THE TUHUA TRAGEDY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1179, 23 November 1880, Page 2

THE TUHUA TRAGEDY.

„- <.ffl-Q. scarcely feel_ disposed to .taejit.the. rriufder of the unfortunate man Moffatt /by ithe riatiVes at Tuhua foquite such =airee-and-easy manner as our . morning, contemporary seems fit to adopt. It sums up the affair and its prospective consequences in the following pleasantly .off-baud sentences ':—" Mr.; Moffatt was an intruder on Maori territory, bent upon some object of his own, either search, for gold, or to spy out the weakness of the laud, and the savages with whom 3ie had to deal- 'finding words^of warning of no avail, .shot ;him. Perhags • they will be brbugnt to speed justiijfe, perhaps- not, the probabilities are in favor ofcthe latter, eventuality^ but whatever iiay ensue -there ia i no reason ;to. repetition of the outrage, unless" the .untutored savage, is again pro-. ; voked." It" is very good of "those untu-. tore'd'savagea not to murder Europeans. f fri cold blojod "unless provoked," but 'We really .cennpit concede it as an axiom not^ that auppqsiug- t a.. Eupbpeaii^evetf-'-if ' a ; .-Bakeha-V Maori of doubtful character — may have disregarded a native order. not to visit a particular dilßtr ict, he should- therefore be , , shot -with.- im pun jty. , :It . will ; be a very agreeable iprecedehtj - ;truiy/"to be' established,, j list as we. are beginning to ;spttle the Waimate Plains: and; /survey Pavihaka, that any Englishman imay' be ''potted" like a partridge if he dare" f tp vehtiire somewhere tie'has been forbidden by some native to go. If such 'an .idea, were to be tpleratedf pr a,moment, what jvould be the situtation of any . 'persons settling on suchthripeTforbidden grouiif^as. tha Waimate Plains, or the ';Parih^Ka;. i^lock ?• Itr is all yerji/well ; .to 'say i\i&t the "shooting of Moffatt has ; "no political significance "and "need "not crdate -itiy^ disqufetirig effecl "> >That ' may be true enough^ so -far as it goes, •;but it wiirvery sooii cease to be true if •this monstrous outrage is ; permitted to ;be unpxinisned^ It is imperative, there--foceythat^ ariiiminediate ,and vigorous should be made to bring to speedy, justice the. .perpetrator of this> atrociousmurder. - : .-i:-i:i