The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, JUNE 5.

Southland Times, Issue 3419, 5 June 1879, Page 2

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, JUNE 5.

.•■ ; ■ ■ ■ ■■ — - ♦ — — ■ if there is one subjecirmorc than another jthjat the Press of the colony ought to Ideal tenderly with it is the much-vexed Native question. It is a dangerous one, arid on one point, we think the colonial press should make up their minds to ■agreej a and. that ( jis^ ) toj;Bmk^th^qpureLy ; •political phase i'!of tfie quesiion, and ho matter which side is in power, for once unanimityan,;att (effgrtitOiStrengthen the position of that party in its attempts to extract this native thorn which so rankles. The Maoris are a shrewd and astute race, quick to perceive and take advantage of the weak points of their antagonists, and presumptuous to a degree, and nothing TM soiikely to foment that presumption than the detection by them of disagreement in the enemy's camp. We are not advocating subserviant acquiesence with all that the Ministry does in its dealings with the nativeßyjjb,nt^mQrel^-that ,it , shall? receive reasorfaiiliP guppbrV irWFevery "section' "of the press in its endeavors to place the colony's relations with the native race upon a better footing. Certainly it comes within the province of any paper to admonish and point out error, where error s is; j (Supposed, to, , liey . .but ,. that is altogether ; ;anpther} thing.frpm .. wholesale, condemnation .action,, and raisinga fanatical, howl , of .triumph ov.er, every . mistake that, is .made. .by. the. party to whom . any section ; of the, press may be political]iy:.r opposed.^/ 'Much,,, mischief comes, of .this,.; forj.the^natives . are thereby, encouraged "to, jpersevere •? in ; their ,, stiffneckedness, [and opposition, to, the whites. They- perceive that .eygn,in native matters, as - in r others;, .pplitical,. there : are ;twp, distinct, .parties,, in <th.c jstate, , the one ; not in power ready to adopt any means, ; almost to weaken the influence of the one hdFiffg office 1 ; 'This facfy combined with 'the traitiprpus^ of ? cer-' tain of 'the Pakeha^ Maori class, ! &ad',\ we very' fetich fea'r^ the intriguingof ■ the- more' rabid I 'of '-the "Opposition party in' 'the ''liforth 1 ; -Island, tends 'to confirm the Maoris in their resolve to test to the uttermost- the patience and forbearance of the : dominant race; : iWe fear it is hopeless to expect agreement upon any one point ; by political parties, much more upon the native question, that ' supplies : ! such a ! handy- argument in opposition, but- -for ; all that '-we are' convinced £hat the course we suggest ■ would - : be productive of much good in the long run, and by it, more than any other, is the nearest way to file solution 'of the native difficulty. Nothing so tends to cowe . ; savage or semi-barborous ; tribes i as the exhibition of force: Once the Maoris were made to understand that, politics notwithstanding, the colonists were' tmanimous on the one point, and that the, native question had no political significance" 'whatever, they would, think twice before they excited hostility by unlawful acts, and would be more disposed to accept reasonable terms when they were offered them. The "native question is presenting another and a .very , serious phase. Affairs have been precipitated to the verge of hostilities; .and at; any moment the heap of inflammable matter that has accumulated in the unfortunate Tar anaki district, from native presumption and fanaticism on the one hand, and European^discontehtlonthe other, .may . burst into a flame. ... ,Kecent intelligence from Tarahaki is extremely disturbing. -The Maoris have deliberately violated/the law, and bid defiance to tne settlers by entering upon the almost armed occupation of their land, and the settlers naturally resenting, indignant, but not dismayed, are clamoring for redress. In fact the cry "to arms" has gone forth, and the two parties face each other in almost battle array. Than a Maori war there is nothing that would so detrimentally affect the colony in 'the present juncture of affairs,/ and >to strive to avert such a calamity, is,. the duty of every good colonist. ' The Press may do much in this direction by abstaining from bickerings dictated by political considerations, and above all, 'to avoid holding the native policy of the Ministry up to ridicule. That this policy has been marred by mistakes, and grave ones too, is admitted on all hands,' "and we think the good sense of our contemporaries will induce* them jalso to^ admit that mere vituperation/ will effect (but litttle • in the way of remedying them. It is to be borne in mind that the native .question is a hodge-podge | mistake after mistake has been made iri'J dealing with it, and one of the gravest, in our opinion, was allowing the confiscated territory, about which the present coil has arisen, to lie falloAyTsorWg afteifthg'fiat bf confiscation had gone forth. Another, and no less serious - mistake, was the .Hikurangi proposals for which which the Premier and the Native Minister are directly I chargeable. ,Thej, conceded too much in the somewhat subservient admission of the legitimacy of the King movement," and the covert hopes, held out pouching the disposal pf confiscated land. The desire to come to terms was 1 too palpable' on 'the 1 - side- of Ministers, and the- King and his advisers fooled them' to the i top of their bent. Now ,the King party ;has already exposed their hand, their mtentions'toTecover the 1 whole of the confiscated land are not to be mistaken, and the Government must give check to the move, tor undoubtedly euch extreme demands cannot be/enter-, i

i^inM^. If Ifem-s^suiiden sec^sidn-lrota Ij^ie j||uig pafei is os, resujjbipj? genuine |conv|c|iori on|Sis p"ai*(| and fnehjiriness to Hiiie Mi^si^rs aife:|o be' conl^ra^^d^u^nlajl&'terly^oye, jojl-it., "i^Ke^ great||pgawMani^6p^i^ hous'the .balance of power in^Mapri'l'an'd; and with him as an ally, or provided that Governmerit snouldliave very.-'-mucE less difficull|/jutf- de^l&g witlF mes.-y&c&tefe <Mnt Mower^of Tawnfep latfdKrefvfbetrl "WEdlst we sbould.be amunest the first to.: deplore an outbreaK of" nostihtiea, we are not prepared to adypcat6; extreme sub-. .mission to avoid;|hem!,[ (Vacillation and %midity on the pari-bf-the^ Government " w6uld .be-tKe^'s|ir^niiic^tiVfe''^^-th'e natives'■.■'.to maintain a domineering attitude. The Government may, we think, stretch concessipnßL^fol>r.l?hi&;&p)lrpoße of preventing an Qutbreak, but the line must be 'drawn (ipd;^^^^^ ' not 'M^ipmi^. ta^ep.' up should be -abandoned. If. this 'course. 4&~ -"Otaddptedi there-'willi'be rio;jendi \ Maori i demands.,. The.natrv^s-Tare. to v made\ to nndf^ten^^,tl^t.^h^a|^^a^^it'iib]^e' forbeafanOe 1 of the.fwhites^ gn^ iKdi J two sets of statutes running- together must 'dashy^'ftijd ; f are/^ncomp &tiol^«%ttk :^he" veijnnient had^this ipgiri^ .jin,^ejv^darm|-; their recent negotiations "with "Bewi^ who, f accQrding r to Our "conteniporaryj'tlie Ne'^.fZealaM^HeMd/ilas^ pbrtant tebricessionj viz.,' that'his;^courir-, t^y shall not be made-a-Tefuge for those who have iigainat«:the Haws." $ahctaaryv;if-: we''inay ternij ;haa beeni unfortunately s tcio^ .abipes-- , sible.to, Maori murderpi-p, land.' one ;of the 'latest and;imore; serious^mistakes ■ mkde; allowing'the''^^faiurdjeifer^HirpMvtd go free. This was tan|amqunl; to six^^ exhibition: of itinaidity.j (had- -the.. settlers irisen i^ protest then as readily as they are doing nOwj I w6 Jbelieve f that!Hir6 vKi::w been surrendered. to/thlTGp.vejrament. ; RiviltilfON-likvMqkxj&ih RAiLwi*!— We direct attention' to the railway' arrangements published elsewhere^ with refererice- to the opening-of this line on Monday-next.-The San Francisco Mail. —We have again been placed at a disadvantage by the unaccountable late delivery of our San Francisco mail message. The Australia arrived at Auckland early yesterday morning, and therewiis/thus aniple'jtiinc for^alfrill and good message to be sent through. Instead, of this a meagre summary wasforwarded, and so late that the first slip did not reach us till\iniduight.' / '; ■;]";. n /;..',-.'/'■■"' v./.'i ! A CORRECT-ION. I—An1 —An - error' crept into our report of the proceedingsl in the Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. The case j reported as •• Byrne v. NcNab" should have read O'Keefev. McNab,;;, Nominal: damages were recovered by the plaintiff, namely, 10s and court costs, counsel's fee being refused, the Magistrate remarking that there was a bare legal .claim but no proof of damage, but on the other hand it had. been shown that the defendant had been lodged by the plaintiff while other places were obtained and offered itoherAvhich she refused. "Therefore judgment was gi,ven as above. : On the Wane. —We regret —for our OAvn ,sakes as well as for those.of the townspeople generally —to have to complain of the quality of the gas; supplied. During tne early, part ;of yesterday evening a most sickly flame was . emitted from the jets, and although later in the night and early this morning there was a A improvement, still the light was far from ;what it ought to be. This is a new state of t affairs in Invercargill. We may also add that for several days past the gas supply has been very inferior. " Fire at' Winton. —Our Win ton correspondent writing yesterday says: —A fire broke but in the Caledonian Hotel, of'which Mr Isaac Plunkett is proprietor, this morning. The circumstances are these—-It appears that ' one of the boarders got up during the night, struck a light, and enjoyed a hearty smoke after which he rolled into bed, and forgot to ' put out the light, which unfortunately was too near the bed. About three o'clock the groom, who discovered the flames ascending through the roof, gave the alarm. Prompt assistance was rendered, and the fire was soon extinguished, Had it not been discovered for a few minutes after, Mr Manson would no doubt have been burned to death, but fortunately he narrowly escaped without his wearing apparel. Literary and Debating Society. —The luvercargill Literary and Debating Society practically hold their first meeting as a fully organised institution to-night. With an energy which augurs well for its future vitality and usefulness it enters upon that work for which it was called into existence, and its numerical strength is already as large as its most sanguine promoters anticipated. To-night a debate will take place between the two vice-presidents of the society, Messrs Searle and Macgregor, on the question as to whether Britain is justified in assisting to maintain the existence: of the Turkish Empire in Europe. It is a matter for regret that Mr T. M. Macdonald, the president of the society, will, through other engagements, be prevented from attending and delivering an inaugural speech, but we understand he purposes addressing the mem.bers in a formal manner at a later period of the session. The interest centred in the debate to-nighfc should secure a large attendance of members.