Native Affairs.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 426, 10 April 1880, Page 8

Native Affairs.

**' (FROM our own correspondent.) Hawera, April 2,

The camp at Oeo is fast becoming more presentable and ship-shape ; the dense flax is fast disappearing before the sturdy arms of the Constabulary and their Wellington assistants, now fully employed. Mr. Parris is reported to be at Farihaka interviewing Te Whiti, and it may be expected that something momentous will ensue from the interview. It is now some years since Mr. Parris was at Parihaka, whilst previous to that period he was a constant visitor in his official capacity. Titokowaru is at his settlement at Okaewa, and is easily accessible to all wishing to interview him on matters of business. Opunake, April 6.

Nothing new in native matters to report from here. All is quiet. The married unemployed are clearing out ditches on the main road through the township. No surveyors have arrived yet to lay off the road line towards Oeo, which, I hear, the unemployed ara to work on, to meet the party working from there. Mr. Blackett is expected here to-day or to-morrow. Thirteen married unemployed have left here since arrival, from various causes.

The Hinemoa called in here this morning, and moored a buoy, to which is being attached a line for hauling boats to vessels, for the purposes of loading and unloading. She took one of the Wellington unemployed, who was too feeble and old to work, and proceeded on her way to Wellington before noon.

(united press association.)

New Plymouth, April 2.

The Herald says :—" Notwithstanding sensational telegrams forwarded by corresponpondents to newspapers in other parts of the colony, native affairs were never more favorable than at the present time. We have it on the authoritv of those who are thoroughly acquainted with the natives that there is no sign of warlike intentions on the part of the natives at Parihaka, or on the plains. They have never shown more friendly feeling towards Europeans than is exhibited at the present time. The natives at Parihaka are engaged in preparing ground for planting potatoes, of which there will be a larger area put down than during any previous season. The natives of Punehu are very friendly, and take no money for produce which they supply the camp, insisting on making presents. When the road party cross the boundary and enter , on Parihaka territory, we believe that Te 1 Whiti will act similarly, and that the roads

will be allowed to be made without any aggressive action on the part of the natives."

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Opunake, March 24

The natives who attended the meeting at Parihaka, on the 17th inst., have all returned to their different kaingas, and those in this neighborhood are employed in getting in their late potato crops and their maize. They seem to have gathered little or no more information from the prophet at this meeting than upon previous occasions, and are unably to form any idea as to what is to be the result, or to say what they expect or desire by an adherence to Te Whiti. Some say if the road now being made from the Waingongoro River on the one side to the Stoney River on the other side ever meets —which Te Whiti and Tohu both say never will—they will cease to have further faith in Te Whiti, and I think there can be no doubt in the minds of any one at all acquainted with the subject, that the completion of this work will do more to destroy the prophet's mana than anything else short of annihilation. I was not one of those who attended the last meeting expecting to hear anything new, or any announcement of his policy from Te Whiti. With this expectation, however, and also believing it would be the last large meeting at Parihaka, a much larger number of Europeans attended than on any previous occasion, including some six or eight ladies ; amongst the latter was Mrs. Bartlett from this township, with two of her young daughters. This lady is a great favorite with the natives, not only from the uniform kindness to them—which she has shown upon many occasions, more particularly to the "widows" of many of the prisoners upon che deportation of the latter from this place—but from the firm and determined, yet just manner, of her dealings with them for many years. Some two or three months ago upon Mrs. B.'s first visit to Parihaka, she received quite an ovation, an account of which was duly reported in the newspapers at the time, and upon the present occasion large quantities of food were sent by Te Whiti's orders to the wbare allotted to her—a new one specially set apart for her. She took among other presents about 200 Jew's harps for the youngsters, and it was amusing to see the good lady going through the pah distributing these musical instruments, and the crowd of urchins following her, each anxious to be possessor of one. A photographer from Wangamii was amongst the visitors, anxious to take a likeness of the prophet, and also views of the pah, and of the multitude assembled in the marae, but Te Whiti would not give his sanction, much to the disappointment of the professional who, I doubt not, looked upon the gaily dressed crowd that would make such a pretty picture, from which large profits would accrue to him, with envious and covetous eyes—in a business point of view. So averse was Te Whiti to be photographed, that several young men were told off to watch the photographer closely, to prevent his taking his likeness surreptitiously, which had been done on a previous occasion by a gentleman from Wanganui, clever with his pencil in this line. All the Europeans, being little less than seventy in number, were treated with the greatest kindness and hospitality, and supplied with more than ample food of every description the natives had to give. I was unable to reconcile Te Whiti's statements that no fighting should take place, and that no blood should be spilt, and yet that neither the road nor the surveys should be completed. Upon my asking a gentleman present, who is a good Maori scholar and one intimately acquainted with Te Whiti -from childhood, and supposed to know the prophet's mind better than any other white man, for an explanation, he was unable to say more than, " he supposed Te Whiti meant they would be stopped by supernatural power." There are others, however, who from words spoken by Te Whiti in conversation are inclined to think that some move or other will be made by the natives in some distant part of the district to cause a diversion, and probable removal of the Armed Constabulary, and thus a stoppage of the road making. But how this could be done without fighting and bloodshed, I am unable to say. This road having once been commenced, must be completed afc all hazards, and against all opposition; to abandon it, even temporarily, would be suicidal, and I feel certain the Native Minister has too much firmness and determination of character to exhibit the weakness such a step would indicate. The natives have, however, seen so much vacillation and indecision in our policy towards them hitherto, that they naturally expect the same treatment from the present head of the Native Department. The road making at this end is getting on well, and the camp is daily expected to move fco Oeo. The unemployed from Wellington are doing fair work, and no complaints of misconduct or insubordination have, as far as I can learn, been brought against them since their arrival on the Plains ; neither the remarks made against them by a correspondent, nor the censure cast upon the Government for sending them, are deserved. I have heard several complaints of the manner in which the rations are supplied to the men by the contractor, but whether there is any foundation for the grumbling I am unable to say. I may, however, here remark upon the very unfair way in which the contract was given by the late Government, no tenders having been publicly called for, unless the asking of two or three storekeepers at Hawera to say what they would supply certain articles for can be so considered. I know of several who would gladly have undertaken the supplying the troops at a lower figure than is being paid had they had the chance of tendering. The canteens, a privilege the contractor has of keeping, are a very paying part of the contract, more particularly as the sale of beer and spirits is not confined, as it should legally be, to the troops ; but those articles are sold, I may say of my own knowledge, openly to the general public. The canteen at the camp here, however, is not let to the eontractor, but is under the control of the officer in charge, and kept by one of the members of

the Armed Constabulary force, which body participates, I understand, in amy profits derivable from the sale of liquors ; but even here complaints have been made of liquors being sold to the outside public, and I have good reason to believe, in fact, I have almost absolute proof that such were well founded, and that the practice continues to the present time. The canteen at Stoney River has, lam informed, been recently sublet by the contractor, he receiving twopence a day for every man employed at that end of the line as his profit—not a bad thing, considering there are over three hundred men there.

Opunake has lately been visited by the Hon. the Premier, where he was met by the Native Minister, who rode down the coast from New Plymouth, the former being driven up from Hawera, which place he had reached from New Plymouth by. coach. The weather being anything but pleasant for travelling, being boisterous and rainy, I am sure they must both, as practical men, be satisfied that had a fractional part of the money which is being cast into the sea at New Plymouth in attempting to make a harbor there been expended in harbor works at Opunake some good would have resulted, and a great benefit done to this fine district. The harbor of Opunake, at a comparatively small outlay, might be made safe from all winds ; great facilities exist for the construction of a breakwater, and ultimately this work will have to be undertaken ; in the meantime a wharf should be built, which would be a great convenience. There is no doubt that a great future awaits Opunake, and when the railway (the preliminary survey of which I hear is now going on)[connecting it with the New Plymouth and Hawera line is completed the harbor will be much used. The article contributed by a correspondent, which appeared in your issue of the 13th inst., giving an account of native affairs on this coast, and the causes which have Jed to the present complications, whilst stating what is in the main correct—although I cannot altogether agree with many of the conclusions—does, I think, unfairly cast reflections on the Civil Commissioner, Major Charles Brown, than whom the colony never had a more singleminded, faithful, and honest servant, and who has borne the aspersions cast upon him without a murmur, waiting patiently until an opportunity should arise to clear himself. That has now been afforded him before the Royal Commissioners, from evidence brought before whom he has been clearly proved blameless of all the charges laid at his door. The Royal Commissioners, I hear, sit at Carlyle, Patea, to-day, returning to Hawera to complete investigations commenced there. With one exception, as far as I know, no follower of Te Whiti has been before them, and, so far, the principal object of the Commission—viz., the peaceful settlement of the Waimate Plains—through their action will not be accomplished ; but this will no doubt be done by the firm attitude of the Government. The Commission is treated with ridicule and contempt by Te Whiti and his followers, who aver that men have been appointed to sit in judgment on their own actions, in whom they have no faith, and that if perfectly independent men direct from England, who had no connection with New Zealand, had been appointed, they would probably have been satisfied. But, independent of Te Whitiism, no doubt good has been done by the Commissioners' inquiry into matters, long neglected by previous Native Ministers, and for which there is no excuse. The many Royal Commissions now sitting lead one to expect that the country will be shortly governed by such bodies instead of responsible Ministers.

(SPECIALLY contributed.) The Parihaka meeting is over, and nothing very definite has transpired. Te Whiti's speech is indefinite, and may convey different meanings, but the natives on this coast regard it as peaceable. It is very evident from the undecided tone of his speech that the decided action of the Government has taken him by surprise ; he sees that the present Government have no doubt as to the legality of confiscation, and that they do not fear the results of boldly occupying the lands confiscated. On these two points Te Whiti ha 3 all along trusted, as a means of holding the lands for his people. It is evident from the despairing and undecided tone of his speech that he now sees what he hitherto trusted to has failed, and that he has not yet decided on what future line of action to take.

Before going further, a brief history and description of this chief may be of interest to your readers, and aid in surmising what his probable future action may be. Te Whiti is the grandson of Paora Kukutahi, who was one of the leading chiefs of the Taranaki tribe. This chief had a son and daughter ; the daughter married a chief of the Ngatiaua named Wharepori. Shortly after the Waikato invasion took place, and the West Coast natives were driven south, and located themselves in various parts of Wellington province and the South Island, Te Whiti was born in Wellington, his father having located himself at the mouth of the Ngahauranga, between where Wellington city now is and the Hutt. In the early days of Wellington two laboring men were walking between the Hutt and Wellington—one was a very powerful man named Batton. At Ngahauranga Wharepori was in the habit of demanding toll for crossing the stream: this Batton disputed, a quarrel and struggle ensued, both were powerful men, but Wharepori was so injured in the struggle that he died from the effects. A canoe upended, with his name en it, for many years marked his grave at Ngahauranga. When the natives came back and reoccupied the West Coast Te Whiti returned with his mother, who married Tamure, chief of the Titahi hapu, and at his place I first became acquainted with Te Whiti as a lad, some five and twenty years ago. When hostilities broke out at Taranaki in 1860 Paora Kukutahi was an infirm old man, over 80 years of age. The old chief often used to lament that times were peaceable, and that he had no chance of dying as a warrior chief should in the battle field. When the

Taranaki war broke out, old and infirm as he then was, be got himself conveyed to the first engagement, he exposed himself to the heaviest of the fire, and died the death he so much desired, being shot during the engagement between the Volunteers and natives at Waireka. Te Whiti's father and grandfather thus died violent deaths at the hands of our race, yet it is singular that he, a young man at the time the Eord Worsley was wrecked in 1862, was most active and zealous in assisting the two old chiefs who saved the lives of the passengers and crew and sent them to New Plymouth, although the majority of the natives were desirous of murdering them. Judging from his speeches, the general public are of opinion that Te Whiti is a fanatical madman ; strangers go to Parihaka with this idea, but no one that has visited and conversed with Te Whiti comes away with that impression. As a boy he in a very short time learned all that was taught in the missionary schools ; not having learned our language, the only book available to him to study was the Bible, and from his readiness to quote from it, he is supposed to have learnt it by heart. He has a firm conviction that the native race are a portion of the lost tribes of Israel, and as such, are under the especial care of the Almighty, who will protect their interests. All the improvements and luxuries of our civilisation he ridicules as expensive and unnecessary follies, not necessary to the happiness or comfort of the human race ; and one of our luxuries, grog, he condemns, and regards almost as destructive to his people as the bullets were in time of war. Te Whiti is a patriotic lover of his race. He is quite aware that whenever the two races come in close contact the Maoris die out and disappear, and that the habits, from custom, necessary to our race are destructive to his own ; he is quite aware of this, and as a means of preserving his race he is anxious to isolate them, and keep them from coming in close contact with the Europeans, and more especially our drioking customs, so destructive to his people. When argued with by an official, some years ago, relative to his opposition to the road, he replied, " I am aware the road will benefit both races, but if I consent to the road passing near Parihaka you will not be content with the road only, you will put up accommodation-houses along the road for travellers, and my people will be destroyed by the grog they sell." Te Whiti appears to have no animosity to our race ; he respects many of our customs, and has always treated with courtesy and hospitality all Europeans who have visited Parihaka, but he will oppose anything he considers destructive to his race. He regards the coming in close contact and introduction of our drinking customs as destructive to his people, and is quite aware that war would rapidly crush them out, and as such is opposed to both encroachment and war. This opposition is not dictated from a feeling of hostility to our race, but from a desire to preserve his own. But Te Whiti has his failings, and a serious one is his ambition and love of power, and the wish to preserve this power and influence over his race may influence him to become a direct enemy. This love of power made him ambitious to become the head of a large following. To do so he espoused the popular views of the natives. He appears, also, to have to have come to the same conclusion that Mahomet and other prophets did —that to gain an influence over uncivilized people it was necessary to pretend to divine inspiration and talk in a strain unintelligible to his hearers. I have been talking to Te Whiti, the intelligent, calm reasoning chief, of a morning, in his whare ; and half an hour af tewards have seen him assume the role of an inspired prophet, addressing a large meeting from his platform, in phraseology that none of the natives could understand ; and because they could not comprehend, it was regarded as the mystic language of inspiration. Regarding him as inspired, knowing him to be unbribable and true to the interests of the race, has given him the great influence he has obtained, not only on this coast but also in other parts of the island. To protect what he considers the interests of his race peaceably, he has. over-estimated his power ; the presence of an armed force on the disputed lands proves to him that what he has trusted to has failed ; and now he has grasped at a straw, that straw being that the Government will not get another loan, and will not have the funds to complete or make the roads meet. The discharge of the men employed on the Taranaki Harbor works seems to have confirmed him in this idea.

Te Whiti's March address to his people was vague, and showed that he had not decided on any line of action. When he fails in what he is trusting to he must decide on some course, and in deciding he will no doubt ascertain, and be influenced in his decision and action by, the feelings of the majority of his adherents. His ambition and love of power will no doubt decide him to become the leader of the majority, whatever their views and inclinations may be. The Royal Commission have done good service by adjusting previous blunders and restoring confidence in the minds of many of the natives ; but the majority are still opposed to and distrust the Government, and would act rashly if not restrained by Te Whiti's influence. The course now pursued by the Government is a firm one that will command the respect of the natives ; but to settle this question peaceably, firmness must be tempered with judgment—to lessen the present opposition and, if possible, induce the majority to Bupport the Government. Broken promises, and the injudicious management of the Waimate Plains surveys last year, caused the majority of the natives to doubt the intentions of the Government to give them reserves. We, the Europeans, are led to understand that the Government intend to act liberally towards them in this respect. Such being the case, cutting out the portions the Government intend to reserve to them at once would have the effect of satisfying and settling a great many who are at present doubtful of the real intentions of the Government in this respect. There are chiefs among them

who are aware that, in justice to other tribes whose lands have been taken, the Government must take the same proportion of those lands now in dispute, and they are desirous of seeing the question settled. But there is nothing with which they can back their arguments against the rash and thoughtless of their countrymen. They cannot point to boundaries and say to the discontented—" There, you see, they have cut us out land sufficient for all our requirements." The discontented have all the argument on their side ; they refer to the surveys of last year as indicative that no reserves were to be cut out, and argue that Government are now going to take by force what they failed last year to get by stratagem and bribery. There is no doubting the fact that within the last year or two the feeling of a majority of the natives has been becoming more hostile towards Government not only on the Weßt Coast but also in other parts of the island. The hostile feeling is mostly on the part of the young natives, who have grown up since the war, and consequently have not experienced our power ; the policy they have seen lately exercised was one of conciliation and bribery. They have seen instances of friendly natives who have done good service treated with neglect and injustice ; they have also, seen bounceable turbulent natives bribed by being placed on pay to pacify them. Such a policy can only induce semi-savages to view us with contempt, as weak and yielding, and as a consequence make them independent and bounceable. It is quite evident that the two great chiefs of disturbed native districts—Tawhiao and Te Whiti—are aware of this feeling; they know from past experience the fate of their race if the rashness of this portion brings on war ; therefore, they have of late been impressing on their respective adherents the necessity of maintaining peace. The difficulty on this coast is not with Te Whiti and the leading chiefs ; much as they may value the lands, they would rather give them up and have a peaceable settlement than risk the chance of war. It is with the young and rash portion of the race, and it would tend to bring the present difficulties to a speedy and peaceful settlement if the Government would without delay cut out what lands they intend for the natives, as it would strengthen the hands of the leading chiefs, in counselling and inducing their people to submit. I have dwelt some time on this point, as I am well aware that it was the neglect to do this in time, that caused the failure of the last Government ; and although the present have a strong force on the land, the natives could shift that force without risking their own lives by attacking them, as we have a number of weak points undefended. But the old and experienced natives know what the result would be in the long run ; it is only the young and inexperienced who might desire to act rashly. To checkmate these,.it is desirable to assist their chiefs in reducing them to as small a minority as possible. The Royal. Commissioners appear to have gained the confidence of the natives, and have done a great deal more towards settling the West Coast difficulties than was expected by the most sanguine of those who understood the complications that existed. In this they have been very materially assisted by Mr. Parriß, (formerly Civil Commissioner), who has always possessed great influence over the natives on this coast. There is no doubt, however, that a great deal of the success attending the working of the Commission is due to the firmness exhibited by the present Native Minister, in displaying force [at the same time that the Royal Commission demonstrate that they wish to do justice. So far, up to the present time, native matters on the West Coast are working favorably, and complications are being so satisfactorily unravelled, that there appears no obvious reason to prevent the West Coast difficulty being brought to a speedy and peaceful settlement. But a great deal has yet to be done, and in native matters small blunders at times lead to serious complications, as has been demonstrated on this coast : and when natives once lose confidence in those they deal with it is difficult to regain their confidence. There is a change of Government, and with the change a firmer and more manly policy. But natives seldom look beyond the local {[officers that admininister a policy ; and as a consequence there is a general feeling of distrust on the part of the natives towards the local officers who administered the policy of the late Government. The success of the Royal Commission is greatly due to the fact that they were assisted by an officer not connected with the late blunders that led to present complications. Some of the chiefs regard a change o£ officials as necessary as a change of policy, "to settle present complications. » The leading chiefs on the West Coast, with the exception of Tohu, are anxious to maintain peace, and strongly opposed to hostilities. Tohu's sentiments are and always have been doubtful. One sentence of his last speech—" It would have been cause for laughter and rejoicing if any of our young men had taken up a stick to defend his land"—appears to indicate that he would like to see trouble ensue from the rash actions of the young men, in imitation of Hiroki. I have endeavored to show that the difficulty is more with the people than their chiefs, and, as I remarked in a previous article, that to be prepared to meet native difficulties successfully it is necessary, not only to take our own views of questions, but also to understand how natives view the same questions.