Maori Discontent.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 9793, 19 March 1908, Page 4

Maori Discontent.

PETITION TO THE KING. (Per Pkess Association.) Wellington, March 1.8 A picturesque and interesting gathering of Moaris was held at Wa'uaroa to-day to bring under the notice of his Excellency the Governor a-nd the. Prime Minister the alleged grievances of the Moaris with regard to the confiscation of .Native lands. The vice-regal and parliamentary party, which travelled to YVaharoa. by special train, consisted of Lord Plunket, Sir Joseph Ward, Won. Jas. Carroll (Minister of Native Affairs;, Mr Hone Hoke, M.P., Mr Xga-ta, M.P., and Te Jfeu lieu Tukina, (a prominent Maori chief). Mr iienare 11. Kaihau, M.P.. joined the party at Hamilton. When the party arrived at the citation they were met by the representatives of the tribes assembled, and were driven to where thei meeting was to take place at a -Maori K;uanga about two miles away. Here the .Maoris were assembled in icree, and elaborate preparations bad been made for the reception of the visitors. They were received by T'eifi Titlia K a ruin a, who escorted the party to the assembled Maoris, who greeted them with ehouls of welcome-, while the women, attired in picturesque cost tunas, performed a, series of Native exercises.

There was a great gathering of the tribes fur a majority of the Natives in- the district are firmly convinced that- the. Wa-i----tangi Treaty of 1840 lias been violated., and th;it they have been unfairly treated Ijy the pakehas. Proceedings were opened by the presentation, (if a.n acl<lrci-iri .if welcome to the Iwveraor. The address stated that it was his Excellency's first visit to these tiib:il families. It referjecl to the treaty established between Queen Victoria ami 1 lie .Maori high chiefs in 1840, and went on to state: "It ,i.s upwards of 40 years since the separation of our lands unjustly from us. Not the slightest tiling was done in* law to investigate the .rights and the wrongs liel'ore tin's extreme measure fell. Why was it not tried by the law '! Many representations simitar to this have been made to tlie Governors, anvil the Government's word has been received from the Governor that this grievance should receive careful consideration when it reached the Governlileiil. A reply came to us tlasit they had no -reply regarding this lease, therefore v,v now express our desire to your Excellency —namely, that the Jands of the Waikuto eontiscated he returned to the people and faiiiirW imiii whom thev were taken by force of arms by the Gmeniment. There were many lands on the isiand taken, by force by eontiseation for the wars of Taranaki and Tuuranga, and on the. east coast ol the North Island, which are in suspension, no portion of which has been considered or Investigated by the law." The petition went on'to state that the eonliication of the lands without a trial by law of this exceedingly grave case was wrong. "Why should tood "he weigh, d to determine its weight and cloth be measured to tincl out its length in yards and not this great matter —the eoniiscation of the land'; Why was it not weighed to as. certain its weight or measured to ascertain its length in feet, and the food also, the timber also? The doth is measured: why | w<-re the lands taken by eoniiscation tor j the war not measured? Therefore we ale I justified in our statements that it was mi- I just that these hostilities should fall upon j oiM- lands, itathcr they should attack the | Treaty of Waitangi." The petitioners j prayed the Governor to personally forward or cause the petition to be delivered into the hands of the King. The petition, which has already been published, was presented with the address. Tahangakawa (chief of the local tribe) then addressed the Governor, and compared him to a native bird which flew only occasionally. "Our race is disappearing and the lands are disappearing,'" said. Tahauga. "We ask you to trv to saie them. "We have little to say." It is all embodied in the address presented to vou."

iI Is Excellency, in the course of ins reply, after thanking the Maoris for their address of welcome, said that when the -Maoris iiad petitioned him previously he had ventured to give them some advice :n reply, saying that, whether these things required settlement or not, there were manv other important things that the Maoris might do'. They had asked him to reneat tiiat advice to' the tribe, and he would do so. The petition they had asked linn to present to the King slated, amoic other things, that the Treaty of Waitangi was not being kepi, and that the present laws of New Zealand were not in accordance with it. and that eonseqtieutlv the Natives were rapidly hecomiiK' desti". tue. lie (Lord Pltiukei) had also been informed that in case thev did not get a satisfactory answer they intended to'send

Home .1 deputation !.", his Majesty the Iviug. lit- did ii.il at tli-' protieiil" time propose to iin into I ho i|tiestion 01 tin- ion_ iiseation of lands, noi- diil he propose t., speak Olllv SVmpathetio Words 1,, the,,,, though il would 1,, ; very i- :i! ;v for him 1,, ili. km. He Would tell t'hem 'il,,- null, a:; il pi.-s,'iiled itself In him. First, as |., the proposal to aoiid Homo a ,h-|i,itai imi 1., hi:, Majesty the Kin.,'. the „hl,r 1,1.11 would remember that wii.-ii previous \:i. tiv.r deputations, v.i-ut 1,, her Ma j,tu v (Ji:. .-n \ i.ti.ria they were invarial.lv" |,,'1,l llial the aft.,its ol tlu- Maoris and linn, Means in -New Zealand < mieerned tl„. i io/e, nine,it I,l' New Zealand and not the ll„mc authorities. They had been K iveti eonslilmioiia! gmerument, and thev must rarrv ~nt thai government themselves. I on'stit nl i 0,,.,! government was never inleri'-.-rod with. If I hi- Maoris were s„ f,„,li.sh as ti, sin.l Home a di.pntati.ui, that was what w,,ii!,l happen. .And nmv. as 1., the petit ion before him, and Iho out: he had re.eive.l al Wellington, that the- 'lleal y of U'ailangi war, not carried mil as originally speeilie,7 That was perlWt.lv true. ,\o one denied il, hut times .hanged, and whal was suii_ able at one period was not suitable at. an.

i 11..-.. It was a „,i,-sii,„, „r tail- t.-.-.:i.. menl, -11..1 n.,1 of particular clauses. ll' llii-y asked u. haw certain c-1.-iu.s.-s of the treaty tvpcak.l. many of them had passed the time when the King could repeal them. The -Yew Zealand Government meant to dr. rigid by the Maori people. It was one of the proudest boasts of the lintisli Empire that it had tried to treat the native races fairly. Some of the laws the Maoris complained of might require eorreiiion ~r improvement. Tliev might not always work out as thev were in. tended, hut he thought the Xalhes would he imu-li wiser in pressing upon the Go-vei-Miueul —and pressing upon their Native members to endeavor to improve w'norever there was a fault, rather than make such an impossible demand as to have these laws repealed, lie spoke not as a Governor, but as one who would like to he their friend. The Treaty of YYaitangi was a blessing in the earlier days, but it was becoming a great curse when they relied upon it altogether, instead of making the most of their lands. There were tribes with plenty of laud, and vet they were dying out. There were tribes who could not find a grievance, and vet they were dying out. His .Excellency told his hearers the fable of the dog who dropped his piece of meat in the brook, and pointed his application of it by advising the Maoris not to drop the substance for the shadow. There were other things equally as important for the Maori as the Treaty of Waitangi. There was the question of modern education for .Maori children, _ the teaching of agriculture in all the Native schools, a modern and better system of farming, and improved sanitation and drainage in Maori homes and villages. He advised the head men in conclusion not to think only of the Treaty of Waitangi and confiscated lande, hut to think of what good they might do their people in the present, and they would be benefiting their people and doing themselves honor. The Prime Minister said he wanted to impress upon them the constitutional posi. tion. It was only natural for them to tryto get to a higher power than the. Govern", ment. He wanted to say a" few words about the question of confiscation. . The old Maoris would remember' that they were warned that their lands would lie confiscated if they' were rebels. This was the law of nations. -The Xew Zealand Government of to-day was not responsible for what had happened ,in the earlier days, but it took up the.position as.it found it. The Treaty- of Waitangi said the Xative lands must be protected, and they were being protected. They l must also not overlook the fact that many- things were being .done for the .Maoris which were hot provided for in the .treaty. Many of them were receiving old-age pensions, but the petition had raised' a big question, aiid they must recognise that when -a big question was at stake the Home authorities wvyc bound to send them to' their owT) country. The Government recognised that it was a right and proper thing to help the people of this country, whether they < were Maoris or Europeans. The Govern- '■ ment had helped the .Maori, and was pre- < pared to help him much further by advanc. | ing him money to help, him to improve his land on scientific principles. The whole i

position of the Maori trouble -was involved in the question of the Maori laud question. If the Maori was industrious and cultivated his land assiduously, much of •the trouble that lie had piled up for himself would: disappear. There were four Maori representatives in the Lower House and' several ini the Upper House who were energetic and watchful ill the Native interests. There was every desire on the part of the Government anid Parlihmenit to liave a practical settlement of the Native land difficulty, which had -existed so long. They did not) 'want to deprive the Natives of a single acre of their land. He did not wish to prevent their approaching the English Government in the matter, but lie believed it would be labor in vain. T.he remedy was a>t their own doors, in the Parliament of their country.

The Hon. James Carroll dealt exhaustively with the petition, about which, he •said," much misconception seemed to exist. While the spirit of the treaty had been adhered to, changes in the law had of necessity been made, from time to time to meet existing conditions. However isinceic the Natives were in their petition, their past deaffiugi with Maori lands showed, that thev .had not been consistent. In oito breath "they complained bitterly that their lands wure slipping away from them, and in the next they besieged him with applications) in order that thev might sell it. The act of 1900, which was specially designed to protect their .interests, and permitted leasing, did not meet with, favour at their hands, the result being that :i. .clause wn,s inserted into the act of 1905 to enable purchases to take [dace. Though tin- .'icl. had been in opera'tinn only a little, more than a' year, a, great number of sales had taken place, aind' if this had -gone on the Natives would'soon have, been eintireliy without lands, lie. urged the Natives to givie up squabbling among themselves, to unite in, a. common cause, to come down, to reality with determination,. and educate themselves in dairying, farming, sanitation, and other matters,' and. they would not.vnly provide their own material' prospering and that of thi.r faimilies. but they would remove from their doors all cause of complaint, and! would tind many willing workers to .a**Lst them on the road of progress. The present Government- was very anxious that the natives should have every opportunity to cultivate and improve their lands, and onlv wanted some evidence from them that thev desired to proceed on these lines. Thev were advised to make the most, of the presence of the Native band Commission, when it came among them. They comU consult with- the commission in the open before all the people interested, and it would .rest with them to show what they wanted' done with their I amis. The commission would then report, and the law would give effect thereto. Tahangakawa brought the gathering to a close bv remarking that he could not reply to what had U'eii said, as the time was'so short, but he would consider wha-t had been spoken, and give them an answer. Tile Ministerial party stayed at Hamilton to-night, and to-morrow proceed,; to Ngaruawahia. where the Prime Minister addresses another Native gathering. In .the afternoon Sir Joseph Ward will go on to Koforua.