The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 29 December 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1880.

The sale of confiscated territory on the West Coast of the North Island and the speedy settlement of an industrious guropean population upon it, will virtually settle tha Maori difficulty, or rather convince people that no such difficulty exists. On the whole, t}ie Qoyarj)jnent may be congratulated oil the results which have, been evoleed from the West Coast pojicy which they inherited frojn their predecessors, although, of course, we do not mean to infer that any great statesmanship has been revealed in the process. From the very first we were among the number of those who thought the prospect of an outbreak on any large scale well nigh impossible. We thought the perils and disposing of the Waimate Plains grossly exaggerated, and our information from settlers in the very district jimply confirmed this view. To take reasonable precautions in case of an outbreak was, however, absolutely necessary, and, that being done, Maori bravado and blustering were scarcely worth all the attention dgvoted to thpßJ. Of one thing we would lifea to be quite assured, namely, that no delay will occur in marking off the lands appropriated to the natives, which are, after all, by far the larger proportion of the West Coast. The Commission has dealt not only fairly by the claims of natives, but liberally—almost prodigally. In the immediate neighborhood—we know from personal intercourse with some old residents—the award was regarded as most extravagant, and, in their opinion, the small proportion left to be disposed of to Europeans would not recoup the exfcyise incurred in surveying and selling it. agree with this; but it is at. any rate, on the right we do not overlook fact that it was not so much for of revenue that the settlement called for. It was to native disaffection, and either awe them into submission to the white man. AH this has or is in a fair way of and although it is engreat sacrifice, and the Colony are With the progress district, as in Auckand Wellington, the will be beneficially give. to artifithe trill soopi The prospect one In of

whiteman at r. b.-rgain, and sometimes "even his superior. Nevertheless.-he "is invariably subjected to a process of temptation and Trickery, and falls a victim to the pakeha to a shocking extent. And what is the consequence? Are there not hundreds of Maoris absolutely landless ? and any considerable increase of t-uch an undesirable will be a permanent source of insecurity p.r.d disgust. To prevent the increase of such an evil in connection with West Coast and other future settlement is surely within the mortis at the disposal of ilie Government. We are told that we cannot have one law for the Maori and another for the pakeha, nor should we in the main. But if a national evil.arises from the improvidence of thie native race in disposing of their land,- and a large class of Maori mendicants are thus created, it i 3 not only -justifiable, but absolutely iiicnuibbut on the State to prevent if possible ouch An undesirable state of things. .The remedy clearly is to prevent the absolute sale of some proportion of the lands which have already been, or may yet ba, - granted to the Maoris. The State should prevent their becoming State paupers, and there is only one way of doing it, and that is by taking care that some proportion of the Maori lands are made inalienable. Te Whiti'3 power and prestige were largely augmented by such vast crowds as gathered periodically at- Parihaka, ready to do his behests without question. And who were they 1 They came from Wanganui and the Manawatu in the west, and from the Waikato and the King Country in the north. They were the landless ana the disaffected of the whole island j and had the propiiet been less peacefully disposed—had he chosen to cry "Let slip the dogs of war," the native districts would long ago have been the scene of bloodshed. Other prophets more turbulent may arise, and it must not be forgotten that other extensive' areas have still to be settled. After Parihaka will come the King Country.,,and it is much to be desired that in the meantimethe race of disaffected which transformed Parihaka into a yeritabje Cave of Adullam should not be needlessly increased. If the natives are permitted to yield to the blandishments of thegenus Pakeha-Maori, skilled in the potency of Waiipero and native credulity, what remains for them ? \yhat but another period of disaffection, - an ac£UO}ulg.tfqn once more, perhaps, of large numbers in the King Qqijijtry ; and all the sacrifices we have made in the cause of peace will have to be made over again. Parihaka has been an expensive experiment, and in the name of common sen§e we demand that there shall not be any occasion for puph another, There need pot be, and to ths Ifative Sinister we commend the observations we have ventured to make.

At the conclusion of last night's meeting at Otepopo re representation proposals of the Government, the Chairman, Mr. James Falconer, introduced the question of Farmer's Co-operation. He said that there was some talk in the district of starting a Fanners' Club, and he "was glad of it. Nearly two years ago he had introduced the subject. Strange to say nothing had boep dotlQ towfjrdg the of this object, which was admittedly an im? portant one to the fanners of this district, Lately some interest had been taken in the question. He had been spoken to regarding it by several settlers, -who seemed to think that some action should at once be taken in the matter. He thought it would be well if something -were done in this direction atonce. The harvest was approaching, and he believed that an understanding might -be arrived at that would establish prices, wages, &c. He did not think that in taking steps to bring about such a result they would be acting unjustly towards anyone. What \yas wanted was more system. The meeting seemed to concur in the Chairman's remarks. But, as the hour was late, and a number of those present had to travel several miles to reach their homes, it was resolved that a meeting of the settlers of Hampden, Maheno, and Otepopo, should be called for Tuesday, the 4th January, at 3.30 o'clock, at the Otepopo Schoolroom. From what transpired at the meeting, there is every reasc:: to belieye tljat the cxorrjple set by the setlL;i- of the Plains will be followed by tLe settlers of every agricultural centre throughout the district. The desire of the Otepopo settlers seems to be to secure the attendance at each of the meetings which shall be held to consider this question, of settlers not only of the localities in which tlje meetings are held, but of parts more distant.

The Directors of the Caledonian Society met last evening, Mr Miller, in the chair. A letter was read from Mr. J. Mitchell, asking for the patronage of the Society at the concert to be given in aid of the Rifles' Band. The meeting declined to comply with the request. Mr. J. Sinclair was tliapked for his gift of a black-board to be used on the gj#und at the sports. . The sum of L 5 was voted fop refreshments for the band on the two days. The Philharmonic Society will meet for rehersal to-night, at the usual time and place. All .those who are able and willing to take part in the next concert are cordially invited Jo be present. The Oamaru Schools Committee will meet this evening, at 7.30, at Mp. Harry's qffipe. Ij) addition to general business, Mr. Mitchell will move tjiat the compulsory clauses pf the Education A<?fc be brought into force in this distnet. It is prgbable fcfrafc, upon this question, considerable discussion wjll arise.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court today, a man for being drunk was cautioned and discharged. Mails for Australian Colonies, per Ringarooma, close at Bluff on Friday, 31st December, at 11.30 a.m. Telegrams will be accepted at the Oamaru office accordingly. Mr. Kerr, the Honorary Treasurer of the Gifford Second Annual Art Union, desires us to state that the list of subscribers is now full, and that he merely awaits the payment for the tickets before drawing for the prizes. Hp those who have not yet paid to kindly do so at once, to facilitate the drawing. Shop-keepers in this town are cautioned against certain smart gentry who AFe in the habit of soliciting the loan of a shilling for the settlement of a wages account with " a gentleman outside the door." It is noticeable that the persons who try on this sharp practice are in the habit of waiting until the master of the shop hss gqpe out. The following has been forwarded tp ug for insertion Arrangements have been made to observe a week of grayer in Oamaru at the beginning of the year,. as far as possible according to the programme issued by the Evangelical Alliance. Meetings will be held at the following places at 7-30 each evening:—ln the Presbyterian Church, on Tuesday, 3rd January; in the Wesley an Church", on Wednesday, 4th January; in the Primitive Methodist CJrorcli, on Thursday, sth January ; and in St. James' Hall, Teesstreet, on Fridiay, 6th January. The following are the topics suggested for exhortation and intercession [—"Praise and thanks giving for all blessings," " Humiliation and confession," "Prayer for the Church of Christ," "Prayer for the young and theninstructors," "Prayer for all nations," "Prayer for Christian Missions," "Sermons."