The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY). MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1879.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5688, 23 June 1879, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY). MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1879.

Maoei news of great importance has been placed at our disposal by the Government. A correspondence relative to the forcible expulsion of certain Maoris who were trespassing upon a settler’s land near Hawera was carried on yesterday between Mr. O. Bkown, the Civil Commissioner in the district, and the Premier, and also between the chairman of the Defence Committee and the Premier, the Taranaki people asking for instructions or directions which Sir G. Gkey Avas unwilling to give. The Premier declined to take upon himself any responsibility in the matter, and said that the settlers, being on the ground, were the best judges of what was best to do. Upon this point we think he judged correctly. The rights of property have been so constantly set at naught by the Maoris that all respect for the white man’s law must have been nearly obliterated from the heart of the Maoris in the district. Once the matter was placed in the hands of practical men whose fortunes were more or less at stake, the immediate outcome of the difficulty was not far to seek. The settlers, acting with a full knowledge of the responsibility resting upon them, are said to have carted off the Maoris, their ploughs and ploughmen, by force, after a slight tussle. Warrants were out against ’some of the trespassers for thieving, &c., but these instruments were not executed. As no blood has been shed, nor any needless violence used, the Maoris will have to accept the onus of being the first to break the peace, if they have recourse to any farther hostilities. Sir G. Grey’s letter has also cleared the ground, inasmuch as it denies that any negotiations are being carried on by the Government with Tb Whiti ; consequently there need be no fear of any complications arising from the action taken by the settlers, as the Europeans 'are'unfettered by any promises. It is satisfactory to be able to report that the Maori trespassers did not offer violent resistance to the Europeans, although a considerable force collected on the ground after the ploughs and ploughmen had been ignominiously expelled. In respect to the caution given by Sir G. Grey to do nothing under excitement, as hasty action almost always leaves cause for regret, we desire to say a word. It is now four Aveeks since the first open acts of aggression at Oakura were committed, and the settlers have throughout conducted themselves under trying circumstances Avith a moderation which is quite exemplary. They have not only submitted patiently to the damage which has been done by the trespassers, but have even allowed thefts to go unpunished without any violent protest. By piivate letters lately to hand from the West Coast, wo learn that business is at a standstill, the stock market is depressed far beyond a normal limit, and drilling has taken the place of farming. Numbers of settlers must have suffered very heavy losses through the stagnation of farming business and through the general unsettling of all the work of every-day life. In addition to this, money is now scarce and tight, and almost all the settlers have interest to pay on borrowed capital. Unless their flocks and herds increase, and their crops are sown in due season, their prospects for the coming year will be far from, cheerful, especially now that the selling value of land in tho district has depreciated to an enormous extent, Under such circumstances, the settlors may reply to the Premier—“ These MaorishaA’e swallowed “up the profits of our business and “ threatened us with ruin ; they havede- “ fied the law Avhich we are forced to “ respect and have insulted with im- “ purity the authority which we obey ; “they have stolen what they wanted “ from us : they openly threaten to drive “ us into the sea, and are daily making

“ fresh, aggressions. We have borne “ these insults and humiliations for a “ long time patiently, and we have ap- “ pealed to you for instructions, and you “ decline to instruct us, and beg us to be “calm. It is difficult to be calm while 1 ‘ suffering insult and wrong, when the “ law which it is the duty o f the Govern- “ ment to administer and enforce, pro- “ vides no redress for the wrongs com- “ mitted.” The settlers have proved themselves worthy of the arms entrusted to them; their patience and self-con-trol have been submitted to a searching test during the past month, and it was hardly graceful for the Premier to entirely ignore their meritorious conduct in the past, and simply to deplore their excitement and beg of them to be calm. What Sir G. Grey says about some disputes in the County of Kent when he was in his youth is in our opinion simply nonsense. Murder has been punished, and punishable in England for many a long year, and the case put can by no possibility be accepted as a parallel one. Hiroki or Te Kooti would never, since their crimes were committed, have openly dared to brave the vengeance of the law even in the more settled districts of New Zealand. If similar outrages had been attempted in Great Britain within the last 70 years, even in the remotest corners of the dominion, such open defiance of the law by the evil-doers would have been speedily punished. The Queen’s writ has never yet been made to run throughout the North Island of New Zealand, and possibly for some years to come it may not be politic to enforce it. The Maoris, grown bold by degrees, have now acted as though they really believed that they could drive the Europeans off the land they claim, without recourse to the law. Whatever may be the result of the course taken by the settlers it is certain that their action will be fully and heartily endorsed by the settlers throughout the whole of New Zealand. Under great provocation they have acted a brave and a forbearing part with true manliness and rare discretion.

It is exceedingly likely that the determination evinced by the settlers to resist any further encroachments will bring matters to a crisis on the West Coast. It is somewhat ominous that the same day which brings news of these disturbances should also be the bearer of intelligence that tens of thousands of marbles have been bought in Dunedin, and it is supposed that they will be sold to the rebel natives, to be used by them as bullets, if war should break out. Fabulous prices have been paid by the Maoris for gunpowder in the district; and deeply as we should deplore a native war, it would be almost a relief to face an open outbreak and see the end of the present state of anxious suspense. If the Maoris mean to fight, the sooner they set about it the better ; and the fact that all negotiations have ceased between the Government and Te Whiti may be accepted as a sign that there is no hope of a peaceful solution of the native difficulty being arrived at, without submitting to a further long and harassing delay.