NOT KEEPING FAITH WITH THE NATIVES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3853, 1 October 1881, Page 2

NOT KEEPING FAITH WITH THE NATIVES.

A correspondent sends us the following : — Some eighteen months ago, when > the s.s. Hannah Mokau wis aground on the north spit of the Mokau River, Mr. Holmes, of • Auckland', having; then an interest in the vessel, arrived at Mokau with' the view 'of flqatiug her. He entered into arrangements with the natives to work at the vessel, clearing away the sand r &c,., The natives worked wjth >a good will, at all hours and at all tides. "They provided timber, bullocks, sleighs, canoes, &c.,_ and even supplied the vesse.l wit.h potatoes'^ Rumaras, and pork.-- Upon cbm^ile* tion of the work — the vessel -beiug. floated — the natives tendered their accounts to Mr. Holmes r the correctness. of r wbich he admitted, and cenified, to, the amount bejng something over £f6.- *He pxomise'di them the' Jmdney [ should be sent to. them immediately on his return to Auckland.^ The* nativds waited patiently for some month's,' when they':; were 'informed by Mr. Holmes; thatf h,eL eduldlnot get the money from the ' Insurance 'GomjJany — the South British.,/: The natives thenswrote •to the Secretary of the Insurance. Company to ascertaiu the truth of the statenient,:but jio reply could be obtained, and as far as. Mr. ilolmes or the Insurance Company have concerned themselves, the natives have had to whistle for their money. They might law-fully-have detained the vessel at Mokau uqtify .they had been paid, but they 'relied' oh the" 'honesty of the pakeha, and allowed the vessel to depart; The matter has been laid before! the Government through the influence of one of t l»e local f iMsmlters. '. p£) ..PgrliSmentVi larfd). i doubtless^ steps. wjlb be,T t?v^earto_seejthat natives ;are p'aid'tneir just dues. V "" J " ,

It should be added that but for the natives the steamer would .have become .a wreck at. Mokau. 1 ' • ■■•'.'. 11