TE PUNA NATIVE OUTRAGES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 819, 26 June 1879, Page 2

TE PUNA NATIVE OUTRAGES.

[From the Bay qf Plenty Times, June 21.] By the courtesy of Mr. Dobbyn, contractor for the construction of the Te Puna road, we have been furnished with an account of the circumstances under which he and his men were obliged to abandon the work. He states that on Monday last a party of natives came up to his men while they were engaged at work, and ordered them to leave the place and " remove their implements. The labourers replied that they would continue until ordered to stop by the Government, whereupon the Maoris threatened to carry off the tools and destroy them Mr. Dobbyn at. this stage arrived on the scene, and learning what had transpired remonstrated with the natives on their conduct, but apparently without any effect. A horse and plough which he had engaged were observed by the party, who threatened to seize the horse and|take away the plough. After consulting with his employers, Mr. Dobbyn decided on abandoning the work believing that the Maoris had fully made up their minds to carry their threats into execution. The hostile appearance of the party was most alarming, and Mr. Dobbyn says that he observed a reserve force of Maori auxiliaries stationed m the bush, about three hundred yards distant. He is fully persuaded that, had he and his men offered , the , slightest opposition/ they' would have been set on . by the Hauhaus, . and the results might have been serious. We understand that m their interview with Major Roberts and Judge Wilson the natives made no secret of their purpose, asserting boldly that they were the rightful owners of the land and were determined to prevent its occupation by strangers. We have learned on what we believe to be good authority that the natives have erected a new pah at Whakamarama, n«ar Te Puna, and that the bush m the neighbourhood is filled with small settlements. A few weeks ago about three hundred Maoris wetfe Been at the place. Major Roberts, acoom-

panied by a mounted trooper, visited Te Puna yesterday with the view of interviewing the disaffected nn^jks, we understand his mission v>a£ fruit^A^, ' as far as inffuendhg them (o desist fr^f their avowed piitpose was concerned/J* i 3 a serious matter for the employes of the Te Puna road co nractor, wh > flnve been obliged to ab.-.nion their work. These men have io pay their butchers', bakers', and grocers , bills^ and it is most disgraceful that at the whim of a party ; of lawless natives their source of Tiveli-'*' hood should be at" once cnt off.. They have a claim on the country for protection against outrages of this kind, and it seemß as reasonable that they should be compensated for. the loss of time through this outbreak ,qf native violence as that persons whose property is wantonly destroyed by an incendiary, should be recouped at the. expense of the country. -"■" It would be a sheer injustice that peaceable subjects of the Queen should find , themselves prevented from carrying on their lawful business, and yet be afforded no redress at the hands of those entrusted with preserving the pease of the country. If Europeans had been guilty of such conduct they would long ere this have found themselves m the meshes of the law, nnd it is somewhat strange that nativo offenders should meet with bucli leniency, and be allowed to practice their lawless nets with impunity. If prompt measures had been taken to arrest the ringleaders when . their' misconduct was first reported to, the authorities the difficulty would not have assumed its present dimensions. Doubtless the authorities have good reason for their mode of action, but we confess that .with our present, knowledge of the state of affairs we are at a loss to understand it. ' ■ ■■>:.-.