STATE OF THE NATIVE DISTRICTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 181, 26 June 1862, Page 5

STATE OF THE NATIVE DISTRICTS.

The accounts from the various Native Districts disclose a very unsatisfactory state of things. The authority of the magistrates seems to be entirely set' at defiance, aud the influence of the batter disposed native chiefs powerless. We extract the following reports : — ■ W A I P A. ■ (From the Correspondent of the Dmlii Southern .Cross.) Waipa, Juno 4. Mr. Chitham's sheep are still detained by the natives. They do not bate their demand—£2oo absolutely, or if they begin lambing before this is paidup, £170. Our magistrate, Mr. Gorst, has done all: iv his power to arrange the matter, but without sue- . cess, and has got insulted into the bargain, by being told to go and iniud his own business. This is one result, of the Maori runangas. A meeting has been held here by the Whaingaroa and W.'iipa natives.^ _ The chiefs fratsou (Watene) and Hakia are raising every objection to the road , heing proceeded with. They have stuck np a po.-t in the middle of the Waitetuna river, and hnve defied William Naylor to come any further Avith the road. I hear Naylor is .very determined about it, so' much ' so, that (a's I have bjen told by a native) the govern-; me t surveyor is about to return, if lie has not sot .- out cm his journey, to Auckland.- If Naylor persists iv making the road, we shall most probably hiwe,.,' a fight between his party aud the kingi tus. I hear" the government do not intend backing up William .Naylor, consequently, we need not expect any roads in thiS direction for yearj to come. Watene is reported to h,rvo told his people that on his leaving Whaingaroa, a European said to hiui—-•' "Watene, are the Waikato going to join you iv this fight against William Naylor ! If they do, .come and give us timely waruing,-t]int we may depart, and not have a second Taranaki affair." I hear the following tax has been levied by tho King on Europeans : —For traders £,i per annum ; 10s. yearly for those who Jo nothing; and ss. for working men. The " do-nothings" are considered to be those who live ou their private means. It is rumored up here that Mr.- Armitage has given £1 to tlie King. That gentleman being a.Commissioner, I can hardly believe it, though it came from very good authority. It is also said that he has taken his flagstaff down, which has amused him for soma - years past. I believe I am right in stating that the Government are in receipt of fetters from Mr. Gorst, It. M., communicating some startling facts in relation to the uu- . satisfactory state of altars in this district, and the insecurity of life and property. This-cannot'contain much beyond what has beeu published in the Cross, but signed by a Resident Magistrate, if the documents j were made public, thay avouJl' have proportionate I weight. A native has just called and informed me tbat the pole placed in the Waitetuna was carried away by tha fate freshet, and that Watene had left to see how matters stood there. • . . ... Our natives have not returned yet from the Piako. The real facts have not yet come to light as to the purport of this long visit, though Aye glean a little now, and possibly, shall more on their return. ; One question I heard was discussed —the propriety of not allowing any European to dig for gold, wuieh they . say was never agreed to by them. ■ ■-.■ TAUPO. It appears that Mr. Law is not getting on quite so ; smoothly as your contemporary, the New ZeaUuider, would make people believe. Tlie natives at Taupo have had several meetings relative to sending him • away, and threaten to burn his house_ doAvn. This statement was made by the Taupo missionary, during . ! a conversation he'had with some Europeausat Otawhao, one of whom was my informant. Waikato. —Mr. Rogan has just returned from Wiremu Naykn-'s kainga. All his efforts have failed in inducing the natives lo commence the road which Naylor had undertaken to have made through hw hind. Those Avho know Naylor best are fully persuaded that he has been forced to yield to the intimi- ' dution of the king party; and that ho was sincere in his intention to have carried out the road, if allowed. The' Melanesia!? Mission.—The Right Reverend Bishop Pattesou, who was last year consecrated Missionary Bishop of thesp Islands, and who is about to.return with his native scholars to the sphe-e of hi* labours, preached two sermons in St. Paul's Church last Sunday, iv aid of the funds of the mission. The I inclemency of the weather, which prevented a number from attending in the morning, accounts for tho smallncssof the collection, Avhen compared with those for the same object 0:1 former occasions. The amount received Avas L3l. In the evening the church ay#s well filled, and his Lordship preached an excellent sermon from the text, "A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation," (Isa. 00, xxii.) in which he alluded to the peculiar difii- •: culties attending the spread of the Gosoel among the savage inhabitants of those islands—the most.insur-mount-able being the endless diversity of dialects, each island (and this group is estimated at 200) Wring a language or dialect of its oavii. Seventy of these islands have been personally visited by Bishop Pattesou, from many of which he has succeeded in bring ing away some of the brightest and most intelligent youths, to whom a christian education is imparted, and through whose instrumentality lie hopes the glad tidings of salvation may be can-fed to every island. The savage barbarity of these islanders iv their natural state Avas vividly described; and one instance, said to have occurred within the experience of one of the . youths under his chanre, was shocking to contemplate. • He has seen, he says, a whole-.village, consisfing of from forty to fifty souls, swept away—tlie men butchered, the Avomeu burnt, and the infants'dashed against the stones, victims to the vengeance of their savage foes. _But, notwithstanding, Bishop Patteson speaks hopefully as to the ultimate success of his philanthropic and benevolent enterprise, and stated that in many islands Avhere, on his first visit, ■. he dared stay no longer than two or three minutes to leave his presents on the beach and retire, he is: now received with every demonstration of joy and - ! welcome. This Mission has always been liberally" supported by the people of Auckland; a capacious school has been built in the sheltered bay of Kohima- ■■■• rama for. the reception of the Islanders, who are brought up every summer to be; educated ; and a"--.' missionary schooner, to replace the loss of the Southern Cross is, -we hear, shortly expected to arrive, and' thus the Avork of evangelizing- the Islands of thb' Pacific will be greatly facilitated.— Neio Zealander. ■■ Sin George Gret and ms Ministers.—TheDaily Southern Cross makes the following remarks, upon the Avant of influence of the Governor's responsible Ministers :—" We find, for instance, that the natiA-es will not recognise our responsible ministers, but look to the Governor, and him alone, as an authority. To this we have no. objection, though the fact ia rather a startling commentary upon some of the arguments lately put forth by the ministerial organ, as to the responsibility of ministers in native affairs. . We rather like the idea, and if the natives are determined to recognise nobody except the GoA-ernor—all right, but we Avill recognise nobody else either in native affairs, and Aye will not allow ourselves to be involved in the eyes of the world, because powerless men pretend to be Avorking for us. Let the bargains be mutual, and we shall all be ready to abida by it. 1 But we learn something more than even this. ' The natives wont deal with the "-face to the face" men even acting as negotiators and agents, though they were wont of old to be quite content todd so Avith '•third class clerks." And we find, too, that when' the natives Avish to. communicate Avith the Governor they will not do so through the Prime Minister, ' though he may call himself the Native Secretary for ever. Ministers may abolish departments, and amalgamate offices, and make what changes they like : :'•'' but the natives look to the men, and Mr. Fox, though - clothed in all the dignities of a constitutional appointment, and undertaking, single handed, many and 1 most onerous duties, will never command one tithe .. of the power and influence over the natives which was possessed in the earlier days of the colony hy ' Major Nugent.— Southern Qrwtj Jtu»« 12,

THE CO.IOMANDIty DIFFICULTY". (From the Aucklundcr, June 13.) In February last, a number of gold diggers arrived from Otago to.prospect the gold fields at Coromandel, and applied to the Colonial Secretary to ascertain " how far they would be protected in tlieir claims if they should discoA-er gold in payable quantities." 'J he Colonial Secretary referred them to '• a written agreement between the natives anil the Government," that they should allow diggers to prospect for gold, and " that, if gold should really be found in considerable quantities, then we (fheNativ.es) will make terms wilh the Government for the regular working of the gold." We have been unable to account far the course taken by the Government on this occasion, after making every allowance for their habitual disregard of law when it stands in the way of some temporary expediency, or some selfish object of theirown. We confess we could not divest our minds of the suspicion that while tlie Government recognized a right in tlie natives to gold, which right had no existence in laAv or reason, their policy Avas to induce so large a number of diggers to make a .rush to Coromandel as should settle what is'callcd " the native difficulty" in conformity, not with the laws of civilized countries, but with the customary law of the Maories, viz., that the gold belonged to those who we're able to take it. In other Avords, that the title to land, and Avhat ivas above or beneath it,-.belonged to those Avho were able tn take and keep possession of it. In our number of February Gth Aye made the following remarks :— "The Kew Zealand Government Gazette of the 22nd November last, which is the one referred to by tlie writers of the letter, publishes an agreement entered into in the most formal manner between a number of natives in the Coromandel district, and Donald McLean, as representing the Government, by Avhich these natives undertook to permit all Euro p.*ans who desired to search for gold in the district to do so. Article 2nd being, that "If gold should really be found in considerable quantities then Aye (the natives) wili make terms with the Government for the regular working of such gold." A portion of Ihe district which is already ascertained to be rich in gold, is however exempted from such an agreement. The object of the natives is there already attained. "In pursuance of its vocation of falsehood, the New Zuulawkr proceeds _to give some advice to the new comers topreveut their being 'deterred even at its very threshold from prosecuting their intending undt-rtaking : and to the people of Auckland to agree to attend to their own interests which may be so greatly promoted by the development of the resources. of Coromandel, and to subscribe largely to make up a reward for the discovery of a. payable field. "We in our turn would offer a word of advice to these Australian diggers ; and our advice is simply this—lob& quite sure that the amount subscribed Aviil be sufficient to remunerate .them for the labor they are about to undertake, for the Maori must have changed his character for shrewdness in the pursuit of his-own interest if. he alio ivs one of them to touch a spot which has been ascertained to be rich in gold,. unless on such terms as Avill secure the lion's share to himself. In Australia the diggers have been accustomed to reap the reward of their labors and the results of their own good'fortune. Of this the' Government of this country can give them no assurance. The natives have agreed "to make terms with the Government if gold should really be found in considerable , quantities."''.'Whatever these, terms may be, those who knpAV the natives best, .Avill tell the dig-' gers Avith most assurance,.that they will not be profitable to them. W re have heard," or seen it stated that as many as one thousand diggers may be expected, and that this will ' precipitate a solution of the native difficulty.' Is this the result Avhich.is intended by the policy of the Government ? Or, foreseeing that such a result is inevitable, do they intend to facilitate its development ? Whether or not, the .Government have forecast enough to contemplate such a result; it is a natural result of their policy. A Government Avhich abdicates its functions, which condones rebellion] and murder, takes the most effectual means of bringing about anarchy. To speak more correctly, it has established anarchy, which will do.ubtless in due time produce its natural fruits. " The above AvasAvritten for last Thursday's « paper, but Aye have been unabled till iioav to find room for it. On Tuesday last the Superintendent sent down a message enclosing the. following letter from the Colonial Secretary, - stating ' the suggestion that provision should be made for rendering aid to prospecting parties, to be \vorthy of serious consideration, and invites an expression of- opinion on the subject by the Provincial Council.'" The Cpuncil took up the question, and agreed, by a large majority to a resolution pledging the Provincial revenue to reward the discovery" of a payable gold field with the sumbfL2ooo. The definition of Avhat should Constitute a payable gold field was ia li;e following Words: —When " it shall have afforded employment to not' less than 500 digger's-;for ; three months at fair average wages.",;. A.proclamation of this reward Avas forthwith published in the Provincial Gazette and intha"; most prominent part of the Superin-tendent's-nevvspaper,' Avhere it continues to this ddj'^XQuery: Will it be charged in his account .against the Provincial revenue ?) But.the, tone of the newspaper itself contrasts singularly with"the continued appearance of such:a''p"ro.clamatipni. There has been up rush' of-diggers.:'f to precipitate the solution of . the ; /'7!:;That the gold field exists Beems"to tie. now beyond a doubt; but it is farther -than ever 'from being made available for the-diggers; . Although the Government has recognised royalties in the natives Avhich only exist.in the Crown, but Avhich the CroAvn in othercqlbnies has relinquished and thrown open:;; though they]1 have- offered to sacrifice £ 10,000' of- the public money to satisfy a claim which Was-neither, valid in law nor in equity, and thereby, added.immensely to the difficulty of extingiiishingall'native title for the future; ~ yet ttll their sacrificed havejbden in vain. The Government Bas'ipst "its prestige as a government;; the natives see and despise its weakness. They know instinctively that men who act in sucha way, are not to be trusted.