THE WAIMA NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10751, 12 May 1898, Page 5

THE WAIMA NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

, —: —o — V. THE FORCES THANKED BY THE . GOVERNMENT.' ' TELEGRAM FROM THE PREMIER. - ; UNPLEASANT STRICTURES. : [BY TELEGRAPH.— REPORTER.] 'ft ■ Rawene,' Wednesday. * Owing to the rough weather on the West Coast the Tutanekai, which is lying inside Kaipara' Heads, could not cross the bar, and it is not expected that the Auckland troops and prisoners will leave until Friday. Telegrams have been received stating that the Ulenelg was unable to get outside the Manukau owing. to the heavy sea, on the bar. The Torch left hero at half-past ten this morning, but has not yet been able to cross the bar. 1 Sho will proceed to Onelninga when the sea subsides. ; The prisoners appear indifferent to their lot. ' They are allowed to see their wives, relations, and a few friends, a large number of whom accompanied them to Rawene. This afternoon an exhibition of the Maxim gun was given, which created astonishment among the Maoris and local residents. _ ' Colonel Newell has received the following telegram from Colonel ,Pole Penton, the Commandant of the New Zealand Forcos :— "Tho Government desire to express to yourself, and to the officers and men under your command, their thanks for the manner in which they have performed their trying duties during the past week." Major Sommerville (Wanganui) and LieutenantColonel Webb (Dunodin) also telegraphed to Colonel Newell, congratulating him on tho success of the expedition. In response to the telegram forwarded by the local residents to the Premier, urging the necessity of the Governmonb taking every possible step to secure the maintenance of law and order, Mr. Seddon has forwarded the following telegramTo Mr. W. Burr, Chairman of the Hokianga County Council,—l have referred your telegram to the Minister of Defence. There is a matter in connection with this outbreak to which I wish to draw the attention of settlers, namely, that when business is to be dono they do nob scruple to sell arms and ammunition to the natives; that there are even settlors who carted arms to them, and who subsequently were among those who wore alarmed for the safety of their wives and families. The Government will see that law and order is maintained, and that, whether in the caso of Europeans or Maoris, any breach of tho laws shall be punished." The settlers are indignant at the reply, and state that the strictures of Mr. Seddon are undeserved, and that every resident has done all possible to preserve law and order, and that) they have in no way offended against the laws of the country. THE MAORIS AND THE DOG TAX. VIEWS ON THE RECENT OUTBREAK. THE SCHEMES OF HONE TOIA. Mr. A. S. Andrewes, who has been well known as a resident in the Hokianga district for more than a quarter of a century, was in Auckland yesterday, and in the course of a short interview, put a Herald reporter in possession of Borne facts with regard to Maori feeling against the dog tax. : Mr. Andrewos is a member of the Hokianga County Council, and his long residonce in Hokianga enables him to.speak with confidence as to the character of the natives in the district. He has been absent in the South during the recent troubles, bub he is familiar with all the steps that hava been taken in connection with the collection of tho dog tax among tho Maoris. Asked to give briefly the history of the agitation against the dog tax, Mr. Andrewes stated that up to 1896 the dog tax was not imposed in Hokianga. The number of European settlors had, however, been growing, and as they complained of sheepworrying the County Council l decided to levy the tax. From tho first the Council feared trouble with tho Maoris, and accordingly they decided that the amount of the tax should bo merely nominal. Elsewhere the tax is 10s and over, but in Hokianga it waited at 2s Cd, a figure which simply covers the coat of collection and registration. The collector, in fact, gets Is for every 2s fid collected. The population of the district numbers about 4000, of whom about 2000 are Maoris and about 2000 Europeans, and there has never been any agitation against the tax except by about 60 Maoris under Hono Toia. A large number of other Maoris objected to the tax, but they have given a quiet though unwilling compliance with tho law, and paid the tax regularly to Maori collectors. Of the 50 Maori; who have agitated against the tax only '20 have been proved to own dogs. £■" How were they dealt with in 18961" ' "They gob every possible chance to pay. The tax was payable in .January, and no action was taken till March to enforce payment. They were all summoned in March, but, on the advico of Hone Toia, they absolutely refused to pay, and wore each fined Is and costs, with the alternative of three months' imprisonment. The whole 20 decided to go to Mount Eden, and on their return they expressed themselves highly pleased with tho treatment they had received, evidently regarding their incarceration more in the light of a' pleasure than a punishment. They stated that they were well fed and had light work, and that at tho end of their holiday they got a passage paid back to Hokianga, The same farce was repeated last year, the 20 Maoris again spending three. months' in Mount Eden, in the beginning of March of this year they were again summoned and duly appeared in court, but to the surprise of everybody Hone Toia stepped forward and stated that ho had decided to persuade his people to pay the tax. 1 He asked for an adjournment for two months to enable him to call a meeting to discuss the matter. The Magistrate expressed himself pleased with Hone Tola's statement and adjourned the courb till May 11 (yesterday). What may become of the cases now 1 do nob know. Hone Toia, I may say, has always carefully avoided keeping dogs himself, and therefore he has never been in gaol.; ,'!<s . " How did the disturbance arise, then ?" " Well, the meetings were called, and in accordance with the customs :of these Maoris at all meetings, whether in connection with funerals, weddings,' or anything else, there had been. a certain amount of gun-firing, and I think ib is possible that the constable had gob unnecessarily alarmed and ordered the residents of Rawene to seek refuge. < I think the Maoris, if thoy had the slightest idea of fighting, would have done very serious damage. They would have hid among the trees and picked off a great many of the troops before , they were secured., Mr. Geisler, the native . school' master, is living on the spot, and laughing at the whole business.", ...

s; In the course of further conversation Mr. Andrewes suggested that a form of punishment more effective for the Maoris than imprisonment would be a sea trip in rough weather, with hard work and a period of residence in the cold of the . extreme south of Mow Zealand. V: „i , • , ,•!