THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1884.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6937, 11 February 1884, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1884.

We publish to-day- a:: letter from Mr. J. R. Mcßeth, explanatory of his position in. regard/ to the Kingites. We must say, from all we can learn;; and from what we can infer, from conversation with Mr. Mcßeth, .that we believe he is not actuated by those dark and sinister motives which liave: been ascribed to him in some of the. Southern papers. . The Otago Daily Times; indeed, .. admits, that he may merely be " a well-intentioned meddler;; led away- by, .sentimentalism;", and we confess that; : we are disposed to. set him down -in that category. As all the public knows, we are inclined, to ■i be. charitable in judging of the motives of men who take an active part in poli--tical or municipai affairs, and sometimes to err on that. side. Still, we believe the above to be a-correcfcestimate. Mr;; Mcßeth wrote .a letter on native affairs •to some newspaper at home, and;thereupon, we believe, ..was 'communicated with- by - -the Aborigines Protection Society. This at once gave' him a status. He was exactly, the-man for Sydney Taiwlianga. Sydney's' credit with the Kingites, never very:, .great, was ebbing away. But; when lie gets hold of Mr. Mcßeth, he puts him forward; to Tawhiao and his friends as the pakeha: who is in' communication - with people of power and -influence, at- home, and he at'once again acquires mana. Mr. Mcßeth is really quite incompetent to , take any useful action:in; native affairs. - He knows nothing of the history of ; the natives or of the. native, question since; the arrival of the Europeans. He knows no thing, of - the .language, and is. dependent for his interpretations mpon - Sydney Taiwhanga. :At the same time: he is dangerous, ;as ■ he. represents to: Tawhiao and his friends that the people in - England are 1 anxious to assist them, not only against the colonists but: against those of their - own people.who are desirous to.open the country. - •:

. That Mr. Mcßeth's interference is entirely .nonsensical.and foolish we can easily show. from his letter;.Ho says: he is " acting, in the interests.: of. both races." - He is able to- fcrui an opinion- as-. to what' is: best and practicable for the natives; and it. is certainly an assumption for him;,to think that he can decide against every.other, person what is best for the Europeans. He says : " The admitted: object of-the -New.Zealand Government ■ is,to obtain the opening of native lands, and the

consent of the Maoris to the Auckland Wellington railway; and to this end" armed forces of constabulary are rn-u" tained all over the North Island at »' Mr. Mcßeth s reasoning, an d a l so nf his regard for the truth. The Arl ~ Constaoulary are maintained simply!? assure the peace, and if there w e J« danger of that being broken tu° would be disbanded. It is a column 7 to say that we maintain them for an 7 such.purposes as those spoken of Mcßeth next averts that Wahanui and a few other Maoris were " induced Z sign an application for a. survey of th King Country by misrepresentation and by annual payments to i nd ; viduals." This is a misstatement a," to a matter of fact. For this assertion Mr. Mcßeth does not ,think it needful ,t.p .bring any ; proof. The application was signed by all the great chiefs of the tribes who own the land, and'that they knew perfectly well what thewere doing is shown' by the fact that except Rewi, who has " backed and ; filled " on the point; n.hey have cgM shouldered Mr. Mcßeth and Sydney Taiwhanga. Wahanui never "came near Mr. Mcßeth's meeting, and if that: gentleman : knows anythin- of the subject: he must know °that unless he can - get- Wahanui to turn,-ihe has no : chance to stop the surveys. The.vpicture drawn by ilMcßeth of how. the natives are' evert where opposing the Government is exactly contrary to the truth. There : has never been a time in the last twenty years, even during those years when the Government were forced to acquiesce in the isolation of the natives, , when there has been less apprehension of. native: disturbance and ■fewer instances of embroilment between, the races than during the last six months,, when survey parties arid exploration • parties- have penetrated in every direction through, the ■ Kinc Country.: The fact that threading'ni(in amongst the, -Kingites .have sighed an application to ..the Native Lands Court although made nothing of by Mr'. .Mcßeth, is a great advance, "in fact embraces the whole subject and all its consequences. Mr. Mcßeth -is not qualified to say what the natives want and he really does not know. Thpv desire, according to liim, " local sel£ government and control.of their own lands." . The phrase-":local self-govern- : ment" ■in this-, connection is simply meaningless. - .When Mi\Mcßethtalks to the Maoris about -local' self-govern-ment; he probably conveys the idea of : complete : isolation>. -Now, every reasonable man: must .admit that it is mere -follyi,in a country like this, where the population is rapidly increasing, to think of putting a fence, round six or seven mil-, lions of acres, and allowing no Europeans to enter in case,they should, disturb the primitive life of: the natives. The' thing is impossible, and we feel certain is not desired by the Maoris. The natives will have, large reserves in their occupation:.; but -they, must learn to live amongst us, as do. the natives in the northern portion of the: province. 'As -to the " bribery . and spoken- of,' there.- never. has been a. time since the. colonies, .had a beginning when there has been less of the- foruier,. at - all events; than now, owing to the administration of Mr. Bryce. We believe that his policy will be successful, notwithstanding, Mr.: Mcßeth and others,, who act from worse motives than he does.