PROROGATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 194, 7 June 1860, Page 3

PROROGATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

The General Assembly has been again post' poned to some day in August, to be hereafter fixed, on account of the principal Native chiefs having been invited to attend a general conference at Auckland on the 2nd July. It being thus impracticable for the Governor to mee;t the Assembly at Wellington, at the time formerly specified; and his Excellency having promised the next meeting to be at that place, this course is adopted rather than call the Assembly to Auckland. We M fully ~.agree agree with "our contemporary in recommending the latter course, believing that every Southern Member would readily absolve the Governor of his engagement, ami attend willingly at Auckland to assist the Government to the utmost in the present critical emergency. 7’hat the Assemby should be in session at the forthcoming meeting of chiefs is of the' utmost importance; and under similar circumstances the Home Government would not hesitate for a moment to assemble Parliament. We fear, however,, that these are only the ostensible causes of postponement. It is not very often the General Government are so very particular /on the point of fulfilling promises, and if is natural, therefore, to suspect the validity of the plea. Mi\ Stafford knows well enough how abnoxious our Native Policy is to. the’practical common sense of the majority of members, and will as a matter of course put off the annoyance and jnconvenibnce of their interference as long as possible. He ; now holds nnbOunded sway,. and power is too gratifying for a man of his ambition aiuHittleness of mind to be abandoned until absolutely necessary. “ /Where there is a will there is a way,” and as the will is evidently to grasp at all power and hold' despotic rule, we are fully prepared to witness postponements to indefinite periods, so long as the way” can be plausibly.procured. On the eve;bf any urgent national emergency in England,/Parliament is immediately convened, for Pntish senators, unlike ours, place confule|fce in the concentrated wisdom of the many. We- are, however, 'at the antipodes, and nothing "certainly could be more antipodean than our ministerial notions of government. If we get into an inextricable labrinth of difficulties,we must Eschew all notions of parliamentary" qSsistanpe,. and ,passive.ly look ; on tilf bur settle the -whole "affair for us and leave us .in —a greater pickle than ever. Tbe*wofst of ii is that we are solely at his mercy, and must content ourselves like the discomfited /Welshman with masticating the leek that lie was obliged to swallow. The operation changed Llanglowers defeat into victory,. and may serve" us yet in a similar mahneiv-'- Cttwfcrhurt/ Standard } lQ{\i May.

MAORI VIEW OF THE WAITARA DISPUTE... . i The folding letter J tO tlfb Editor ofUlra Southern- Gross contains the best statement that we have seen of the ideas ol those Maories who, are favourable to W. Kingi s claim. There seem to be two ppiptsdiowever, which, these, “impartial and uninterested men” overlook. The first is, thaaccording to Maori custom W. Kingi has Tort feiled all claim to headship Over the '< aitai■iandb in consequence of its having been conquered and taken possession of by the Waikatos. The second is (and it is a pity that men who have been so long in friendly relations with the Government do , not yet know it) that English law has taken tlm place of Maori custom in this island.

Snt.-VThp paragraph from Dr.; Thomson’s book on New Zealand, relative to the “ manorial right” of Maori Chieftains, quoted by. your very spirited, .correspondent, signing. himself -‘‘Admirer of Wireinu Kingi,” seems to hedhis right thing in the right place,« and at the right time. ■ *• ■ It is so terse, so pointed, so full,, that I may be pardoned in asking you 'toinsert it in your columns- again, in order that the public.may have the benefit of a second perusal; at the same time, it will serve as an explanatory note, oil the Maori, document I forward for publication. One lias only to read the remarkable passage taken from Dr. Thomson’s book to bo fully enlightened upon the point at issue, and I suppose that even Taylor, though he may boast of a long line of ancestors, will not call in question the justness of the Maori law detailed by I)r. Thomson, and 'happily endorsed by your correspondent. It will be well' perhaps, to insert the passage in question here, and the Maori authority corroborating the testimony of the historian will follow. ' ‘ ~ P Dr'. Thomson sn the “ manorial right ol Maori Chiefs. . “ Amongst the familie? of each tribe there are also laws regarding landed property; thus, the cultivation of a portion of forest land renders it the property of those whoclaim it, and this right descended from generation to ■ generation. But this individual claim did not give the individual the right todispose of it t> Europeans.” Translation of Maori paper corroborative of' Dr. Thomson’s views : Our great custom, rule, or law in olden time, adopted by our ancestors, by the chiefs, and the people was that the head of the land and the people was the principal chief. The head of sub-tribes which were in the principal tribe, was also the chief. 1-Ie was the power (or authority, or influence,) for the land' (h-e;, the -authority vested in him, in the princijal chief) over thepeople; over their decisions to'hold on to the land (i.c., power to prevent its alienation), to make conquests, to go to war, or the removal (of the people) to another locality. In like manner, Wm. King is the 'principal chief of the Ngatiawa,; he is the principal head of those tribes, and of those chiefs (that is, the petty chiefs, - ...Taylor, Mahau, Pairama, Iliaka, Wi Kawalio, &c.); he is the. head also of that land (Waitari). According to our law Wm. King is right in holding on to the land. He it is who (has tlm power) to say whether the land shall be hehV or whether it shall be given up or sold; for he is the head of the chiefs (i. e., the lesser chief or chiefs of sub-tribes), the head- of the people of the land (Waitara), and head of all the chiefs (at that place) for the father of Wiremu Kingi Te Rahgitake was whangawhanga. In your law (i. e., European law) we hear now, for the first time, that Taylor' is the chief of Ngatiawa, and of Waitara. We never heard of his name till now.

These sayings, or speeches, or sentimcuts are from the chiefs who sign their names, below.

• (Signed) Taraia NGAKUfu (principal chief of the Npatimatera of the Thames.) Poinipi Tuiiua (Chief of Ngatipaoa, Wailieke and Taupo). . / Maihi Teßangikaueke (leading chief of. Rotorua tribes). Te Kerehi (Chief of Ngatitamatera, Wai-

hou). Wikemu IToete Te Waero (a leading Chief of Ngatipooa, Waiheke and / ; Taupo). " . It must be remembered that the abovA paper has been furnished'by uninterested and partial men—men who are most friendiy with the Government, their actions having borneout their professions for the la&t twenty years.. The like testimony- can be obtained from hundreds of leading chiefs if necessary ;. indeed, the sentiments contained in the Maori paper above, convey the feeling "gei.erally of the native people.