THE MAOKI DIFFICULTY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5554, 16 January 1879, Page 2

THE MAOKI DIFFICULTY.

TO THE EDITOK OK THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sie, —I am at a loss to know what has really been done towards the settlement of the so-called Maori difficulty. I say “ so-called ” because I had no idea of any great difficulty of the kind beyond the necessity of acting justly and yet firmly with them under existing treaties, until it was disclosed by the present Ministry in that official document called the Governor’s Speech, wherein we read the following ;—“ I congratulate you on the fact that peaceful relations have at last been established with the Waikato and Ngatimaniopoto tribes. Papers on this subject will be laid before you.” These papers were duly laid before Parliament, and as State documents are beyond doubt unrivalled. They must be read to be appreciated, as n'» extracts can give a fair idea of their general character. The most salient points, however, are reports of a series of meetings with the natives, where general speech-making, feasting, singing, • dancing, nose-rubbing, card-playing, and -the innocent games of hunt the slipper and kiss-in-the-ring, were the order of the day, the whole being supplemented by dcg-fights and pig-fights. In connection with all this Mr. Seymour George is reported to have acted as Com-missary-General, being ably assisted by Mr. J. C. Brown, M.H.E., who was said to have been mnch charmed by a Maori chief’s daughter. But where the settlement of the Maori or any other difficulty comes in in these papers I fail altogether to discover. Notwithstanding the establishment of peaceful relations with the natives referred to in the Governor’s speech, of which there is not ; the least trace in those papers, the Native Minister appears to have been exceedingly hard worked " daring the present recess. This is evidenced by his constant travelling amongst them, as reported in our _ colonial telegraphic intelligence. We learn the following from one day’s telegrams : —“ The Native Minister and party left Hamilton on Friday afternoon, travelling overland through Piako Swamp to Morrisville.—Left nine, o’clock next morning.—Arrived at Te Aroha at one o’clock. The Natiye Minister then proceeded to Omaha, where a number of natives assembled to meet him. The Native

Minister left Omaha at four o'clock, reaching Grahamstown at midnight. The following afternoon he paid a visit to Taipare’s residence, ■which is a fine specimen of modern Maori architecture. At a native meeting, Hauhanrq a Ngatimaniopoto chief, asked who was this pakeha Sheehan —it appeared to him Mr. Sheehan was trying all ho knew to cause trouble amongst them. Grahamstown.—Mr. Sheehan will not arrive here before Monday, when ho will be entertained at a banquet in the evening. The Native Minister leaves tonight by steamer. He returns to the Thames to-morrow evening, when a banquet is to be given in his honor.” The above is but a small portion of one day’s telegrams about our Native Minister and his movements. In Heaven’s name ! what does all this travelling to and fro and all these constant banquetings mean? Where are the fruits—to the of either Maori or European! I ask these questions because I have my doubts as to whether or not the Premier and Native Minister are not creating difficulties with the Maoris, or at least increasing any that might have existed, by holding out hopes and raising expectations which the people of this colony will never allow to be realised. This playing into the hands of the Maoris for the purpose of securing popularity amongst them will in all probability render it difficult when the time comes to bring them back to a sense of the real state of affairs as between themselves, the Government, and European population of this country. In all this I may be mistaken, but I cannot divest my mind of the conviction that the proper method of dealing with a people in such a low or backward state of civilisation as are the Maoris, is to act with them justly and in good faith, but at the same time with uncompromising firmness, thereby impressing them with the fact that in virtue of our superior intelligence we are their rulers. Otherwise difficulties will be endless, for concession means only further concession, until 'their demands will become altogether disproportionate to their legitimate rights. This is the state of things which I fear will bo found to be the outcome of the tampering policy of the present Government. I shall however be only too happy to learn that they have succeeded in effecting very much good both to the Maoris and the colony at large. Anything of the kind I, at present, fail to discover from any papers or reports at my command.—l am, &c.,

Inquirer.