POLITICAL PORTRAITS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3862, 3 July 1874, Page 2

POLITICAL PORTRAITS.

The office an^ title of Native Minister are of course,iao^ospieak, purely OoloniaL We have our Minister for Public Works, our Colonial Treasurer, and Colonial Secretaries,: whose duties and function* are foaoded upon thole of the Chief Commissioner, the Chancellor of- the Exchequer, and the Home Secretary in England, and in whose work there is a>gene~ I ral similarity, if the details be sometimes •' ' I very different; but the office 'off K&w* § Minister is one which ,is unique an& " J which New Zealand may claiai as- peeu- ? My^^own; and naturally it fbllbwa ' that the duties of that office are of an un- I usual and^udden nature, and haveverjr ) little about them of the grooved routineof i or^ajydepairtmeiitalworKdemandinsrne- = culiar cavities, and talents, and perlg. I toons, such, as the knowledge of the Native : i > langu^e^dfar moreimpSrtanttha^^ i i that-essential, the knowledge of the I*Z t ti™ ch^acter-the ''intuilvedecMS 1 a bnght.and. thorough-edged.intellect to ''? part error from crime,';' as the PoSt I^u- i reateputs it j.aM an! unwavering firm- . t ness enaction. This last: is the "one i thing thou lackest" which' has ruined. I many Natwe^inisters in the:.eyes of Pakeha&andMaoiristogether. TheMaoii character is the^^itEmostwa^ * hke and baibaroas peoples; a charaetet - - ! which is^eculiarly^susceptible tp the in- i fluence of an unchangeable but not-dom - ' ■' !: neenng-conirse of action:J-^Accustomed ; amongst. themselves,to. hays^ recourse ia, wUes, to snares, to stratagems^'intheir owm l mode of dealing and warring with eack I other—to havetheir hahd"against every i man, and every man's hand^againsUhem-— f. mistrust of their seemingly dearest friend. I —a mistrust of which" perhaps they- then-- f selves are only dimly conscious. Thus > J accustomed to paint everything witii r& # coating^of i ß<^icum a; i i hi a j Strong} : cons^ .&j tent, firmly-directed, and :"*V■ .Ii ■te* m paling*.withtthein^ah uprmlfc 1p policy and a determination>tb;rslve^e 'C^S what he thinks he has a right to. acts $1* upon acm r by/the principle of; contrast, © in a doubly-telling manner. First, it is "Up uncommon—itisnotl^anh^-are-a^cus- —' P' I amongst themselves ; secondly* li it is aquality which they cannot butfad- W mire, and so it exercises a kind of spell. s under: the influence: of- which: ithey/Jeel :•'•""'■ -^« irresistibly drawn to loiok at hvndconfis-' i cationand, land policy;,~:tKe: grearsa& \f a^ a? a} °nly political pnneiple pf*;wfiiek "* the^Maori •cares'\foi^e :'co|aisaTffi. I or! is* able to;rahd«>,sx^qt^aU*fe?at * ether matters,^.not, through^tke« dark ? glass of their own uneiyiKsed'■intellect'- 1 but through^he'clear-mjrror of'a guidhe * rationatmmdwrThis^<wietMrik,is:?a>faLr i analysis or statemeni^oitteci^ir^wr . ■■ 1 it remains to be seen^ho, mall our long: I list of Native Ministers^ >has'ihad!.the!» 'f qualities of so great-weight in the true. * - estimate of the^Maori; spirit; and who' Eas I possessed them^a"mpsteniihenti degree i Dismissing the, :crowd; Vvfe have on th«t § platform six greatfame's in the list, Mr S ?ox, SirD. Bell, Judge Richmond, and his brother, Mr Walter MantelL and-Mr * Dpnald Mijean.^ 'Of the /frrstfHfcwb^we I have -already spoken in the-■ matter- of i tW Native poUcyy ; and,it is only .tckba ■: '\t said that both were '. soccessfulT Ib&fc f that theirs was^nqt the; one'TiC^- ? mal policy, but the• Government ebau* \l the Opposition policy;"'"'and, there- « fore, their_plan of administration was 1 looked at with the .of ten.,distorted- visfdk i «fpa^ considerations and expediencies. ? Of Judge Richmond, the story of his New- s Zealand career tells-its own tale. Per- ' 'i -hapsiflie-i cleverest mtol i£lNew Zealand- 1 he waa -ofctoo mild a dispositibn. to act-oa % the instant -when.sudden "sternness^and ;' unexpected^seyerity would have carried * the ; day. He spared^ the rod and spoilei ! W,#| dr though it^^ grew and nourished ~ i under his rule:: J Now tKft^lobk^dbwnt ? on these sublunary-questions from tin £ :Rig|i ; ,*2irone pf judicial dignity, wHdk $ none fits mote' ably ihan^hiinSelf^tneH^ — - must be on 5 him. ,thatsprt,qf. aslf-satisfac- % tion which arkes Spm the feeling that'ali S that ia- commanded has' been done, but ! not ,with- that more unalloyed personal 5 gratification at; hayingr.endeavOured,- a* A far as he possibly could, to avoid the P of beingiari' unprofitable^seryanfc. " Of F ordered mjnd than Mr Fox of?SirM# U BeD^helooked at things whichidem^ii \% a warmand speedy-action through" the cold. \« medium of logical right and wrong; while Vs 1 seUre^ai^^p^br^k'bu^^^ve^ 1 speec : h v when. the JefiectsVof;siience wonii golden. Mr Man'tellis perhaps -uaequaUed-Tn-his-knowledge r not-on^f the Maori character, but of human nature generally; a kn^wledge^which long experience and trying; ioil}Mf the eariy has sharpened nnm^tfebecomes painfolly ac^i^ he, Jf &ough knpwing^nafe ought to be done' was J't6b J friffenfly found to have left-it-undone. Vacillating .at one time, nothing less than- t bonncibte at another; tKe*ibtermeaiate rnioments€£ Eteadmessj onlyr unsteadiedihini and: L» motives r in the eyes of the Natives. Their implicit trust in him was madeup: of mistrusts,; strange.though;the expression Tnay seem. They knewjie saw through thenL and they were pleased to have one over them who did: riot areatltheaf as AcarioS» specimens pfliving organism, but as. ordi--5^7 ™a? b>ings76nly a 1 stagelower thatttae/f of tfe lasid . andwmmgtorise to.aeirleyel, if onlysom^. strong hand would guide: them-i/atfyet; they mistrusted him. - The-memory of his numerous strange, exploits, for they quite deserve that title in the capacity oE Land Gommissioner^puzzledthem. "There m^ consistency^-was about the condu- jL ~ sion of i^en?'Bnmimg'up7:'"li^m'«ief-->)r^ 11"' bst comes- the present'^Native Minister and -haying glanced at his illuetriousT pre^ decessors/let us place him' jn^juxtapoatipn, so that a fair';andi imp^tiai^judgment may begiveini ''■:.':!:,..,{:i-'-. i V-'/- U.^rS' Though it is of comparatively years that the i name of Donald M'Leaa abne has been sufficient, like the Tvhispet of Ooeur-de-Lion's-name^.to quell th& ptikings and wailingsof:^ would-be Native cnticsj.he has not sprung all of Usu'dden on to the stage. .Almost from the bfegmn vng TtrWe find his'■'"*"* on 'ttie* rdlS o£ the Native Department, picking up-the first of those ideas aiid conceptions of ,ihe future of the what it might lie made, and what it mightbe niade again .which he.has since,;afterr maay/yearL assimilated into a powerful whole/i S» far back.as 1857,"which we can,call to mind at the moment, his name appears "as the Native Secretary, a,nd.eveu.at.tHa* early.time commanding the respect and admiration of the dusky nation ■ whose? affairs he had all control of, and which :h& administered with a blunt BtraTghtforwardness which covered the many- defects that experience had yet to correct: " Then we meet him as Chief Land Commissioner, where his clear views of the "nature fbf land tenure, and his power of separating those principles which are all very well ht the matter of aland transfer or change of land laws in a long established and civilized community, but which are uselesa and out of place in so intricate a qaesjtioK as that of the Maori land, from^fe consideration of a disputed - clann, caused him to be looked to as a soun^ authority on all land disputes, where ths true perception of the Maori interpreta- |- tion was often the essential of a peaceful settlement. Passing over the intervening } years up to recent times, we find that in; : all the important places which Mr M'Lean: ' filled, he was gradually working himself more clearly before the Maori mind, until ' at last the Natives began to look upon. ; him as indispensable in securing to theia * their rights, and in advocating - their I cause, as he was determined to do event I

Justice by Maori and Pakeha. There "were, in the days when we doted on Mayne Reid, and slept with our finger • and - thumb between the leaves of Fennimore Cooper, a class of persons whom those fascinating writers called "renegades"— white men, as far as we can recollect — who, on an average, scalped ten times"!' as many foes as -the bravest Indian chief, and were aiore Indians than the Indians themselves. That is where the shoe pinches in the policy of mast of the preceding Native Ministers. Some were too much Pakehas ; some were too much Maoris— if we abolish the objectionable half of the word's meaning. It is here that Mr M'Lean differs from them all. He >is a Pakeha-Maori and a MaeriPakeha ; and he is equally just, fair, and true to one race as to the other. So the Maoris came to look up to him ; but they "found that if they had an advocate of ■iheir rights, they had no less a judge of i their wrongs, and one who would'not palliate any open act of rebellion or disaffection. Far the greater part of Mr M'Lean's reputation and status is due to that one -quality, or rather - that combination of many qualities, which we call firmness. J3is wide experience of men and "-things, manners and customs, ways and means, enables him always to catch the real meaning and tendency of a speech or. dispute, and his naturally shrewd Scotch intelligence combined with this faculty enables him to decide rapidly and surely where hesitation would be fatal; ■Once made up in his mind, the Scotch ■side of his character again comes in ; for though anything but. bigoted and set against conviction, his decision is backed tip by an intuitive feeling which a great <ieal would be needed to shake, that " I'm ■varra weel near richt, ye ken." He has las had no wavering or vacillation in his treatment of the Natives. No blanket<:lad miser of a Ngatiawa or Ngatiporou «ver came whining to Mm to get back his land for himself, his. heirs, and assignees^ for nothing, and got it;. aud no cunning Maori chief ever tried to., sell his land

twice, when, the Native Minister had an of what was going on, and sold ■^^ it. Thwarted sometimes in their most ■cherished schemes, and forced almost against their own,-convictions to submit iio the firm, strong pressure of a superior 4 mind, it was not unnatural that enemies ahoiild have been made in some quarters. But as a rule; time put things in another *- ,_ light, and amicable relations were revstored. The one same, invariable, unchanging policy which he adopted, had an attraction {or the will-o'-the-wisp Maori, and exerted an influence over him <)f which he was to a great degree insensible himself ; and so on the basis of strict impartiality, Mr M'Lean built for him- " .self among both Maoris and whites aii ■equal approbation and confidence, which recent events have only strengthened. The last, the saddest and severest of all ■our Native struggles, a contest with fiends and devils incarnate rather than with human beings, stained with treachery, massacres, the blood of resistless women, and of tender infants, ■and adorned with the names of many, brave dead iy a warfare of snares and of manoeuvres andbattlefields, -called for all the energy and all the mind power to check its hideous course, and none but the force of a strong and active mind could have fronted the danger' suc■.cessfully. It was found in Mr M'Lean; blunders there were, but the course of imurder andrapine.was stayed by careful planning and judicious negotiation, and ■ the cessation of war in the land is to a xgreat extent attributable to him. Of his .popularity and influence over the peacer.ful tribes, their willing and valuable bush service against their own race on behalf of --- a strange people abundantly testifies. : Friendlies we hadhadt-iii our ranks before •the days of Mr M'Lean,-but. hardly any- ■ bne" will deny that the aid of the Arawas and other friendlies and loyal . Natives , against Tito Kowaru, the man ' -with the nine lives, and. Te Kooti, ■iihe;ubiquitous murderer, was given rather - to Mr M'Lean than to the Pakehas gene- I rally. "When/that series of battles was ' -over, a peace descended upon the land, which has happily-not yet been broken, but; which; is 1 rather receiving more and morel consolidation; as time goes -oil. .Many are disposed to say : Peace, peace, •when- there is no peace; to say :; What -and where are the functions of the Native Minister? to say :rWhy 7 do we sweat and toil to keep an ornamental standing army of 700 paid men? Biitvtake the office of Native Minister;away-r-abolish the Armed' "Constabulary—and leave the Maoris to play once more, unmolested, with their ' rtoyJring ;, or,. in a word,; remove -,Mr *' M'Leari, it would require a wisdom -which ib would; ;be^. foolishoto say all'our legislators possess, to keep things straight. It is not'that MrM'Lean is' the'cleverest -man in:'the;Houßeor the Government'; :.-th.ere<arevotherS'.who have:quite as much, ; M:V.ob more, ability than Jxe; but; he'is, .as it were,.rwedded, to the position he fills, ... and anybody else .would; at the present time find it very difficult., tp^fit, his. foot to the Native Minister's slipper. j . --. That the great services rendered by Mr M'Lean have not been unrecognised at IHomefy-'is evinced '-by*the -fact that; he ■wears the badge of the Companionship 6i St. Michael and St. George, like his colleague' ttie Premier; and the speculative ' say-that -it-will hot-be long before 'both the Premier and the Native Minister are raised to a higher degree than mere Companions ; a 1 "dignity which: they well deserve,, and vhichjthey would wear becomingly aftertheir eminent, services. What. Mr M'Lean hhs'done in/n^ore recent .times [. .is,welilsiiown to thb&e who read the news-papers-and Hansard. For one month in 1872 .hevacated the1, office he had filled since Mr Yogel's -accession to power, Taut Wtha, retirement of Mr Stafford's Govern^ mejit.caused' him once more to become .. /"**^the Head of the .Native^Department; and ; 'though "occasional 1" murmurs ' are* heard, aboutthe^expeiisaof uthia; branch ; of the .Government, theniajority of people, are/ quite willing to leave the abblition^of tlie' Armed Constabulary, which may be taken ■ .-.. as a sample of the kind of grievance alluded to, to the good time and discretion of Mr M'Lean. Native matters are, run T ning smooth and unruffled under his management, and -all.,fears of future r 'war,, and ; Native troubles .'..; -are" fast ■vanishing from the catalogue of possibilities. Meanwhile there is no idleness in : ; the ;camp. Mr M'Lean has a keen perception of the ameliorating *ffects of education and civilizing arts «pon a rude people ; and, under his .-guidance a series of Statutes has been passed to better tha condition of the Maori generally. It is in the peaceful :arts he is U3ing now, no less than for the ifirmness of his operations in the time of Tvar, that Mr M'Lean deserves, and has ■earned, as a Native Minister, the sincere respect and esteem of both the Maori and Pakeha. Eumours have not been wanting that the Ministry aa at present constituted, is not quite a harmonious whole, working towards a great end with an undivided purpose. The great man who appears a divinity descending in a shower of gold, and clothed with a gauzy robe of loans and railways, bridges and breakwaters, resolves himself or is resolved into the ordinary mortal when he and his colleagues are seated around the Cabinet Council table, and""things are not what they seem." Many passing allusions have been made to the thoroughly independent action of Mr M'Lean. It is a case of pull Christian, pull Jew. There are two ■ minds in the Cabinet, both of great strength and persistency, and after a hard tussle, they have cried quits, and agreed to divide the palm. Mr Vogel takes the general administration of affairs and the. monitoring :of his other colleagues, and Mr M'Lean takes the Native Department, with all the cares and difficulties appertaining to . it; for though theße difficulties are of

a very different nature now to what they used to be, no one will deny that it is harder,' far harder, to teach a warlike people the arts of peace, than to contend with them in war ; education by a system of education, and not by the sword of war, is a higher but a more difficult labour, and one that demands peculiar capacity and great knowledge of the people whom ycu are to educate. This work, collateral with the maintenance of peace, which may be said to be in his hands, Mr M'Loan has undertaken, b\it only with the distinct understanding that the headship of the Premier shall be merely nominal, and that he himself shall be left quite unfettered in the whole administration of Nativo affairs, without the interference of the Premier's übiquitous finger into every Government pie. It is characteristic of the two men that it should be so ; both have strong and unbending wills ; each recognises, the great ability of the other ; both see that there is sufficient diversity of opinion between them to render the contingency of a "clash" on some important question not impossible ; and so they have, like wise rivals, conceded each some points, and, as circumstances would have it, they hold offices which are j^cr se more independent of each other than any other two of the Crown offices. So they both pursue the even tenor of their way, and Mr M'Lean, at all events, does not endeavour to conceal the evident secret. He always acts with that thorough straightforwardness and plainness of purpose, which is the soul of his character, and which is so pleasingly different from the apron-string utterances of some of his colleagues.

Mr M'Lean seldom ventures outside his own political shell, the unenamelled one of the Native Office. On all matters connected with the duties, the work, the administration of that office, his word is taken for law in the House, and is seldom opposed, except by the honourable riienv ber for Avon, Mr Rolleston. Mr M'Lean has through long association bocome so identified with the Maori role, that it is hard for him to break through it, yet when the occasion really arises, there are few in the House who can speak so plainly and honestly." "There is an operifacedness,an utfcer absence of all diplomatic ruse, and a blunt simplicity in his speeches, which rob him of a good deal of the proverbial " canniness " of the Scot, though in all New Zealand one.could hardly find a more thorough representative of the true highclass Scotchman, with whom a spade is a spade, and not an agricultural implement | for-upturning the conglomerated surface of the globe. There is a feeling in listening to him which is one of great relief, even after a more oratorical display. There is no rounding of periods, no hesitation, no repetitions or stammering ; but a fact once stated, and forcibly stated, is left to work its own effect, iiisreadof being utterly obscured by the cloud of explanatory verbiage which most members consider necessary to keep it from being left out in the cold. The difference between Mr M Lean aud others in this respect is at once seen by one of the best proofs of a clear and lucid speaker—the light in which he is regarded from the gallery ; and Mr M'Lean is 1 here always set down as one of. those speakers who are always kept out of the turn if possible. He does not speak half so fast as Mr Fox, nor yet so swiftly as Mr . Vogel, whose apparently halting -utterance is terribly .deceptive—for there is an undercurrent of monosyllables beneath the emphatic words which try the swiftest shorthand writer to record correctly. - And yet Mr M'Lean is one of the most difficult to catch. The verbiage which gives breath to the reporter, and the -repetitions which save him half, his work, are, wholly absent;; and there is a clear unbroken statement of facts, ■ every link of which must be checked, or ; the continuity is broken. This habit, usually the result of long training and a thoroughly logical mind, is in; Mr M'Lean the effect of long experience in speech, and a great fund of common sense. He wishes to niake his point,: and; nothing else; so, instead of beating ;up and down when the winds are contrary, he waits for'the fair wind, and go"es~straight to his destination, getting ■; there long before his more eager and. less, worldly-wise consorts ; and this gives him at once a, status and a name as a thoroughly reliable man to_ put at the helm of the ship of State. No man in New Zealand has ' a fairer reputation from ■all; parts "I of ''. thecountry, or is". so universally"held in public estoem.,as the Native Minister., A grtod deal of* speculation has been indulged in as to what the Native Minister will be when the;end of all things Native, which so many expect to see--daily, shall come : but' they may enjoy themselves in speculating still more, for when the Native Ministers office becomes a sinecure in the New Zealand Government, there will be a good mariy mqre tombstones: in, our cemeteries than there are at this day; • ■ ■ ;