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New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6296, 21 January 1882, Page 4

Tiik Maori King lias been received with all honour. He has been feted, the local authorities have been in attendance upon him, pleasant speeches have been made on both sides indicative of a forgetfulness of all the evils of the past and of good-will with regard to the future. We shall never get on good terms with the Maori King, get rid of past evils and prevent others in the future, except by dealing with him honestly. What difficulties we have had with the Maoris have chiefly arisen from dishonesty and artifice in dealing with them. If, therefore, the visit of the Maori King to Auckland is to be attended with beneficial results, it must be based on honesty arid the absence of artifice. Honest speaking is an element of honesty, and so it must be. said that Tawliiao has met with so effusive a reception, because the Europeans desire peace and good-will between themselves and the native race, and because they desire the cessation of the native isolation of which the King has been the representative, that- his territory may be rendered accessible to the European for the purposes of the construction of a railway and telegraph to Taranaki, and to receive authority to cultivate land which now lies useless. Surrounded by the bewilderments of a civilisation to which he is a stranger, the Maori King has shown a dignity and reserve which entitle him to the respect of all those with whom he has come in contact. He at all events has not been effusive. He has made no large promises. He has committed himself to nothing but expressions of good-will—valuable indeed —and to the construction of a bridge across the Waipa River which will connect his territory with; the

European settlements. As regards all 1 else, he awaits the development.,of time and circumstance that matters may progress in order, and nothing be done to-day which may be regretted to-morrow. As the European has no evil designs, he will not grumble at a steady progression, though it may be slower than he would desire. The admission of the pakeha into the King country must be rendered consistent with the interests ! of the King natives, and there can be no cause for complaint if the Maori King proceed with a deliberation and prudence that would effectually preserve those interests. To the Government of the country there is no pakeha and no Maori, but a multitude of people, differing in colour, but with equal rights. It is not desired that the King country should be opened to 'European settlement for the benefit of the land speculator, but for the honest utilisation of the land for the benefit alike of European and Maori. The European desires progress for all, injury to none. The Government and people of this colony, do not desire that the native of the King country should be dispossessed of his land and left a beggar, but that he should, if he chose, retain it for all time, permitting the European to use it on profitable terms. It matters not for the purposes of the State who owns the King country, if it be but put to profitable use, availed of for the purposes of civilisation, and as a means of communication between one part of the colony and another. If the Maori King were to say to the Government, " I will lease all my territory to you, but I will not sell an acre of it," the country would be content, because it would be content that the Maoris should have the benefit of their territorial rights, provided that the European were allowed to progress.