MAORI MEMORIES

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 13 (Supplement)

MAORI MEMORIES

WATERS OF TRIBULATION

(By

J.H.S. — Copyright.)

The Treaty of Waitangi, or rather its administration, 'laid the foundation of New Zealand’s worst disasters. Its avowed objectives were: (1) To regard with Royal favour the Native chiefs and tribes and to protect their just rights and property; (2) to cede to Her Majesty the Queen all rights and powers of Sovereignty over their territories as the sole Sovereign thereof; (3) to guarantee to the chiefs and tribes undisputed possession of their lands so long as they wish to possess them, agreeing also that Her Majesty retains the exclusive right of pre-emption at a price to be mutually agreed upon; (4) to extend to the Maori race Royal protection, and to impart to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects. Governor Hobson was amiable and simple with no experience but that of a naval officer. His appointment was regarded as that of a Lady Jane Gray being put to do the work of a Cromwell. On landing, he was fathered by Mr. Williams, courageous and far-sighted, but not a statesman or even a politician. By the treaty and their dual influence 500 chiefs, many self-styled, were taught to believe that all New Zealand belonged to them only. The only future title to be recognised was that they or their ancestors (Tupuna) had allegedly driven out or eaten the former occupant of a small corner. When the Maoris found that Marsden would give 50 axes for 11,000 acres, or Wakefield 50 muskets for 1,000,000 acres they first began to set a value upon land. Had the Government then exercised the pre-emptive rights of the treaty, purchased the whole of New Zealand at the ruling price, assigned and equipped every Maori man, woman and child on 50 acres with inalienable rights, their future destiny would have been vastly different. The unreasonable claims of Clendon, Busby, Fairbum, Williams and Rhodes, to have purchased all seaports and keys to the country should have been treated as were those of Wakefield—illegal and invalid. Mistakes.

The Maori mind was more capable of giving fair and open consideration to any claims concerning unoccupied lands than the English., Centuries of land monopoly had warped our judgment, whereas with the Maori, occupation or seasonal use was the most general title. Resistance was provoked only in cases where subsistence, comfort and convenience were concerned. This was seen at Port Nicholson, Taranaki, Wairau, Grey and Otakou. Colonel Wakefield might have avoided most of Iris difficulties if he had been wise enough to exclude all such occupied lands from his wholesale latitude and longitude claims. Not only that, but their centuries old burial places should have been at least as sacred as our own hallowed graves. No wise rulers would have given possession to any of either race except those who complied with the. conditions of use and cultivation necessary to secure peace and prosperity to loyal, honest and obedient subjects—they could have compelled errant pakehas by force, and induced the easily-led Maoris by fair dealing, to comply with these conditions.

The vagueness of the Treaty was its most objectionable feature. Neither Governor Hobson nor Mr. Williams ever intended that the words “lands which they may collectively or individually possess,” should mean vast areas of lands which they had never seen or heard of. The effect of the Treaty was made even worse by the extreme and inconsistent interpretations put upon it, and by the vacillating legislation swayed by influential land speculators and by the forlorn hope of politicians and party leaders to obtain the four Maori votes in order to secure a majority in the House of Representatives.

Causes of Maori War. Alfred Saunders, little read and less remembered, is one of our greatest recorders of history. He points out that the plight of New Zealand in 1840 was the result of conflicting opinions between the Whigs and Tories in England, and the Land Company and the Missionary Society here, the real Governor Sir George Gipps, and the nominal Governor Captain Hobson. Napoleon declared that for the safe accomplishment of any great undertaking, and the command of an army, one bad general is better than two good ones. In the conflicting opinions among the would-be rulers, the pioneer - settlers could have been pardoned for the almost hopeless and helpless conditions which threatened to submerge them; but their own grit and resource alone enabled them to survive. Unseemly, party conflicts, such as we see to-day among mere politicians, were the source of most of our troubles. One of the natural products of the chaos produced by our own contending political forces was the immediate hostility of hitherto friendly natives, who had been so well grounded in the Gospel of Peace by the good missionaries. The mimic battle of the seat of government assumed gargantuan proportions. In the capital of the far north our rulers were completely at the mercy of the hordes of war-loving Maoris. The Prince of Wales. On May 4, 1920, H.R.H. the Prince of. Wales stood at the foot of the marble statue of Peeti Te Aweawe in the midst of the gardens in Palmerston North, to be proclaimed “King of the Maoris.” There they presented him with the following token of their loyalty, one copy of which they carefully preserve:— “Haere Mai. To His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, descendant of our beloved Queen Victoria, representative of King George, future King of the Maoris. We, the Rangitane, Mauppko and Ngatiapa tribes welcome you to this land of our Fathers, Ao-tea-roa, the land of your adoption. You have crossed the great ocean of Moana-nui-a-kiwa to renew and commemorate our loyalty to that Greater Britain of which Waipounamu is its most distant star and its most loyal possession. We are the remnant of that once great tribe the Rangitane, of Manawatu, to whom our Queen Mother presented this now tattered flag Tane-nui-a-rangi, which is an emblem of our broken people. This flag, with the lasting love of your great nation, will be the abiding sign of your gratitude for the loyalty which prompted us to fight against our own people in order to protect the children of your race whom we regarded as our guests. In token of this we now proclaim you to be our future King Edward of Ao-tea-roa, and with all our hearts we rely on your protection and justice. May God bless and protect you and keep you in the estimation of all nations as you are held in the bonds of love by our people, your newest subjects. Haere ra Hare Rakena te Aweawe, Henare te whetu, Rota te Rangi, Mere Rikiriki, For Rangitane; Kahu kore Hurinui, Hema Henare, for Maupoko; Te Uru Angina, Warena Hunia for Ngatiapa. Dated 4th day of May, 1920.”