ESTABLISHED 1866. "WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1916. THE RUA AFFAIR.

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 81, 5 April 1916, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. "WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1916. THE RUA AFFAIR.

The Minister for Justice (the xfon. Mr Herdman), and i,he Police Department deserve the warmest coagratiilations upon the complete success of what could only be considered a difficult and dangerous undertaking, namely, the forcible arrest 01 the mischievous Maori charlatan, thn so-called "prophet" Una, who had w> long defied the" law and its officers. That there has been bloodshed is, of 'course, a matter for' regret, but, as will be seen by the detailed report ol the expedition, it was quite unavoidable— indeed, the only cause for astonishment need be that there is not a larger roll of killed .and in-' jured. Itwas entirely . the -fault -ol the Natives themselves that two ol their party were killed and several others injured. It is no-excuse •• for: the conduct which led to the fighting that the Natives were led away by fanatical dependence upon' the will of their "prophet" leader, for in these days the Natives, even in the most out-of-the-way spots, are fairly: well educated, : and must know full well 'that the law of the- land, a law which applies alike to Maori and to European, must be respected. The Una influence had too long been v menace to law and order, in the UrWera country, the Native inhabitants of which still isolated and, by Europeans, little known district, have impudently claimed to exercise the, pb\V,er of excluding, the pakeha from, this region, and of being a law unto > themselves- ■■ Always inclined, to turbulence, the Urewera Maoris—or many of them—had come to recognise in the cunning and crafty sensualist; and religious "quack named :Rijo a champion of their supposect 'grievances against the European, it is' clear that he has exercised a most mischievous and in every way malign influence'over his followers, and that had' not the Government decided to put an end' to the very undesirable state ;of affairs in the Urewera country : the:Rua movement might not improbably have so gained in extent and strength as -to have become, in time, a very serious menace to the maintenance of proper authority over ■the 'Natives, not only, in Rua's district alone, but throughout the East Const generally. ~'We. have it on fhe authority of Colonel Porter, a Maori War veteran, who was largely responsible for the suppression of the Te Kooti^ movement and who probably ; knows tho Urewera country and Natives better than any other New Zealander, that Rna has been of lato sedulously spreading a belief amongst the people that Germany would win tho. wai- and that he, as the . Kaiser's;-.? representative, would he able drive the pakeha1 out 01 the country and restore to the Maoris all tlio lands which they have disposed of to Europeans. It is easy to understand the dangerous possibilities of such a belief gaining i ground amongst the Natives, ami the'breaking up of the Rua movement has, in this particular connection,'n special and. very real value. It is too early to discuss the best means of .finally .stamping out "the mischievous influence of Rua, who will now in all probability, have. to answer charges of sedition and incitement to murder in addition to the original charge of refusing to submit to the sentence of imprisonment passed upon him some months ago, in respect to his oft-repeated offence iof sly grog-selling. The best way to deal with such a mischievous rascal is to deport him to the Chatham Islands, in company with a round dozen or so of his leading followers, care being taken, of course, to prevent any latter-day repetition of Te Iyooti's famous escape from the group. This, however. ; s a matter . cor the Courts and the Government, and need not be discussed in detail

to-v?av

There should be general satisfaction that the civil arm of the law alone was invoked to securo Rua's arrest, and that ncne of the soldiers now in training, or returned from the front, were employed in the expedition. Rua's offences, up to nov.% have been civil offences, and to have employed any military force aga'nst him would have been to invest the affair with a political importance which jnight have had an undesirable outcome. We may fiilly expect to hear of comments beiug made upon the affair by the^German 'prew, which, no doubt, will draw lurid pictures of a wholesale revolt o1 the "savages of New Zealand" against the Government which "wished to arm, them, and send them to the front to fight the gallant and virtuous sons of Deutsohland," etc. But such comment, beyond affording material for humorous articles and carloons, need not trouble the Government which, through the wellorKfinised efforts of t the Police Deparimmit, has carried out on awkward task 'with laudable celerity and efT'ciency. For some time to come the Urewera Natives may be very i

"pouri," or sulky; but the seizure of ' their arms—if, as we hope is the case, it will be carried out effectually —should prevent any remaining believers "in Rua from making any serious mischief, and before many year?., perhaps even many months, have passed a^vay the mana of the i captured "prophet" will have ceased I for ever to exist. .. I