NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16550, 14 May 1914, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

An inexplicable mistake occurred in tho report of tho Hon F. M. B. Fisher's speech at Oamaru which appeared in the "Lvttelton Times" on Tuesday. Tho Minister of Marine was represented as having said that Sir Joseph Ward's proposal at the Imperial Conference was that New Zealand "should havo the same partnership rights and tho same say " as Groat Britain on matters

of defence and questions of war. The words printed as "the same" should have been " some " in both instances. Strangely enough the same mistake appears to have been made in the report appearing in tke Wellington journal on which Vhe leader of the Opposition based his criticism of Mr Fislier'6 speech. Of course the Conservative Press is suggesting that "same" was substituted for "some" in order to suit "Sir Joseph Ward's purpose," but as the mistake merely enabled Sir Joseph to say that Mr Fisher's statement was "contrary to fact" it will seem to most people that such an effort would have been wholly superfluous. The interpretation of tho native name Rapaki offered at tho Heathcote County Council's meeting on Tuesday night by the president of the St Martins Burgesses' Association was poetical and' appropriate to tho locality, but was not exactly in accordance with Maori tradition. "Ra" in ono sense means "sun," and one meaning of "paid" is "a sign of fine weather," so that Mr Longton's rendering of the name as " the place of sun " is, on the face of it, admirable. But there is a definite story, as in the case of-most place-names in Maori lands, explaining the why and the wherefore of Rapaki. About two hundred years itgo, when tho ancestors of the present people of Rapaki and Kaiapoi conquered these parts from the Ngati-Mamoe tribe, there was a celebrated fighting chief of tho invaders whose name was Te Rangiwhakaputa. In the course of bis head-hunting and land-«laimiiig excursions be came to the Jittlo bay where Rapaki village now standi, and there he cast his " rapaki," or waist-mat' of flax, no doubt by way of taking possession of tho land. From this incident the place which his descendants, amongst other clan-branches, occupy, came to be called "To Rapaki-a-te Rangiwhakaputa," meaning "Te Rangi's waist-garment," which in these days fortunately has been abbreviated to Rapaki. The original place-name, therefore, had nothing to do with the sun or the sunshine hills, which, of course, is a pity. However, the name is a good one, and' it is quite permissible for the pakeha to read it as " sunny days," while not forgetting the old Ngai-Tahu story, for which Mr Taaro Tikao is the authority. It would bo well now if tho Survey Department were to spoil tho name correctly on its maps by deleting the unnecessary " u '.' from " Raupaki."

The income tax forms now being distributed by the Commissioner of Taxes contain information regarding tho deductions allowed to heads of families under tho scheme prepared by tho Reform Government. " This deduction is limited to £125, that is, £25 for each child to tho number of five, being under the age of sixteen years and' dependent on the taxpayer," runs a note, '' but must not be claimed in any case whore the combined income of the father and mother exceeds £425, whether such income, or any part thereof, is liable to income tax or not." The general exemption allowed by law is £BOO, so that the Government concession affects only the families ,with incomes ranging from £3OO to £425 a year. A man who is earning £7 a week and has two children will save £1 o.s under the scheme. An additional child will relieve him of the rest of the income tax, to the amount of 7s. This curious piece of humanitarian legislation, which has aroused much pride in the hearts of the Reform Ministers, puts a few shillings into the pocket of tho father whose earnings exceed £3OO a year. It does not touch the case of the family man who really needs relief.

There was a Homeric touch about the battle of Moutoa, fought exactly fifty years ago to-day, which saved Wanganui town from a Hauhau raid. Picked bands of Maori warriors, one party friendly to the Europeans, the other filled with the now-born Paimarire fanaticism and literally crazy for a fight, met each other on a historic battle ground and fought a desperate engagement with their tribespeople looking on, meeting each other not only with the pakeha guns, but also with tomahawks and stone " meres." The arena was an island in the Wanganui. River, about fifty miles up from the mouth, a long narrow strip of shingle which is in much the same state to-day as it was then except for a tall grove of poplars at one end. It was on this end, the up-river extremity of the spit, that a Hauhau war-party a hundred and forty strong grounded, their war-canoes from Taumarunui and Pipiriki and sprang ashore at dawn to meet the Lower Wangannis, under the chief Mete Kingi, who were posted there to meet them. This was in response to a challenge, issued by the friendlies, who barred tho passage of the Hauhaus towards Wanganui town and dared the invaders to mortal combat on Moutoa, a classic spot well named as the "Isle of Heroes."

There were only a hundred Lower Wanganuis on the island to oppose the Hauhaus. The rest had taken up strategic positions on the left bank to enjoy the spectacle of the fight and to cut off thos© of the enemy who happened to survive the combat. The Pai-marire men charged fiercely and fired volleys which killed- some of their opponents. The defenders of, Wanganui were slowly driven hack by repeated volleys and charges, and the Hauhaus had almost won the battle when a sub-chief named Tamehana turned the tide. He killed one Hauhau with a dead man's spear, having no time to reload his gun, and a second with the tomahawk which ho snatched from the slain Hauhau, and then seizing another fallen man's loaded gun ho brought down a third. A bullet struck him in the arm and another broke his knee, but his heroic stand had stopped the charge and his tribesmen rallied and in their turn charged the Hauhaus. " There was no time to re-load," Colonel Gudgeon wrote in his narrative- of the fight, "so down wont the guns and all went in with the tomahawk." The end of it was that the Hauhaus were routed in a few minutes, leaving fifty of their number dead. The Ranana tribe had maintained their " mana," their chieftainship over the river-way, and Wanganui town was saved a hot night's work, as the Hauhaus undoubtedly would have attacked its outskirts before the next morning. The lover of kineroatograph "thrills" may bo able to appreciate the delight with which

the Maori spectators viewed that earlymorning tussle. Some day perhaps the film-maker will turn hi 9 attention to New Zealand's fighting stories and reproduce on the shingle banks of the "Isle of Heroes" the charge of the up-river Hauhaus and Tamehana's gallant stand that won the day for "law and order" in 1864.

The inclusion of woman franchise in the Scottish Home Rule Bill is really the first substantial victory won by the suffragettes, militant and constitutional. The Bill is scarcely yet within tho domain of practical politics, although it passed its second reading in tho House of Commons last year by 204 votes to 159, but a general scheme of devolution has been brought appreciably nearer by recent events in connection with the Home Rule Bill. Prominent members of both the great political parties in the Mother Country are talking now of solving tho Ulster problem by granting "Home Rule all round "and tho Scottish Homo Rule Bill would become an essential part of that proposal. Tho Scottish members of the House of Commons, in the meantime, are pressing their claim in no halfhearted way, and some of them talk confidently of tho day when a Parliament will sit in Edinburgh and the lot of tho Scottish land monopolist will be made very, very hard.

The disingenuous Minister of Marine thinks that "it ought to be onough for the people of New Zealand to know that Sir Joseph Ward's naval reform proposals were unanimously and unhesitatingly turned down by the first thinkers of the Empire." The people of New Zealand do not know anything of the sort, but they are beginning to realise that Mr Massey and Mr Allen have " unhesitatingly turned down " the scheme of Imperial naval defence approved by the highest authorities. The exports at the Admiralty did their best to dissuade the dominion's Minister of Defence from pressing his local navy proposals. What they said to him is indicated clearly enough in Mr Winston Churchill's recent statements on the subject'. "The situation in the Pacific,will be absolutely governed by tho decisions in European waters," says the First Lord of the Admiralty. " Two or three Australian and New Zealand Dread-, noughts, if brought into line in tho-. decisive theatre, might turn tho scale and make victory not merely certain but complete. The same two or three Dreadnoughts in Australian waters would be useless the day after the defeat of the British Navy in home waters. Their existence would only serve to prolong the agony without altering the course of events. Their effectiveness would have been destroyed by events which have taken place on the other side of the globe just as surely as if tbey had been sunk in battle." But Mr Allen is determined still to withdraw the dominion's subsidy from the Imperial Navy and spend the money on a Bristol cruiser or two for service in local waters.