PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 85

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

TE WHITI.. 11. The why and the wherefore of the Maori rebellion and the resultant confiscation that took place I cannot enter into. Suffice it to say that these are facts of history. In 1865 the Government took possession of an immense block "comprising all the coast line of the Cape Egmont promontory from Waitotara on the south to the White Cliffs in' the north," and in this area is the Waimate Plains. A portion of this it was agreed to restore, but how much was or was not it is not my province to say. Then in after years came the survey of these plains in order that sales might take place. The Maoris protested, though some appear to have been given money to silence them; but the survey was gone on with. All through Te Whiti seems to have exercised great influence for peace, and took up the position of what we might call "passive resister*': he objected to the pakeha taking Maori lands, and refused to discuss the matter withthe Government representatives, but would in no way countenance any opposition which would occasion the shedding of blood. As far as can be stated in such a brief outline of what took place in months and years, the position might not have become so acute had tne surveyors made reservations for the Maoris, and had they, in surveying avoided cultivations, burial places, etc. This was about 1879. The Maoris, not seeing any chance of having their grievances redressed, removed the surveyors and fences and ploughed up the land. Armed forces were sent. Te Whiti then spoke of his mission from heaven. " Come to me and be saved. So long as you remain with me h If

no man can arm you. . . . any man molests me, I will talk with my weapon — the tongue. I will not resist the soldiers if they come. I will gladly let them crucify me.'" To the -ploughman he said : " Go, put your hands to the plough. Look not back. If any com© with guns and swords, be not afraid. If they smite you, smite not in return. If they rend you, be not discouraged. Another will take up the good work. If evil thoughts fill the minds of the settlers, and they flee from their farms to the town as in the war of old, enter not into their houses, touch not their goods nor their cattle. My eye is over all. I will detect the thief, and the punishment will be like that which fell upon Ananias." The result was perfect order and safety as far as the pakeha was concerned. Ploughmen came forward and were made unresisting, even willing, captives, and as they w«re taken away others filled their places. In a short time about 200 prisoners were sent to Wellington and other places, " nominally for trial, although the authorities knew not how to arraign them." At this time, the end of 1879, it was calculated that it was costing £200,000 a year ' for the upkeep of the armed forces, watching- the Maoris. In 1880 about 150 were shipped to Hokitika and Dunedin, and, if I remember rightly, they were to be seen on the reclaimed ground. There were reports by commissions, and one of them contained these words : " Whatever else Is doubtful, this at any rate is certain : that the plains will never be occupied in peace until proper reserves are made and marked out

upon the ground. . . To do this is an imperative necessity.". Again: "No one pretends that we can tell Te Whifci and his friends that they must leave it. . . . No good will come of putting off the day when the question of the reserves for the Parihaka people must he decided. They are tliere, and must have land to live upon ; and, what is more, being there, they certainly will not go away." What wasydone and what was left undone, and what was done that ought not to be done, my young readers must find out for themselves. Personally, I do not think the Maoris received jutsice. Just after Te Whiti's death a writer thus expressed himself: "The doings of Te Wfiili and Tohu are known to' the readers of the events of the fast-receding generation. . . . These men will probably come -out better in history than many think, but there will" always be the drawback that the future historian "will probably be exclusively a European, consequently the real ihwaTdness of what<" actuated these men and gave them so many years - ojE power over their fellows and made them such effective destructors to the European settlement will never be wholly stated, if ever understood." fiefore Parliament ;was prorpgued in

1880 £100,000 was voted to cover the expenses of ending tho tension, and the enrolment and arming of volunteers commenced, and I think men went from Duntdin. In November Mr Bryce, with an armed force, went to Parihaka, and in 'the -.presence of 2000 of Te Whiti's followers arrested him and Tohu. " The whole spectacle was saddening in the extreme," says one chronicler. The scene was a very dramatic one, and I am sorry I have not room to describe it. I can only say that both were imprisoned, but shortly after sent on a tour of the South Island. In 1883 Te Whiti was liberated, and>,, I think, Tohu too. From then onward there does not seem to have been any very serious danger of any outbreak.

There is a story told that when Bryce said he had come to arrest Te Whiti, Te Whiti told him. to seize him by passing over the bodies of his followers. This has*foeen denied. Te Whiti's followers were packed so closely that to reach Te Whiti his captors had almost literally to step upon or over the bodies of Te Whiti's adherents. This, distorted, has led to a distortion of what Te Whiti did say.

A. REMINISCENCE OR TWO.

The officer who had charge of Te Whiti and Tohu in their tour of the South Island made public several interesting details. The first was, or might be, headed

■ — A Government Bribe, —

and reads thus :—: — -

"It is not generally Known that the Government of that day endeavoured to placate Te Whiti by offering him ,a seat in Parliament and a comfortable salary or pension. I think it was on our second visit to Oamaru. 1882, that by direction of the late Judge Butler, then private secretary to the Hon. John Bryce, Native Minister, I made the following proposals to Te Whiti :—

"'Friend Te Whiti. — Listen: The Government will elevate you to the Upper House and pay you for all your life £300 a year if you will acknowledge the Queen's mana.'

"Te Whiti held out his right hand (open) and replied : ' Friend Ward, look at that. There is no money of your Governor there, is there?'

"'No.'

" Te Whiti, turning his hand over (palm down) : ' And there is no money of your Governor there, is there?'

" ' No.'

"Te Whiti : ' Then tell your Governor I don't want their money. Why don't they hang me? Kill me? Why do they punish me (Whakawhiu) like this? Kill me, hang me, and then I am done with.'

" ' Oh, that won't bo done, friend, and 1 ■ou know it.'

"Then Tohu broke in and said: 'We don't know it. We are your prisoners. Why are we not tried, and hanged if guilty? If not guilty, then bring us home to our wives and children?' "

This might well be. followed by another incident, which happened in Dunedin. — Why the Maoris Did Not Fight at - Parihaka. —

It was at the Universal Hotel, I think, in Dunedin, just before going aboard the Stornibird, that the late Judge Butler had an interesting discussion with morose old Tohu.

Mr Butler said: "You say you wished to fight and not surrender that morning at Parihaka ?" (The morning they were captured in 1881.) Tohu : " Yes, I was ready. Only this fool (kuare) here (Te Whiti) stopped me. He would not let us fight."

Mr Butler : " But you would all have been killed had only one shot been fired." Tohu: "Would we? That's opinion, not mine. Why did not you [the pakehas] fire then?"

Mr Butler : ( ' Because we did not want to kill you all."

Tohu (with great scorn) : " Not want to kill us ! Whenever didi the barapiti [the sparrowhawk] spare the pipiwharauroa [cuckoo]? A man ,has but once to die. The white man has never yet spared the Maori, and he never will!"

And old Tohu reiterated that it was his fellow prophet, pointing to Te Whiti, who stopped him from taking up arms again.

Well, both are now dead and gone. But Te Whiti, the great " passive resister " of Maoriland -and mystic seer " of Parihaka, will live for generations in the hearts of his countrymen as about the very purest and most steadfast of their nation's patriots.

(To be concluded.)