THE WANGANUI NATIVES AND THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2082, 2 July 1864, Page 2

THE WANGANUI NATIVES AND THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

On Wednesday evening there was an energetic debate for which few were prepared, and which every right minded man must deeply regret should have taken place. The hon Mr Johnston asked for a vote of thanks, complimentary and substantial, to the natives engaged in the late fight up the Wanganuj River, and it was naturally enough thought th#t so simple an act of justice would have been responded to, and passed not only unani. mouslybut with acclamation by the legisture of the province in a portion of wljose jurisdiction the fight had taken place. Bat this was not to be. So prejudiced have a few of the members become, that though the loyalty of certain natives has been attested with their very lives, there were yet found some in an assembly laying claim to be ao* tuated by the feelings of English gentlemen, refusing even to show the courtesy of thanks for services thus signally rendered. Mr Johnston's resolution was as follows :— " That this Council desires to convey to the friendly natives at Wanganui, who gave so signal a proof of their loyalty at the fight at Moutoa,— the deep sen»e it entertains of their praiseworthy conduct, and to thank them heartily for their valuable and effective assistance. That in recognition of their patriotic services a suitable monument be erected in the town of Wanganui, sacred to the memory of those friendly natives who lost their lives in defence of their European fellow settlers. And that, Mr Speaker bo requested to forward the resolution to his His Honor the Su« perintondent, for transmission to the Friendly Chiefs."

In submitting this resolution, Mr John* ston did so in very few words. The oceasjoa ■eemed to be one in which it would he an insult, alike to those who were to tender and to those who were to receive the thanks, to argue the merits of the case. Actuated by high toned feeling himself, he regarded av* gumenl as out of place, and contented him. self therefore with expressing his regret thafj the honor he proposed to confer was not en." hanced by coining as a proposition from the head of the Government, to whoie policy

H was in somo degree owing that a feeling of faith in the European settlers had been evoked in these natives, sufficient to induce them to act in the praiseworthy manner in which all knew they had acted. But scarcely had Captain Smith given expression to a few cordial compliments when Mr Borlase poured forth a torrent of invective, which was really painful to to listen to. Every man is supposed to possess some spark of gratitude towards those who have befriended him or his kin, but Mr Borlase has none for a Maori, even when that Maori stands before rebel bullets to protect an European settlement. Mr Borlase paraded himself as almost the only representative of the people in that House, and in their name denounced the resolution as " arrant humbug," " a sham," " bunkum," ''claptrap," — affirming that there was not a single native between this and Waikato who was restrained from helping to drive the pakeha into the sea, by any other motive than fear or reward — as if fear or reward were not powerful stimulants to many others than natives ; as if the hope of reward in some shape or another did not stimulate every soldier in the island, from General Cameron, X.C.8., downwards. Attributing , the most sordid motives to these natives, he then pared down the engagement at Moutoa to the level of an old feud. Difficult was it even for Mr Fitzherbert to restrain himself when he took Mr Borlase to task for this senseless piece of declamation, and appealed to the narrative of the fight and its subsequent proceedings in support of the truth of the resolution. The simple fact that Matene urged the friendly natives to sit still in their pas, and let the Pai Mairiri pass down the river, (offering to wait even a couple of months for this permission), was proof enough that the pakehas of Wanganui, and not the natives of Banana, were the object of attack, and that it was only because the friendly natives blockaded the river in protection of the pakeha, that the fight with the fanatics resulted. The urgent request of the victors that the Superintendent should let the prisoners go, made when smarting from the loss of many killed, ought to be proof conclusive that it was begging the question to regard it as a native feud. But Mr Borlase was not tho only one who rose m the Council to object to the motion, his opinions and his declamation being alike echoed by Mr Bunny. No wonder that those who followed spoke warmly. We never heard Mr Taylor speak so indignantly before, i It takes much to make a man of his quiet < demeanour speak excitedly, and we were glad to see that Mr Borlase is not altogether callous, and that he even winced under the outburst of noble sentiment that welled up so indignantly, affecting to cover his confusion by repeated " no, nos." All men speak better, when they have something to rouse them, and Mr Johnston in his reply was thoroughly roused, and tpoke efficiently, not gaining his point however unanimously. When the House divided there were six who deliberately refused to thank the natives of Wanganui for what they had done for the Province.

It is not necessary to write a homily on ingratitude. What this half dozen members don't feel the Province does, and services such as those rendered last month deserve, and will, receive, the hearty and substantial thanks of every right-minded colonist.