THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

Taranaki Daily News, 8 February 1928, Page 9

THE TREATY OF WAITANGI

MACNA CHARTA OF THE UNION 88th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED. PREMIER'S ADDRESS BROADCAST. I By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Feb. 6. To-day is thy eigthy-eighth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, by which the representatives and chiefs of the Maori tribes of New Zealand ceded to the Queen of England all their rights of sovereignty, and by which her Majesty extended to the Maoris her royal protection and imparted to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. Some of the beneficial results of that compact were mentioned by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) in an address broadcast from station 2YA to-night, reference being made also to the valiant way in which the Natives proved their loyalty during the Great War. The historical aspects of the treaty were dealt with in a speech by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, who also paid a tribute to the manner in which the present Government had interpreted Jhe true spirit of the compact. “The amicable relations and complete understanding now existing between the Maori and the pakeha races resident in this Dominion have been brought about by the Treaty of Waitangi,” said the Prime Minister. “The continued recognition by various Governments of the moral rights reserved to the Maoris under that compact has been largely responsible for this fraternal union of the two peoples. Of this there can be no question. At no time has the legislature of New Zealand been callously unmindful or even indifferent to the true spirit of the treaty. Never has it been careless of the great trust imposed upon it as the guardian of Native rights. This commendable endeavour to observe that justice which ia the paramount interest of all men and all commonwealths has finally led to the universal acceptance of the treaty by the Native race as the basis of the civil and political privileges. MAORIS’ SERVICE IN WAR. “When, therefore, the Great War broke out,” continued Mr. Coates, “the Maori tribes throughout New Zealand recognised their responsibility as British subjects by virtue of that treaty and without hesitation voluntarily offered the services of their sons to fight the common foe in defence of the Empire. This wonderful response was their generous recognition in 1314 of the protection given them by Britain in 1840. . “The acceptance of their services on Gallipoli satisfied the intense desire of this Maori manhood to prove to their pakeha fellow subjects that the moral tie which held them to the British Crown under the Treaty of Waitangi was not one in name only., Our Maori brethren have written the name of their race large on our scroll of fame, ..nd it is fitting that we who escaped their glorious fate in defence of King and Empire should keep their memories green in our hearts and recollections, as their own people have done in the touching lament 'Piko nei matenga’ (when our heads are bowed with woe.)” "This week 88 years ago was a momentous week for New Zealand,” said Sir Maui Pomare. “It was, in fact, the most important period in our history. This i; the anniversary of Captain Hobson’s proclamation at Kororareka of the assumption of the duties of the office of Lieutenant-Governor. The next step was to present to the Maori chiefs the draft of the Treaty of Waitangi for their signature. The treaty provided, firstly, that the Native chiefs should cede their sovereignty to the Queen of England, fisheries and food places of the Natives should remain theirs inviolate, but that the right of pre-emptive purchase of their lands should rest in the Crown; and, thirdly, that in return for these concessions her Majesty the Queen of England would afford the Native race her Royal protection and impart to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. On February 6, 1840, 45 chiefs of Ngapuhi signed the treaty. Sheets of the treaty were taken from one end of the colony to the other, and so very nearlv every chief of importance had a hand in its ratification.

SUPERIOR MANA OF QUEEN. “It was in this manner that New Zealand became a dependency of the British Empire. That piece of paper, the Treaty of Waitangi, is our New Zealand Maoris’ Magna Charta, but let it always be remembered that it was a purely voluntary act, this handing over of the superior mana of New Zealand to the British Queen. The Maoris did no' take that step without careful deliberation; they weighed every word. “Some of the Ngapuhi were suspicious of the pakehas’ intentions, and it was only through the efforts of two eminent men that they consented to accept the Queen's mana. The names of those two men should never be forgotten. One was he Ven. Archdeacon Henry Williams, a very gallant man, who,' before he became a missionary, had been a British naval officer and had served against the French and the Americans. The other champion of the treaty was Tarnati Waka Nene, the great Ngapuhi chief. “One of the causes of the distrust among the Maoris that led up to Hone Heke’s war at the Bay of Islands in 1845 was the belief that the pakehas, so soon as they became strong enough, intended to seize the Maori lands. This was the attitude of British members of Parliament. Fortunately such a course of action was not followed. “The treaty is as much the charter of Maori liberty and nationalism as it was eighty years ago. To-day we can gay that our troubles are at an end. The Maoris and Europeans are now as one, and we feel that the happy position the Maori occupies in this beautiful land of ours is due in a very great degree to that simple little scran of paper signed by the grand old chiefs 88 years ago, the Treaty of Waitangi. Kia Ora.”