THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1889.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9324, 29 March 1889, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1889.

No less than four Cabinet Ministers attended the Maori noting at Orakei yeste; clay. We hope the Maoris appreciate the compliment, for we are quite certain that, had the meeting been one of European colonists, the attendance of Ministers would have been far more scant. Two ot them, the Attorney - General and the Native Minister, were told off to reply to the arguments of the two Maori chiefs, Major Kemp arid Paoro Tuhaere, who were pitted against them. The wordy combat leaves matters much as they were. Mr. Sydney Taiwhanga, M.H.R., was to take part in the debate, but Ministers took fright and tied as soon Sydney showed signs of action. The Attorney-General stated that they had now performed the duty they had undertaken, and as the two appointed speakers on each side had done their part he wished the genial and dignified chairman, Pan Tuhaere, good evening and good bye. Mr. Taiwhanga, thus left in ])ossession of the held, was jubilant, and told his native friends and constituents how the 'possums, knowing what a splendid shot was Colonel Boone, used to beg him not to fire when they saw his gun levelled at them. They would come clown at once and save him the trouble. This was just what Sydney considered the Ministers had done. They had caved in as soon as they saw him prepared to speak ; which, as a Maori representative in Parliament, he certainly had a right i and was almost bound to do. As soon as Ministers retired, Mr. Ait-ken Counell took up the running, and read the Maoris a lecture on the ancient Britons, but had not got to the Treaty of Waitangi when the setting sun and the steamer's imperative whistle brought the lecture to an :i brn.pt. conclusion for the time.

Of the two Maori chiefs we desire' to speak with the greatest respect. Paul, of Orakei, and his people were good and loyal friends of the pakeha on the day when Maori friendship was of value. He was also a member of the Provincial Executive when Provincial Governments existed, and has personally been always popular with all classes. Major Kemp, too (Te Ivepa Rangiliiwhenui), has done line soldierly service in his day. When Titokowaru was ravaging the West Coast and the settlers were in daily fear of their lives, when murders were numerous and no man could move with safety, Te Kepa, with his Wanganui mountaineers, gave valuable help to the colony. \\ hen Colonel McDonnell and his men were returning from the capture of Pungarehu, it was Kemp and his people who saved them from great peril in an ambush into which they fell in coming back through the forest to their own camp._ In. a later time of unprecedented difficulty, when the massacres and atrocities of the Hauhaus spread gloom and anxiety over the North Island, it was Kemp, Ropata, and Topia, with their brave people, who hunted them through the trackless forests, and despite ef hunger, hardship, and winter snows broke Te Kooti's bands and drove him to seek refuge in the King Country. These are claims to consideration which no one will lightly overlook, but none the less are we bound to tell Major Kemp he is taking a position entirely untenable. What does he mean and what do his friends mean when talking so much within the last few years about the Treaty of Waitangi'? We readily admit its binding character as an agreement, but where has it ever been infringed ? What lands have been taken from the Maoris without their consent, except of course in cases of rebellion, which is at all times an abrogation .of all rights by those who rebel. Let them point out what lands have been taken wrongfully, and we can argue the case with them. They speak of'the foreshore of Auckland. In the first place that was sold by Paul's uncle Kawau when the land on which Auckland stands was parted with. In the second place the improvements effected by reclamation and otherwise are for the equal use of Maori and pakeha without distinction. The sovereignty over the land was given by the Treaty to the Queen,and sovereignty implies the right of taking anything required for the publie good whether it be from Maori or i European, a fair compensation being ! paid to the owner for t.ie thing so i taken. Where, when or to what extent has this been infringed? It the Maoris who complain would state this explicitly they might depend on a lair hearing, for no one wishes to do them an injustice. But they must not forget that this Treaty of Waitangi also saved them from coming under French subjection. A few years before its signature they were glad to petition King William to take them under his protection as " the tribe of Marion was coming to take away our land." A few months after the signature the tribe of Marion did come, and if the British flag had not been flying that of France would have been hoisted without a Treaty at all. As to land they have been cheated more than once no doubt in connection with it. But no Government can help that, and we know well that instances of pakehas cheated in the same way by Maoris are not rare. The real object that someof the chiefs appear to have in view is the recovery of the supreme power they once held, but which has [ gradually slipped away. This is about

" 1 ,11,, as possible as it would be fnr n chiefs of England to recover the™ they once wielded. Thev },ovt aged to make themselveshapm St out it in these later dal? P 4^ Maori chiefs must learn to do the same oo many ot them have lost the c'out Jr-nco of_ then* people by dishonest treatment, with tands and monev be longing to the tribe, but which tW they have used for themselves. Le& the good among the chiefs show the desne tha u all 0,. ; chiefs , once felt to benent their people. That is the only way they can regain their old influence, but Government certainly cannot and must not even try to hrt'o them. Ail that the Maoris as a body can ask is to be treated in the same way, to have the same rights as >-'h» Pakelia. In what way are thev iiot so j treated ! In none, except in represstatio]', and there they have members exclusively their own, while their land is free from the taxation to which tint of al! Pake has is made to contribute fop reals, which yet the .Maoris freely use. The grievances are certainly not all ori one side.