Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. " NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1882.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 18 November 1882, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. " NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1882.

We notice that the Evening Post still harps on the string that Mr Bryce expected Tawhiao to refuse the terms offered by the Government, and waa very well pleased at the result. We confess that we aro totally unable to understand on what grounds our contemporary has arrived at so lame a conclusion. Whatever may be tho Native Minister's faults (and like the resb of the world he is not without them), low cunning and deceit have never,- so far as we are aware, been reckoned amongst them. If he had concocted a scheme for making certain proposals to Tawhiao in order that they might be rejected, and that thereafter he might in the eyes of the world be justified in pursuing a highhanded policy with regard to the King natives and the King country, then we should say that ho had been guilty of something which might properly be designated as baseness. But, after all, the proposals were not those of Mr Bryce alone. He, no doubt, was merely giving effect to the determination of the Cabinet of which he is a member. Are we, then, to believe that his colleagues were all in this nefarious and underhand plot to circumvent the tribeß ? The Ministry have been pretty well abused on various occasions by the Opposition newspapers, but the most rabid on the list has never brought a heavier charge against these gentlemen than has the Evening Post — a journal which, though much given to trimming and fencing (to suit the palate of Wellington supporters) has on the who!e displayed a friendly leaning towards the present occupants of office. The pu blic may rest assured that the offers of Mr Bryce were made in good faith, and that he was very much disappointed that- they were rejected. But, as we remarked in a previous article on the subject, we can well conceive that, the result being what it is, he may now meditato some other method of getting over a difficulty which still exists in full force. But, the Evening Post having expressed the opinion that the negotiations with Tawhiao originated and were carried on in fraud on the part of the Native Minister, proceeds to speculate on what may occur in the future. Of one thing we are quite sure, namely, that the Evening Post is not speakiug authoritatively. Our contemporary has received no intimation from head-quartGra of the intentions of tho Government ; but nevertheless ho may be to tome extent right in his prognostications. If so, tho absurdity of supposing that tho Native Minister's offers wore merely Bhams, and made in full .confidence that thoy would not be accepted, is rendered strikingly apparent. Tho scheme, from the Post's standpoint, ■was altogether unnecessary and super fluous, for without troubling themsolvos with any negotiations with

Tawhiao, they could at once have commenced that course of action which our contemporary thinks it probable will now be pursued. The Post says : — "Mr Bryco has dealt liberally with Tawhiao, and tho latter has repelled his advances. Why should Mr Bryce trouble about him any more ? He has refused a splendid offer, although solemnly assured it would never be made again. But this is not all. The natives have boon explicitly v arned that they aro not subjects of Tawni.io, but of Queen Victoria ; that they are under her laws as much as Europeans are, and will have to obey them as Europeans do. These carefully- worded warnings, uttered by a man liko Mr Bryce, arc not to be dismissed as mere unmeaning words. We fully expect , to find that thoy are pregnant witb very practical meaning. Let us suppose tbat a certain section of the Kingites desire to put their land through the Court and to bring it into tbe market for European settlement, and that Tawhiao objects to this. May not Mr Bryce say to him, "Mind your own business ; you havo no legal right to interfere with these men ; they are subjects of the Queen, and I shall protect them in the free exorcise of their rights : if you or your followers obstruct them you will be 'run in.'?" Or if, when the Q-onornmont are ready to proceed witb the noxt section of the Auckland-Wellington Railway from Awainutu, Tawhiao should say, " I do not wish the railway to go through my country yet ; wait a little longer." May not Mr Bryce retort, " Wait till your permission is asked : you havo no authority in tho matter : so soon as we are ready we -shall proceed according to law, and if you try to hinder tbo work you will simply be turned off ': if you persist you will be treated as a European obstructor would be.' And then if the owners of the land travevsed by the line are willing it should pass on tho terms offered to them, may not the work be carried on without any reference to persons who have no legal right to intervene ? Should it prove impracticable to agree as to terms, tho Public Works Act contains provisions for arbitration, compensation, and compulsory taking. It seems to us that matters have now reached a stage when the only negotiations needed are the ordinary ones which pass between the Government and the proprietors of any land which is for sale, or through which a lino is to pass. If the native landowners aro personally willing to sell, they ought to be enabled to do so without any interference on the ground of antiquated savage prejudices or superstitions. If they object to a railway traversing then 1 land, that ought to be no moro insuperable difficulty than a similar objection on tho part of anEuropean. There is a legal mode of procedure available, and the North Island has a right to demand that its progress shall no longer be delayed by weak concession to illegal and treasonable pretensions. Mv Bryce is armed with a potent pacificator in tho Amnesty Act and the various Native Acts passed last session. It will bo strange indeed if with these heiis unable to secure tbo co-operation of a large proportion of tho Northern Maoris, and if the minority detest progress and prefer savagery, they will have to subordinate their preference to tho general good, and "lump" what they do not "like." We believe that the Government are now quite strong enough to ignore Kingism altogether in dealing with the Northern natives, and we shall be much surprised if some course such as that abovo indicated is not followed out." Living iv such close proximity to the Legislative Chambers it is not unnatural that a Wellington news paper should have contracted the bad habit of seasoning its articles with the choicest specimens of the slang dictionary. Still, wo confess to knowiup -what our contemporary means by talking of running Tawhiao in, and of that monarch having to lump what he does not liko. It might have been couched in different language, but ■we understand what is intended to be conveyed. That is something, and we must be thankful for small mercies. If our contemporary believes that Mr Bryce is going to hasten to put a stop to the King and the King movement by the aid of the policeman, he is assuredly labouring under a very great delusion. The time is not yet come. Injudicious action might evon now bring about something very like another Maori war, or at all events might involve a series of isolated murders. But unless the negotiations for the abandonment of the King movement are renewed at the instance of the natives, and are brought to a satisfactory conclusion, we expect that the Government will be in no hurry to interfere, but that gradually, and owing to a variety of causes, the law will make itself felt, first on the outskirts of the King country, and then through the length and breadth of the land. Our contemporary is no doubt quite right in his estimate of the value of the legislation of last session affecting the nativo population.