association, he (Mr. Yorke) knew there was a settler of that name at Rahotu, and' could not - question the truth of the story. NO MORE MAORI SCARES. Mr. Martyn asked that the Government should give the settlers some assurance that they should see an end of these scares and disturbances. Settlers' came here and invested their money, and undertook to work hard and spend a lot of money to push on the district, and they now found that business was stagnated, and the progress that was being made was brought to a standstill. The settlers felt that so long asParihaka existed mite present state there was likely to be no end to it, and they- would, accept some present sacrifice to put an 'end to it once and for ever. . He., believed that several settlers bad removed tneiiv wives, < and probably more would follow.- - ,% Mr. Yorke 1 supported what Mr.- Martyn had said as to the stagnation of business. Newspapers felt. the pulse of the public, and he knew for a fact that the progress of the district had been stopped within the past ten days. . Mr. Rolleston replied that the Govern"ment had spared no pains to avert war, "and believed that the peace of the dlstxicb was pretty well assured. Even now he thought they were masters of the situation. He-, could scarcely be expected to state what the Government were going to -do. Settlers could see, and knew well what they had been and were doing, and he hoped that the measures taken by the Government were such as to infuse and restore confidence. As to the fencing, it was no new thing : it had been going on for months ; but Te Whiti had seen that numerically his men were now sufficient almost to defy arrest, and was, he believed, trying it on, to see what concessions he could gain by more vigorous obstruction. The large cultivations near Parihaka, which were certain to be destroyed in case of war, were evidence of peaceful intentions. He hoped that the leasing of the reserves under the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, by giving the Maoris a monetary interest in the .preservation of peace, would help to lessen the chance of future difficulty.

Mr. Glenn thought that the Maoris Should be reTJuirechtir cultivateit-portion-or their reserves like the" "deferred payment settlers. '\ Mr. Kolleston tb?isght that "could hardly be done at present. •/ _ , Mr. Alexander asked whether *it was not true that large bodies of men were fencing hi land near Parihaka sold to Europeans, who were thereby prevented from occupying their land. Mr. Bolleston admitted that it was so on a few sections.

Captain Martyn said that having stated the wishes of the setters, he was sure the deputation was quite prepared to leave the matter in the hands of the Government to deal with as they thought best.

SITE FOR HALL.

Section 5, Block XVIII. was recommended for a,site for the drill-shed, and Mr. Bolleston took a note in connection with the matter. , . PAYMENT TO VOLUNTEERS.

Mr. Martyn asked . that the Volunteer Cavalry at ,Manaia and throughout the district might' be placed on the same footing as tbe cavalry in the Waikato. In former days, the latter had been allowed 12b. a day when on active service, and he thought the Waimate settlers should receive the same.

Mr. Bolleston believed the present allowance was 7b. or 7s. 6d. a day, and he had no doubt that the same rate would be allowed here. Major Stapp had been asked to report on this and other matters in connection with the volunteers, and he (Mr. R.) must await the report before giving a definite reply. Captain Martyn hoped that a full capitation would be granted, if the newly enrolled volunteers learnt their drill and became efficient. He was much in favor of six consecutive days' drill, as far more was learnt both by man and horse in this way than by occasional drills on Saturdays. Captain Gudgeon could endorse the statement made by Mr. Martyn as to the value of several consecutive days' drill.

DRILL INSTRUCTOR.

Mr. Martyn also hoped that a drill , instructor would be given orders to give the consecutive drill, and would be sent up at once. Mr. Bolleston had no doubt these matters would be attended to, but on such technical questions he must be guided by Major Stapp's report.

POWDER LICENSE.

Mr. Mitchell wished to know whether he could obtain ammunition and a powder license. As one of the settlers who had put up a bouse and brought hiß wife and family on to the land, he might as well state that whether there was trouble or not, he did not mean to leave his home. As long as he could pull a trigger, he would stick to his house at any risk. He had no money wherewith to pay for the board and lodging of his family elsewhere. • Captain Gudgeon stated that, as licensing officer, be had latterly declined to grant licenses, because he had strong reason to believe that some powder had found its way into tbe bands of the Maoris. He would issue licenses to respectable settlers, but he thought it his duty to exercise his discretion in the matter.

Mr. Eolleston hoped all the settlers would show the same spirit and determination 6hown by Mr. Mitchell. In respect to the

PLOUGHING AT OTAKEHO.

He did not think there was any cause for alarm. 'He bad seen the Maoris ; they were perfectly civil, and agreed to knock off as - soon as they bad done that bout. They were, at the time of speaking, in the township, and he did not think there was any cause for alarm.

UNIFORMS.

Mr. O'Brien, captain of the newlyformed corps of foot volunteers, asked whether the corps might be allowed to purchase serge trousers and jackets, from th© constabulary store at Government prices, for the use of the volunteers. Mr. Eolleston saw no objection, and instructed -Captain Gudgeon to telegraph to Colctael Header, asking whether the Department could supply the clothing asked for.

SCHOOL SITE.

Mr. Bolleston asked whether there was any other question to ventilate.

Mr. Yorke stated that the school corn-

zOittee had asked for a school site on the ifasgii&l yfewyva. Tba application had been Bent through tbe Commissioner of

Crown Lnnds, and tbe latter had recom(frnonded that fourteen unsold town sections in block 11., adjoining, Bhould be granted. Mr. Bolleston had no doubt that the recommendation of the Commissioner would be granted. The deputation having thanked Mr. Eolleston for the careful consideration given to the several questions raised by the settlers, then withdrew.