'TIS SIXTY-ONE YEARS SINCE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4261, 22 January 1901, Page 4

'TIS SIXTY-ONE YEARS SINCE

•Whoa the New /.calami Cornpanv cut the first hatch r-f colonists in the ship Tory to settle in l!m nmgniiiiieiit barhour of Port NidmU-n, the act was a defiance of the British Government. lint it was a ane ecssi ui e. c .iiu.ee. 1 iic On-.-eminent bud ieug hesitated ai taK»v the decisive blep of definitely annexing Ibe country. At brst the Governor cl Ncn South Wales v>. as given tiJidioricy c 1 c. the, British , Alsatians (whalers, beachcombers and land-rli at irs) in theca islands Then Air Busby was Mint as the British representative 'u the country, and ofr Busby being found to be without men or money was by universal consent- nicknamed the ‘’man-of-war without guns. Presently Mr Riiobv, having signalised himself by promulgating a .Federal Constitution with a dag of. his own devising for the Maori tribes, was found to he also without brains, Before- the v. orld bnd dune laughing a’- the di; cojiilitcd omcial, the French Govern in out showed practical derives in the direr!ion d Baiiica PcniiiMila. It r. as then the unauthorised departure of ‘lie good ship Tory was aiinouncs-d. The British Government- toeieupoo give up the game of hosilasiejj, in apt; -■ c,i Gu : Duke ol Wellington, who deniaved that Great Britain was lon much luird’oned with colonies aiveady, and sent. out Governor Hobson.. Ths result was the Trusty of Wailaogi.

.Involved in Uv.vfc result many others, mr./t ot which Hverei very im- )'■ loa>iu", to >.V;v \v Fetliers iu the South. The Tory’s .arrival had been prepared for' by s great laud purchase, arranged between Colonel Wakefield cf tba one pail and the chief To Rauparaba of the other. The ‘Maori sniToud'cved millions of acres, .surveyed by a careless v-svc cl his hand, and the (,'olcnol surrendered a few score of axes, a little ammunition and'some blankets. On (he faith of this I rane-aotion the Wellington immigrants paid (Tov/n a pound an, acre for their sections te, the smiling company, after which they passed the voyage in happy dreams. Before they could get their lands, the signing’of the Waitaugi Treaty was followed by a .proclamation, invalidating all 'sales, of native land. The sct-tlon} got a rude awakening, and their newly-opened eyes took in the most dangerous situation that ever confronted New Zealand colonists. Certainly none of the other great centres of Now Zealand’s population, were, called upon to make good their position against such tremendous odds. The .southern part of the North island was the seat of a vast Maori power. Founded by To Rauparaba, the Kawhia chief, 'after his migration southwards, and with many wars and much diplomacy, it was ruled by that potentate when the Tory came into harbour. The Maori settlements clustered thick round the extensive sheet or water. .From the pa at To Aro their settlements ran round to their stronghold at Kumitoto frowning above where now is WoodKvard street. At Pipitea Point (hero was another crowded fortification, another at Taka 4 wai, wlych carried the line of defensive strength on to Kaiwarra-warra. Ngahauranga had another great*strong place, being a strategic position commanding tho road to Porirua. At Pel cue yet another set ol palisades told of armed warriors ready to defend their own, and their stronghold was but the iutrod/wjtion to the teeming fortified .Maori life of the Hull volley. At Porirua. was another strong place., and the Maoris were in ail tho hays of the West Coast, •and in armed possession of every river crossing, ond piece of smiling open land, Waiuui, Warcrou, Waremoko, Waikanac. Waikawa, Oban, Parol awhau, and many I another place of renown, up to Otaki; and between that place and the JManawatu they swarmed in their thousands. The redoubtable Tb Rauparaba ruled the whole from his lair in the island of Rapid, and Xtangihaeta, scarcely less formidable, destined shortly to bo the murderer of Arthur Wakefield and his misguided companions at Wairau, held, with bis skirmishers, the hills between the western coast and the valley ot the Hutt. In presence of this display of overv. helming force .the settlers who had paid their cash for their lands wondered hew the Grown, which, can do all things, was going to make the palpably recalcitrant Te Rauparaba give them possession. Ju the midst of their wondering came Governor Hobson’s proclamation, and Te Rauparaba adroitly took the easy courae cf bowing to the Queen’s authority, it

was perhaps well. Had he been compelled to fight, he would have, swept even*.seit-lcr into the ovc-ns of his tribesmen. Better for them that he contented himself with saluting Governor Hobson with the Maori equivalent for “A Daniel come to judgment. ’ The in os I. wonderful thing in the. history of those Wellington settlers is that they emerged from that apparently impossible situation, on the line of destiny which brought them to their present preatness. This they did, though every possible addition was made to their per-

plexiiy. To begin v. ill*. 'be dnrknc'- c in v.hiol: they : toed -.-. - deepened by shadow of a bed opporhsuuv. Governor Hobson, having G ictcddirh a capital fltc-rorarcka. having provt-J uHi-'f-ribhv. ought to ha'A flown lo the j.u-onr ;■ sreotn anhir.il centre He preferred the iVaitematu. He did u cli by sett ing up a. citv there —did a great art of . i vr-1 r;.:y bv rutting the great nwrUmm tribes off from cur ruo.'i lui eshe ce; <tt. But there were while - r r ..>.igj, ;i (!■•<■- north for the srrat'gv. b- would ln-e done far bolter bad hr thp-owa tb« aw or -part of the material pi >'•?!!ctb «>i ‘ drown’s 'C-cctipatiou into f be It Nicholson site. .He lost u area*. ‘TT n ''- tunity. tVJral is more, he angered tiu' oeople by regarding (hem as lawless persons no better than ihc Alsatians of the wre-oblonlsiug days, and that only because they wore properly sturdy, and Governor Fitznrv was even worse in ties rasped. The consequence was 11*.;t "Wellington found the apparently insoloible Maori problem intensified by chavkc:- from the Crown’s, representative <1 disloyalty, anil by si net injunction: against- drilling or any pr-rparaticu whalover for self-defence- His u-elcss to fellow out the story of how (bat brave picked intellectual population ww through this tenable pro mure of chincullies, the worst, that- any of the venues had to encounter. To-d.:> *vo au % alt m*m.iug aereuelv on (ho spot w here vSiv. P' • - formed that- arcut f-ai. Wo o ; m muy recail its memory, and hope Gmt nlici.cveir any simihir ihllicutt.v con 1 routs i. •. the spirit of time uran-l old j-mneers mav be hero to carry b.rouyb.