THE POKAIKAI COMMISSION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 822, 25 April 1868, Page 3

THE POKAIKAI COMMISSION.

We, tho Canterbury Press, havo spokon out strongly on the subject of the lingering native warinthoNortb. Wo drop all sentiment on the subject. We appeal to tho strong, though it maybe ignoblo, feoling of self-interest. <Not that- wo aro blind to interests of r.ight and wrong— houour and dishohour-r-wiao and farseeing— or narrow and unroas'ouing policy. Ouroftenreitoratedopinionsouth'osubjcctofthoGovernment of our- native fellow mibjecfcs will render" .needless nny apology oh oar par€ for laying' asido . for a time, such higher views on this<qnostion. In the providential goverpment of mankind God has affixed to ill-doing of any' kind, nusuccess, disappointment, and misery a3 its natural and predestinated consequence and punishment. These results are ia those days, measured to'an oxtonti far from perfectly, but still are in some sort measured by — money. Wo are not conciliating tho natives. We are not conquering them. Wo are keeping alive by little' irritating, •nsoleas, feeble military operations a fe'dling of animosity and suspicion, which neither subdnos them to our r rulq.pn the ono hand, nor.- wins them to it on the other. There are _ plenty of men who would if thoy could prccipitato { t)io colony into' another native war. We ask our roaders to read with what pahence they may dn articlo which appeared in tho Wellington Evening Post, :o£ March 17. Wo append it at the foot , of jthis article. Now Mr. Parris is one of tho 'most ablo, energetic, and singleminded of all tho public servants engaged in' dealling with the. natives. His courage in penetrating into tho haunts of thn most liostilo tribes of hii district is well known. , When wo say that ho was ono of thoso who advocated .the conduct of Governor Browne in tho matter of the' Wai tarn purchase, w» shall dissipate tho idea thatAvo Bpenk with any oxtrayagantor uudno prejudicd in luV favour. Differing wiili him ou many.points, wo kuoiv hisvaluo as a public servant. Yet a public journal— no matter how insignificant— publishes, a letter from some one, extractod from a Wangamri paper which, expresses a hope that Mr. Parriß niayhc t-omainwlced by tlta natives. Tho result of suoh'a' raiirder'wonld be a fresh native war at a cost of another million to tho Middle Island. * Have we got it; to .pay ? Aro we prepared to pay it ? ,So,surely as the sun will rise to-morrow wo' shall have to pay it if wo do not put a stop to thesfe' attompts on tHe part of —whom ? somo ono at all events— td revive Iho struggle Now, this letter has been published ia public journals. It will be. read by, tho «a,tives. We want therefore to learn by whom tho leUer was written. - Wo want' to' kriowTf the Governmou't ha 3 takon any Btops to ascertain by Whom thVatrocioua, letter, was penned. sWe> have-heard' v.io-uo rumours that it was. wrifjton bj*.tt,g9nsloman in "tha sorvice" of the. Govern men t^— indeed, it was, dated " from tho cahip." ' ' Wo 'demand' to know jf 'this ia .true. 'Wo rtsk our reprosonkativos'iii'tlio House of Representatives to; institute an ' inquiry into" ' tho .matter. Wo ask ,whothor thord is no law which will pnnish ruffians who write, >and newspapers which publish siioli dangerous and wicked suggestions. And if. tho MiJdlo Tskmd inqmbcrs^will persist in standing by with' thoir hands" folded whilst, th^so things' are being done, then, however wo may .deplore tho pecuniary nemesis 'which is preparing for their constituents, ■wo csyi.qnly eav they will expetforice a'most'jusV retribution. , It fs our duty to point out, as this. paragraph distinctly provc3, that theroa'ro.tlioso'in tho Northorn Island who aro striding to renew. thd war ; who would contomplato tho murder of such .ij, ( map as/&Ir. Parrli with satisfaction, as" tending to bring* about that result ; ; and who Would g'iadly saddle the Middlo Island with' the butdeu ol'pdyinV for the war, so only that it might bo accouipli«hed It used to ,bo said that on tho ,W,t.'Bt Indian station in olden time, a toast, wns .sometimes given in tho nayy — "A sickly season,' and 'a, bloody war." Tho 'Wanganui toast would se'oui td be — tc A good murder and a bloody^war." ' ' •■ » Our, conviction ia that if .Mr. Parris Lad 'been left in.the position in which he was placed by. Mr. Wold's Government in 1860, nnhampnrod by military operations', tlie West Coast would long since havo been quieted. 'Unfortunately 'a Government succeeded pledged- "to let the imtives alone," which has fulfilled its tpledges. by a perpetual system of harassing tho nativqff evor since, and which has employed military expedition^, to give the lie to every promise'which it has mailo through its civil Borvants. 'There Is not 'a people in tho world who would not bo fostered into rebellion by such a system. , „ '„,, , !. , . i

The Pokaikai Commission-. — The iTycttington TSverinq Post quotes from the Wanganm TiiAes aa - follows : — ■ ' ' ' ' ' *' ' ' .' , t Mr:Cracroffc Wilson, G'.Ti., CbloneVCargiUJ nnd Mr. Graham,' started ; from hero for Patea on Sunday morning ' last. .Provions twloavingj Mr. Wilson/is^ucdjSmnrnonsps.to cottnio , witnessqs ro'quiring their atten'dancc at, a placo called MatangurafaV'so'me twenty miles above Patea, and not far! from Pofoiikai'. ' There the ■Commissioners propose to hold their first sitting on- Thursday next-, and there Mr. Parris wjll, wo suppose, .produce hia witnesses. Here is one. Our .correspondent writing from Camp Haw-era, on the 31st August, 1866; Bays : — "While Mr. Parris' is delighting the -hearts of the rebels by ru&h'ing about between Opunake and •' Waingongoro, ohtipating'.'thein to speak to Kirn, which they steadily refuse jto do, thoy in their turn aro; amusing by firing" daily iiito the' surveyors who are working in advaiico of the ianip. 'I s can confidently isserfc that they' havo not the remotest intention ofgiviDg in until thoy aro thoroughly licked. Every one sees this escept,Mr. Partis. Without. "wishing him any har'tr|, and 'although it seems unkind to say it, lidttiing wor/ld tend .more to- settle this unhappy conflict than'tho" rebels tomahawking the Chief •ComtrijVsionerj-Rndthna strikingly convincing him apd the GovornmeofcUhat they nuißt fight it out." We.reaem ia graphic description of the; battle at and captui-6 of Pokaildi until the Commission era shaH have " dosed 'their investigation,; which wo trust . will bo (Gpew *nd nbdve-boaiu.' Oiiv Reporter will put- in- hi? app^arftiioo. Will there b<J any inquiry "into the cases of Eaiopoans mu.derod under Ihe temporising- policy of Mr. Parn ', and no ar'tcrapfc evdr raiido to' bring the .murderers to Jufaticef'j Colonel -McDonnell "should : employ Counsel, 'and jdraw.-oat from Jin Pnrrid and witnesseswhp could ( l><V produced,; s/frikjng . evidonca as (o t^p qatvse of,ijie losa of mai^preciqu^ivea in 'the' :£atoa districts.' * •->--,