THE NATIVE DISTURBANCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3685, 24 July 1886, Page 4

THE NATIVE DISTURBANCE.

(Wellington Jicenitig Press.) *■#»•## VVhat wo wish to point out is that tho wholo of the present difficulty has arisen and still oxists, for want ot a sufficient force iv tho district. Wo always considered tho removal of the Armed Constabulary from Pnrihvka a grave mistake. Wo have no doubt Mr Ballnnco did it with the h"9fc intentions. Ho believed tho native popu:...:.u were at least as law-abiding as theEuropean.possibly more so ; and he was firmly convinoed of Te Whiti'a harinleasness. Hence he regarded tho presence of the Constabulary not only useless but offensive and irritating; and ho took thorn away for the purpose of promoting and preserving the peaco of the district. '1 hat this view was a wrong one, however, is now abundantly proved. The natives entirely misunderstand the Minister's kind intentions. The fact is they regarded, and rightly regarded, the Armed Constabulary as the symbol of lawful authority and the evidence of irrosistiblo force at the disp/Jsalof tho Government. So loDg a3 they remained .there Te Whiti was powerless for miichief, whether ho wa9 inclined to bo mischievous or not. The removal of the Constabulary completely changed all that. To begin with, it. verified one of Te Whiti's predictions, for he had distinctly proheaied that the soldiers would go away before a certain time, and they did bo. This had a Tery bad effect m reviving his influence over the superstitious natives, which before wa9 on tho wane; while the absence of any display of force was nnturully taken to signify that the Government did not intone! to interfere any moro m tho disputes about the land. Ever since then, we may bo sure, 1 c Whiti's influence has been growing, and the grotesquo proceedings of Titokowaru and his followers, which were countenanced if not actually oncouragod by the Government, have now been succeedod by a repetition, on a larger scale, of tho lawless and dangerous opurations for reasserting ownorship of tho confiscated land. In short, wo have gone back to very much the gnuic position that we weroin m 18- 9and 1880, with tho difference that the powerful and serviceable force of men whom we then had at command, have been dispersed. Mr Ballance has been compelled, against his policy and against 'his personal inclinations, to resort to force; and ho has been so Bimply because he persisted m regarding fanatics as rcasonablo beings and dispensed ■with tho only check upon their folly which they respect. Tho Native Minister only did tho settlers justice m the handsome tribute which he paid yesterday to their courage and good conduct. They behaved most admirably, and tho Government have to thank them that scenes did not occur which ■would have disgraced the colony at its present Btago of advancement. Bub it must be borne m mind that a throng of settlers is a very different thing from a police force. They are not under tho same control and they have not the same sense of responsibility. Each acting for himself, they are liablo at any moment by a rash move, or even by an accidont, to cause what they are endeavouring to prevent. They ought never to be called upon to porform Buch a duty, unless upon a sudden emergency which the affair of Sunday cortainly was not. The fact of the Government being obliged to do at Parihaka again m 1886 what was done there m 1881, is a striking proof that the Armed Constabulary ought never to havo been removed. They are far belter employed m keeping tho internal peace of the colony than m manning forts against a foreign foe who is and probably always will be m nubibus. A WELL-MERITED SENTENCE. Benjamin Judge, a well-dressed man, aged sixty-one, was indicted before Mr Justice Wills at the Central Crirainul Court, LondoD., for sending to Mr Arthur Kenrick a letter demandiog from him the sum of £500, with menaces, and without probable mute. Iho circumstances under which this charge was preferred were of a remarkable character, 'ihe prosecutor m this caso is a gentleuiun of position residing m Wariekahiro, and the prisoner and several members of his family have been known for many years as dealers m immoral literatnre, and for which they have been sentenced to long periods of imprisonment In the year 1883 the prisoner ■was convicted of this offence, and his case was considered of Buch an aggravated churacter that he was sentenced by the court to bo imprisoned for two periods of two years each. He served out the first period of two yeais, and as he was then m a very bad state of health the second sentence was remitted, and m tho year 1885 he was sefc at liberty. It soeined that m carrying out his original disgraceful occupation, he sent m all direction-^ a catalogue of immoral worki that cou'-j De supplied by him. one of these fcntaloßUes was sent to M r Kenrick, and n(j communi. cated with the solicitor Jw- * the Suppreßßion of Vico Society, and event- „ he^ 0 for£do was sent to tho P' cr * Mo p^euiion, however, •ppesr^ haTO boen in9tituted io b? ,V£T 'on. the prosecutor was endsV' -* readY t0 aßsiat iv furthe" Bg the pr" ,i justice. Shortly after his release tho * .soner issued circulars to parties who had been former purchasers of his foul literature, stating that tha Government had released him from hia second sentence of two years' imprisonment on conditioa that ho would give information as to the parties who had purchased books from him; and that a pamphlet was about to be published, m which tho names of all such persons would be made publiG. A letter was sent to the prosecutor to this effect, and demanding £500 as tho price prisoner should expect for keeping his name out of the pamphlet referred to. Tho prosecutor at once communicated with tho police, and steps woro taken for the apprehension of tho prisoner. In his defence tho prisonor endeavoured to show that the lotter sent to tho prosecutor did not contain any threat or menace within the meaning of tho statuto. The jury at onco returned a verdict of guilty, and Mr Justice Wills, m passing sentence, said that he considered the prisoner had been guilty of one of tho vilest ofl'ences that could he committed by any man. Ho only passed ono sontonco m such cases, and he sentenced him to penal sorvitudo for life. CHARLES LEVER AS A PROPHET. « The following extract from Charles Lever's Irish work, ' Tho Knight of Gwynno,' may ho noteworthy at the present time. On page 132 the knight, m answer to Lord Castlereagh, says —" That's a point yonr lordship has not touched upon ; but I'll tell you. Tho demagogue, the publio disturber, the licenced hawker of small grievances, every briefless lawyer of small fortune and worse language, every mendicant patriot that can minister to tho passions ef a people deserted by their natural protectors —the day will come, my lord, when these men will grow ambitious, their aspirings may become troublesome; if you coerce them they are martyrs, concilia'o them and they aro privileged. What will happen then ? You will bo asked to repeal the Union ; you will be charged with all tho •venality by which you carried your bill, ovory injustice with which it is chai'geablo, and with a hundred other faults and crimeo with which it is unconnected. You will be asked, I say to repeal the Union, and make of this rabble, these dregs and sweepings of a party, a Parliament. You shake jour head. No, no jit is by no means impossible ; nay, I don't think it oven remote. I spe kas an old man, and age, if it have any deficienccs as regards tho past, has at least some prophetic foresight for the future." Again, on pa»e 134, tho Knight Bays: —"ln the Lower House politics will become a trade to live by, and tbo Jrish party, with such an admirable market for grievances, will bo a strong and compact body m Parliament, too numerous to bo bought by anything save great concessions. Englishmen will never understand the truth of the condition of the country from these mon, nor how little personal importance they possess at homo. They will bo regarded as tho exponents of Irisk opinion; they will browbeat, denounce, threaten, fawn, and flatter by turns ; and Ireland, instead of being easier to govern, will be rendered 10 times more difficult, and all the obscuring influences of falsehood and misrepresentation." It it reported that an old Wairarapa resident has recently received lettei'B from two of his nephews, who hail at tho timo of writing been for two months on tho Kimberloy diggings, during which period one had obtained 1100 ounces of gold au* th» other 309 ounces.