MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Daily Times, 14 September 1936, Page 4

MAORI MEMORIES

(By J.H.S. for “The Daily Times.”) GREY’S SECOND COMING. The Constitution for a civilised people “grows”; but that for New Zealand made in a day by the British Cabinet for 1846 was quite unsuited to the needs of this Colony of which the authors knew nothing. When the time came for the general election under this new scheme of Government, it leaked out that Sir George Grey, having realised the utter futility of the British plan, had decided for the House of Commons, the Lords, for us, and for himself, not to introduce the charter.

Under Earl Gray’s direction, Sir George saw that while most Maoris had readily learned to write their own ideally simple language, they did not speak and could not write ours. Thus they were to be completely disfranchised by this British Act. To their credit, Her Majesty’s Cabinet Ministers at once accepted the justice of our Governor’s protest, and suspended the Constitution for five years, giving Sir George (without the appearance of it) practically arbitrary power. Had he not procured that suspension of the charter and conducted his dictatorship with wisdom and forbearance, the Maoris who numbered five to our one and were well equipped, could, and almost certainly would have swept us into the sea. Despite this averted danger, his suspension of the 1846 charter brought protests, public meetings, banquets, lectures, and petitions for representative government. The Southern settlers said they were under a rule more absolute than the prison gang on Norfolk Island, and besought the Secretary of State to " set aside the specious arguments of Sir George Grey.” So unpopular was he, that difficulty arose through independent men refusing to sit in council with him. Sir George even lost the support of the Maoris, for whose sake he had suspended the Charter.

Once more an act was passed in 1848 giving us self government; and yet again was this condemned by political agitators, so this too fell to the ground. That period, even more than to-day, shows that in politics there is no gratitude. Not until his "second coming” as Governor of this misguided community were his wonderful power and judgment fully realised and appreciated.