The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1867.

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1124, 21 June 1867, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1867.

SPECTKMUE AGENDO. " Give every man thine efir, but few thy voice : Take each man's censure, bit reserve thy judßmect. This above all, —To thine own sell'be true And it mu.it follow, a.i tho the day. Then canst net tlicn te false to any man."

TVe have before intimated that the mind of a large proportion of the natives of this province is in such a nicely balanced condition that it may be moved either in the direction of peace or war, according to the steps the authorities and their servants take. Knowing the cost of war and the troubles it has caused, we think it is the duty of all entrusted with power and influence, either by the General or the Provincial Governments, to use them in the interests of peace. When we suggested, at the time his Honor was elected to the office he now fills, that lie would do well to visit the native districts, we felt convinced that a period for conciliation had arrived, and that the fruits of such a policy would soon bo manifest. And there weres pecial reasons why the present Superintendent might be supposed to be able to exert a powerful and beneficial influence over the natives. His visit to the Thames and to Tauranga have, by universal consent, been the means of doing a great amount of good. In addition to other reasons for this, his speeches dictated by the utmost friendliness to the Maoris, could not but attract their attention, and tend to win their sympathies and feelings. And as the province, as such, l has not been at wai' with the natives, we believe that the Superintendent might very beneficially step in, and as a kind of mediator between the opposing parties. It is just possiblo that the natives may be brought to reason by the exertions of a high official against whom they have never been opposed, For in communicating with him, the feelings of hatred or of antagonism, of doubt or uncertainty, which might exist in their minds when dealing with the General Government, through its officers, would be stilled, and they would bring to such communications minds divested of at east a good deal of those feelings which keep the two races in antagonism, and perpetuate an armed peace. Indeed the speech of his Honor at Tauranga has had the effect of causing Matatauere to despatch messengers to all the tribes under lub sway, stating that he had heard the speech of the Superintendent, who was afriend ofhis (Matatauere's) father, and so long as his Honor should maintain '

the friendly assurances already given he would forbid any native to fire upon the Europeans. Tho Ngatimaniapotos are now anxious to makepeace; the scattered AVaikatos arc in groat straits for want of food. A native from the King's body guard has recently been to Tauranga to sco for himself tho real intentions of the Government, in order to report progress to tho tribes in the interior. All these arc indications of that state of mind to which we havo alluded, and it is to be hoped that the various officers, both military and civil, of tho General Government, will do nothing which may have the effect of blowing the dying embers of rebellion and fanning them into a flame again, but will rather do all in their power to quench them, and to bring about a permanent peace. Let there be no miserable petty jealousy on tho part of General Government officers towards provincial officers in regard to efforts mado for securing peace, and above all let there be no ground for tho feeling arising that any persons will, of set purpose, or though a perversity of will, or through imaginary self-interest, strive, by -irritating conduct and language, to prevent that rapproaclnncnt of the two raccs which now seems in a fair way of Luonmiiig- a general and accomplished fact. AVo had occasion to speak more than onco in condemnation of the constant, senseless, and apparently not disinterested cries from the AVaikato of danger from the Maoris. j As the military settlers have ceased to be on pay, and as it has become perfectly clear that tho cry of Maori danger did not put them on pay again, the cry has ceased, and tho dreaded wolf has never yet been seen. Tho prophets of evil omen prophesied falsely. Their self-interest blinded their eyes. "We trust that wo shall not havo the same thing in effect in other districts now that warlike operations havo ceased, and the occupation is well nigh gone of many classes of persons. The province requires peace, the colony requires peace; they both require a decrease in expenditure. The servants of both must bow to the times, and to the exigencies of the case. But it is to us a well - grounded conviction that as far as this province of Auckland is concerned, the present Superintendent and his | Executive have an enormous power in their | hands, which they are fully prepared to exercise in the interests of peace, in the interests, that is, of the general welfare, not only of the province, of the Europeans and natives inhabiting it, but of the entire colony at large. And we are quite sure that the ' feeling of the Provincial Council, and of the people generally of tho province, is entirely in accordance with the views of our Government in this respect. It is to be hoped no minor differences will prevent the General Government at "Wellington from joining hand in hand with Auckland in her endeavours now to hold out the right hand of fellowship to the great body of the natives.

We feel that wo can write in this strain without danger of being supposed to have any one-sided Maori leanings. Our past proceedings will guard us from any suspicion of that; but as circumstances now are, wo cannot btifc tliiiilv that wo ciin bo *ib liearty in desiring peace as we wore hearty in advocating a vigorous prosecution of war at a particular time. "We do not entertain or encouragc the "feeling of immortal hate, and study of revenge," but can, st the proper time, " let the dead past bury the dead," and that time, so far as the great bulk of the Maoris is concerned, appears to us to have arrived.