OPOTIKI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9150, 4 September 1888, Page 6

OPOTIKI.

We are now suffering from probably one of the severest social calamities that has occurred in the history of the settlement, in the removal of Mr. R. S. Bush, our popular and universally respected magistrate. Mr. Bush has held this and other Government appointments in Opotiki during the past seven years, and by his admirable and capable administration has earned the esteem of the whole population of the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast. In his private life lie has always proved himself courteous and gentlemanly in his manners, a promoter and supporter of the best interests of the district, and a staunch friend to any who were fortunate enough to acquire his friendship. In his judicial capacity as magistrate and Judge of Native Lands Court, he combined a keen intelligence with a considerable knowledge of law, and tireless patience in sifting evidence. He was particularly gentle with ignorant or timid witnesses, but a terror to snuffling or evasive ones, while one of his special points was the exhaustive elaborateness and lucidity of his judgments. In his position as Native Commissioner he earned the affectionate regard of every tribe, from the Hauhau Uriweras in the hills to the loyal Ngaitai on the coast, by his inexhaustible patience in listening to their endless grievances, by his intimate knowledge of their language, and his painstaking skill and tact in adjusting their inter-tribal jealousies and difficulties. Most of our best institutions will feel his loss severely. While wishing him a hearty "God speed," the universal opinion here is that Take him for all in all, We ne'er shall look upon his like again. The recent deatli of the loyal chief Wiremu Kingi, the head of the Ngaitai tribe, has been a source of extreme regret to the inhabitants of both races in this district.. Since the murder of the Rev. Mr. Volkner, in 1864, he has been a staunch ally and supporter of the British cause. With a picked body of the best men of his tribe, who are remarkable for their powerful physique, he has repeatedly joined our forces, ana rendered plucky and efficient services in a number of sharp skirmishes and expeditions into the rebel Hauhau country. The funeral was an imposing one. The town was in mourning, the shops closed, and flags half-mast. The funeral cortege, left his temporary residence at eleven a.m. ( a waggonette having been pressed into service as a hearse. It was decorated wit.li banners, draped in black, and plentifully besprinkled with floral offerings. Immediately behind the hearse marched twenty or thirty mourners, composed of members of his family, and the chief natives of his tribe, neatly dressed in black, with white bauds round their hats. These were followed by buggies, traps, spring-carts, drays, equestrians, and pedestrians, both Europeans and Maoris forming a procession extending over half-a-mile in length, on their way to his settlement, Torere, where he was interred with all solemnity in the native burying-eround. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell. —[Own Correspondent.]