THE MAORI GATHERING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13490, 17 May 1907, Page 5

THE MAORI GATHERING.

3sk',, • ' • ' .V.i ' DELEGATES" DISPERSE. , WHAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED. 1 [FROM our own- correspondent.] , ' Huntly, Thursday After sitting for seventeen, consecutive days the great Maori gathering finally ter- £>'*< minated early this morning. A beautifully V fine day greeted the departing delegates. Close on 300 left by the forenoon trains,., a larger number still banging round the stalion waiting for the arrival of the Rotoruaj ' express, as well as the later slow train. B®. " Waahi is comparatively deserted, though a goodly number, as if loth to leave, still % . remain in the kainga. The printing office] * shows the only sign of business. Here are T. T. Rawhiti and his associates, busily |'• engaged in printing the. " heading" and the] t >, various reports. i: The protests of a vigorous, but small, |k;; " opposition" have rendered any emendation F;\ of the report of the committee of 85 impossible, the understanding being that the I report of that committee, together with! > one promulgated by the president, Tupu j fv Taingakawa, and the Hon. Mahuta Tawhaio, j shall be circulated among the various hapus j throughout Aotearoa and Waipounamu,! where they should be discussed, all suggestions, amendments, or alterations to be dis-1 J ' ■. cussed at the final meeting. KING EDWARD OR MAHUTA? • %' The meeting had resulted in the recognition by the aboriginal race of the principle 'Vj -J . of union or federation, the united federation 1 of the whole Maori people being considered i J J ' necessary to the enactment of equitable laws i and the retention of the provisions of the! ! ; Treaty of Waitangi, which is regarded asj •> • - the Magna, Charta of the aboriginal tribes- j ■ men. The active steps necessary have! i . been left to the formulation of a select com-! mittee. 'I he meeting has also demonstrated J • that about a quarter of the race recognises Mahuta as king of the Maoris, while the! M others repudiate th© regal mana. This is j ' the rock on wnich the federation will split, j the natives belonging to tribes other than! the Ngatimahuta being determined to yield homage to no king other than Edward VII. j / . As an expression of the opinion of the race] V with regard to their government and to the! spirit that has animated successive Go- , vernments, the meeting has been useful in 1 , ■ -'showing the discontent that is prevalent,) 'discontent aroused by alleged continuous! breaches of the historical treaty. It has £ s ': also proved that the native land laws are > ; highly unsatisfactory, the enactment of such ~ $ not having considered native interests, but ' only the peculiar theories of settlement advanced by successive holders of office. The j i• • wholesale denunciation of the makutu and other practices "repugnant to the general! J principles of humanity," followed by public , recantation by four tohunga practitioners, - indicates the advance from superstition V made in late years. - Whether the result will justify the great expense which the provisioning of so large a meeting entailed , is a matter for future solution. , THE MOERANGI BLOCK. 1 When the v sub-committee appointed in " connection with the Moerangi block of land met last night, Taingakawa stated that both • the Hon. Mahuta Tawhaio and Mr. Henare 1 Kaihau, M.H.R., approved of the committee appointed, as well as the subdivisions ( -;i f : made by the Ngatimahanga and the Ngati- ' v ' tewehi. An executive committee, consisting of Messrs. T. ■ Taingakawa, T. T. Rawhiti, Anaru Eketona, N. Huirama, and Te Rata, was appointed to draw up the details ' of a scheme dealing with the institution of V a native fanners' union, the names of such . committee to be forwarded for approval to the Native Minister. This committee is ■: animated with the desire to. see the whole of the native lands in Waikato worked : wider a federal management; the funds ■■■inecessary ! for the working of the. two ■ in<;nt ol 10,000 acres of the block in ques- . tion, after survey fees and roading expenses , 'Jiave been defrayed. Taingakawa to-day J ; ' telegraphed Mr. James Brown, president of the Land ' Board, that an amicable settlement of all questions affecting the Moerangi Block had been arrived at. °