"THE MAORI WAR."

New Zealand Herald, Volume VI, Issue 1753, 5 July 1869, Page 9

"THE MAORI WAR."

Ok ihe 26th ult , the Rev. Mr. Bailer on gave a leoluro in the Young Men's Christian Auoeiation Boo'ii.', on " The Maori War." The Uoturo was very numerously a tended, and the chair wis occupied by .-. H. t-'m'.th, Esq The p-ooeedings open' li anil <oncluded with devotional exeroiee*. After a few ptt-liminary observations from the Chairman, II a rev. lecturer said that he needed not to apulogiiu on Recount <f bis selection of the subjeot, for it was one with which he was more intimately acquainted than per hit b miny of the older inhabitants of the colony. Ho was neither a sta'« nun nor a politician. No doubt excellnt military reasons might bo givtn for despatching a foros to one aide of the colony while wur was racing at the other; equally goed re»""on3 from a military point of view could be given why a l:irgo military fores had been sent to thi< coluny to put down rebellion, and after remaining here f r sarnie ycarp, departed without h,i\ing t.oco:iiDli.-hed anjthitig whatever. Political reason* could" doubtless Uo c.ive i why th-i Maori had not advanced in ciTiliz»lion,why he h*d departed from his fotmt-r Christian profesHion ard practice, mil why ho rtill assumed au attitude of hostility, ilu had been some thirty-three yours in tba colony, mil hci had not resided in it for fo without having acquiiod u great djal of knowledge of Maori ohttiactcr «uJ habits, ol their hiuguugei and thoir prejudice!. In 1839 ho hid travelled overland from lloiianga lo rort Nicholas (Wollington not being then in existence), and the only tpott of civilization, which were like oases in ihe desert, wtre the n.i*. sionary stations. He had frequently heard it stated that the missionaries hud bten the oause of a great deal of all the trouble that had oome upon New Zealand. He gave to that B'atetnent an indignant denial. In 1840, the year of the well-known treaty of Waitangi, the British Government assumed the sovereignty of these island*. He not only believed, but he knew that the early missionaries had been mainly instrumental in securing for the British Crown the sovereignty of this beautiful country. The early missionaries knew well that, sooner or later, New Zealand would 611 into the hands of some power, and their attaohment to the throne, their sympathy Tvith the civilization of their own oountry and the people from whom they sprung, indnoed them to make every effort to add the Britain of the Bouth as another gem to the orown of the English sovereign. It was said that the early missionaries became jealous end they were blamed for purchasing land. But if they did purchase 1 ind, so long as they did righteously nnd honourably, w»* thero an much blame to them for providi-iis for thfir numerous lamilios. Ife knew moreover that the) ruiseionaties often purohased land in th« interest of leligion and humanity, and with a view to extinguish tho honible fouds that were then common bo'ween tribes of the native race, lie heard a great many statements made about the missionaries ; such expressions us " Exeter Hall," used in derision a-d hatred. But what was •' Hxeter Hall" but the contre of the whole of the Christianity of England. He believed the disrepute that had attended that phrase originated in an unfortunate paying of the late Lord Maraulay, who onoe spoke of the "bray of Kje'or nail," but the more immediate c*uso of the unfortunate meaning that atUobod lo it in this country was owing ts tho unfortunate add res* which had beou circulated in Maori by the aborigines Protection Society, omposed of well intenlioned hut misguided men. The tendenoy of that doeument cou'd not be "otherwise than tniscbievou', and he said so at the time. He had heard it stated that the mimonnries made a grand mistake in nut having communicated with the native people in the Knglith instead cf their own native tongne. In the first place, it would have been impos iblo to attempt it with anything like a practical result with the means at the dispo.-al of the missionarios, who ha t m«ny other obstacle* to struggle against. He re liered that it had been better for the Maori people if the Government of the day had taken possession ' of all the land, merving, of comri(», abundant land for

the natives, in which they might litre cultivated all that wu needfal for their want*. The lewd Purchase Commiuion which uili had insisted that land purchased should not be enjoyed by the purchaser, and thoy fixed a nnmher of ikons beyond whioh no purchaser oould retain. This operated most unjustly in many ways. It created at once surprise and suspicion :n the Maori mind, and opened the way to numerous temptations to the Maori. When it was ascertained that purchases had been nude rightfully if things had been left to their natural operation, the land weald be distributed into the binds of enterprising people who would come and settle upon and ouliirate it. The Imperial Government wae wholly reepoasible for the troubles that earns upon Hew Zealand, for iastead of treating the native raae justly and firmly, enforcing a wholesale discipline, they spoiled the Maori by petting him, and thus sowed the seed of that turbulent spirit which soon manifested itself. The Maori, when he saw the white people dealt in this manner by their own were quick to saspeet that they would: [be dealt by with equal injustice. In this manner a kind of social anarchy was fostered in the trib's, and the result was that, with the large payments made to the Maoris, and the opportunities for indulgence afforded thea, they became deteriorated, and their gains were employed for the purposes ef profligacy and vioe. There was little if any of that chivalrous instinct left in the Maori which characterised some of the fine old chiefs in the early days. As to the education of the Maoris, he had often felt it was a grave omission that some of the Maori youth of high rank had not been taken by tbe hand, and sent to England to be educaUd. They would so placed hare learned the advantages of onr form of civilization, and would hare brought back to their natire land some of the refinements of English life, to be the allies of improvetnent and good understanding between the two races. Although the settlers had not been always just to the missionaries, he as a missionary «as prepared to hear testimony that the settlers were not responsible for the Maori war. It was sad to think of tho suffering and the loss the many had endured as compared with the few who had gained ; many had lost their all, and not a few had lost their lires. Ihe Imperial Govenment had tailed in their duty, not by any disposition towards wilful negleot and cruelty, hut by being misinformed or not informed at all of the necesMiies of the colony. He considered it a most heartless »hing to forsake the colony at a time of its utmost peril. As for the Government of New Zealand he did not think they tacked talent so much as virtue and courage to fsoe the difficulty. One thing was dear, the difficulty must be met by the colonists themselves. He *as afraid, and he spoke it se. iously, that the worst ot thb Ifativa war bad not eome yet. The jonng men of the colony would need to be self-reliant. There was nothing the Maori respected so much as courage. . Boldness and upright condoot would always have it> weight with tbe Maori. The timid and the mere time-serving were despised, and wherever and whenever observed by him, the Maori would be a menace and a danger. He fenred that the time for oonciliation was passed—ha spoke it in all seriousness ; and the only way in which the crisis could be met was by courage arid uprightness. There was no such dangerous a panic as that whioh could be created by surprise. He believed that the colonists should be vigilant. He considered that every unprotected family living in the interior at the present moment held their lives in other hands. Ihe King movement was the growth of a feeling which would not easiU be removed. When he found a large section of the natives ocenpying the position of something like an armed neutrality—yonng natives springing up trained at an early age to the use of firearm", and taught to look upon the cslonists with a feeling of hntred—he could not conceal from himself the possibility of dangers to arise of which there was not at present any con option. He did not with to be an alarmist, bat if the people were oourageous to meet, at the same time that they were determined to act justly, uprightly, and firmly to war.* i the natives, there was reason to hope that it might pass away, and that a state of things would succeed which would bring about the blessings of a permanent peace. The'e wasneedof some courageous men to come forward as leaders, men who v7onld be bncke lupby a sound public opinion. For himself, he belonged to no political party; he might he blamed for expressing the opinions whioh he had placed before that meeting, but at the same time he felt it a duty imposed upon him by the Espeut which affairs had assumed in the colony to •peak out the feelings which his intimate knowledge of the Maori had inspired. He also felt there was a danger to be apprehended from too sweeping an indignation. Be would be sorry that any such thing u a vindictive feeling should be manifested. Nehemiah, that great leader of the Jews, prayed before the Lord f Ismel, but he did not abandon common sense and fortitude in trying circumstances. He exhorted the young men to be manly, courageous, self-reliant, and just, for with the present generation I would rest the obligation of solving all those difficulties. The rev. leoturer was, at the conclusion of his address, greeted by very general applause; aad, oa the motion of Mr. Osmund Lewis, • vote of thanks was pasie i to him by the meeting. The doxology was then sung, and the benediction pronounced, upon which the meeting separated.