The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1880.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5950, 22 March 1880, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1880.

The' long expected meeting over, leaving the public no wiser than!' a wider soo£b to cpnjecture. If Te Whiti did not express himself ’’with more than hia, "nsual’perspicacity, he seems to have inspired both the newspaper, correspondents who were, present with ;the.glo,omießt : ■ effect did not extend to the Government agent, but Government' agents ’have a useful ktiack 1 pf reporting, in accordances *itl\ wishes the iqueJifica-. tion is, in fact, considered' .in some; quarter indispensable, jtp- the, service, of Governments. In this case it not «seem probable that Mi’i.fWilliaiuß, should have reported any thing to ihe Government of a reassuring character, for, as our correspondent informed our readers bn Friday Mf Williams was rather severely handled, by Te Whiti in the public interview; accorded him at Parihaka. That gentleman certainly seems to have richly £e- j served ‘hiSdisbpmfiture, At’tie; Cutset, he made ,a fatal mistake, the consequences of ‘ -.-which were apparentthroughout theTlUterview. A man who advances the self-evident absurdity ■the joataitq have something in ' their hands —|by way ' I! amusement, in fact, just as| a. mpr > nihsßd§;einoi]w?!istag is clearly not a match for Te Whiti jin,’ rhetorical■'4neiilie. ’j. Williams; bad floundered ’to Jhe epd of iu&jpter- • viewj he certainly—unless he is .of highly j imaginative tempCrameiit-—could not, on lookirig’bhck:' bourse, anything) encoygaging as-to the.situation of Yarns'to report to Government. 3|he official correspondent at: Wellington qf l our* lubal GWeimaWnt -Organ ; decla|-eft. !.acqpui|ißi-' been mystified^—On’-’important matters, .of prineiple the Government organs solmubh' of offi<Sal_ secrets aso.nrthe. morft formal matters of detail—-we can only surmise that some other p’eißen Mi? Williams irepresented the Government at Parihaka,' some person.who . did not get severely, handled' 1 bj‘ Te Whiti. There is J o£| course another, speculation on tlp.e siib-i; ject, iwhich.we, don’t feel called upon toj make. It is too obvious to escape thel

The newspaper men,'in taking a different. view, agree for., .timer Our correspondent suspected at Tp* haka that Te Whiti intends to pppj)se_ force to the continuance of the roadmaking, while the correspondent of our, local contemporary felt quite sure j the matter \- ■ going •so ; far as ’ to 1 say thate in placing the matter in Tohu’s hands’ Te Whiti'.liad virthklly declared war/ This view is startling, and it was followed up by mintifnatioh that a general belief prevails .thait-the road parties hre about to be interfered with., In refer*ence to this-' belief, our correspondent' announced two days after that ‘he 1 reason to. know that , the, official report to the Government wohld; endorse it. This probably would be the: official report of Mr Williams, ,we may imagine ; without - any? {great of the facts. He also mentions that ■ extrarprecautions \have beenjiordqre3.| hy i the commanders in the Constabulary; camp, which, with the visit of (the JiTative Minister ./to,? the a troopsi; is re-j garded as ominous of danger. ahead. The last Parihakaineetihg has evidently filled the air,'which before it had become t K.pnußpayycr?.iand£A unexpectedly serene, with disquieting rumours. These; are not ihadS ;any : pleasanter tb‘ the; public rear, by .the.'appearance on the' Parihaka scene of Major Kemp in the character ;of an'aotive promulgator ||f. sedition, which is the subject of the last wncohfirmed, as advised,'by burl ,oojT<^^hdenV^emp l -it'.wiU.he.-reipiQi4 beted. gave a great .'deal: of .tronbleTa) few weeks ago in the Wanganui hack country, 'mhking u bitaitelf so objection-! able that there nothiugfortGoyerii-i ment to do but * to diemiss-him from! all bis appointments, the reward of arduous service in war;■' a SPhe’beUef prevailed iii the Wanganui country at the time that Kemp’s popularity throughout - the Wauganui and' Taranaki districts was great amongst all the his influence .paramount by reason of his hostility to the Pakeha. An attempt was made "at first, honestly’ enough,'; to' show that. . Kemp’s discontent' was the result merely of some; tribal dispute'-* withina the limits ■ of , which it was entirely confined. But the attempt, probably from its very honesty, was, as matters proceeded,., abandoned.: It was in the - end officially admitted; that 'Ketiip’s behaviour ■Was seditious, j and that ( hoi'had* been .dismissed,, the; service*- forcsedition;*' The rumour of| the appearance of this man at'this junc-; ture at,Parihaka,, smarting under; a sense' of punishment added to former, fil-mU, urging Te Whiti" to |bifi 'him against the Pakeha, is, naturally,, of the" most serious import. If it istrueilt." means, w 6 fekr, 1 that the Wanganuicountry is - to- a%reat 'extent; ready to. side with the Parihaka leaders. In that

case, there may.be some comfort in the tenor of the rumour. As Kemp has not. offered his sword to Te Whiti, hut asked Te Whiti for ihef support of his, and m Jk.WJbiti and £ohu brook, no f rivals, the increase of strength brought by Kemp may be more than neutralised by the increase of disunion due to Kemp’s presence jw; jtjie council. The independence of the prophet and his general may from the fact that no other Native seems to have spoken at Wafihaka; The - "me&ing wa.Bt not for the purpose of discussion, l|ut for the annouhcemeht r of the policy, which all are prepared to 'endorse, whatever it may be. .■ Attuning ;®ll well grounded—and unhappily we do not-rate Tpreßent; l .aeej.!oany!;c.*epon for thinking otherwise —the last cbn-

sffuaHMT'^he' meofcifigo "af HpJhaka are always-ghthhKhSi of Natives mctj to ,, Before thb-last meeting /tie policytmjtounped has been invari ably of delay,- ’ be saiti to be even bo definite. *®-t the;, last meeting 1 , a good deal ,6f discontent was expressed by the leading and ;' much: fault ; found - witS 4 Europeans, who were accused in iso, many words ipf a cting witWthd deliberate ■ purpoae : of bringing on wpr.; .-There even an indication that the Native . patience,so.,, severely - provoked; cWotold not hold / out much longer .fade, .of r , a of, But. there was still a tbne 'of-delay,, and* thisvis the one encouraging : ifcem, pf jail;: the'history. ' The Native Commission has 'Some' adherents amongst the: WjestJ Coast. Natives, and. ,ah 'interim report.’ The -adoption ibf tpia.i we .recommended a, few days, ago.. . Sincd.- ‘ theii thd WeilitfgW G Webirhhnt 'organ 1

has.^followed : in ithe: same, course—•*> probably .with a fav clearer idca; o£- thdj positien of matters |han. ahyuholflciallly_ informed persona be expected; to, have. •. Friends and opponents sire uig-; ing on Government the necessity a. course calculated toincrease , the hdherents r o£ the Commission,' and proportionately to decrease the followers! of: Te Whiti- ,Ih view pf ; the> yery sericjus' rumours froih Parihaka, .it. .must, (be; held that the time has pome : for.iußtant: action. -The emergency of the situatipijt. : t equixesidffeot ■ to: he'igiven to the.Coihv miasionars’ report without. ..waiting for , Parliament." Partiament/must; be ocM.i.tentto sanction fpr the. sake ofthegreat gain attempted. There is delay on thp purt pf. To ."Wliiti, whichif’tkkeV flue advantage of,J .iaay be in*, definitelyprolonged. . ,