POKAIKAI COMMISSION.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXIII, Issue 2719, 15 August 1868, Page 5

POKAIKAI COMMISSION.

(to the editob op thb independent.) Rangitikei, August 10, 1868. Sicj — For some time past I have been watching the course of passing events, and amusing myself by reading the speeches made by the different honorable individuals who compose that seat of : wisdom, the Assembly of New Zealand. I am not going to meddle with any one at present but our friend Mr G. Graham, bette;- known by the ; soubriquet of " Maori Graham." Well, I see he : has had the effrontery to raise liis voice once : more in the House on native matters. It seems i the Pofcaikai affair has not been enough for him, ' although he did get £52 for attending a corn* i mission of which he was mainly the author. Mr i Graham taunts the Native Minister with being ' acquainted with people of Mr Black's stamp, Black : ofMatata, he of "powder and shot" notoriety. Did Mr Graham think for one moment when he , was " chaffing" the Native Minister, that such things have happened as the " pot calling the kettle black ?" Who was the individual from i whom the honorable member got his information about the attack on Pokaikai ? Was it not from a drunken nameless adventurer, who was, thought so little of that he was even a standing jest and butt to the very Maori boys in the camps at i Hawera and ManawapoP A nice person to be j acquainted with no doubt, in Mr Graham's eeti- i ruation, and much more estimable in the eyes of i the hon. gentleman, than he of Matata, "of ' powder and shot" celebrity. Nevertheless, Mr ( Graham took all Mr Spencer's calumnies in as i Gospel truth, and stood up and called Colonel : McDonnell and his men everything bad that his fertile brain could invent. A commission of in- ! quiry was instituted, and in spite of all Mr | Graham's efforts, and the strenuous efforts he did < make, ho failed signally in proving one Bingle in- j stance of cruelty or drunkenness, oxoept in the case of his protege, Mr Spencer, who was ' proved to have been drunk on the occasion. I Most people in this , district firmly believe that j the Pokaikai inquiry did more mischief than Mr t Graham and all Ms brethren of the Aborigines i Proteotion Society will" ever be able to reotafy. i Of course the honorable member must have heard ' by this time that one of the murdered men,' poor ; j Smith, was eaten by Tito Kowaru and his people, ';

if, he does not know it, I beg to tell him thafc^uoh is the case. Some time ago a letter, written 'in Maori was found in a cleft stick, somewhere about Ketmarae, the substance, pf, which was as. follow* : — After some preliminary compliment's to the Pakehas in general, Tito ICowaru said : — " I have boiled your trooper, in a. pot ilka be,ef; I have eaten, of him, and all my tribe, women and children, have eaten of him also, and how my throat is open to human flesh." I have no doubt this diabolical feast took place in that large house which Mr Parris mentions in his report, Tito built at Ngutu O Te Manu, some time ago to the " God of Peace." . V<b Victis ! Oh honorable member for Newton, you have much to answer for. The constituency of Newton, . Mr Editor, wherever that may be, is to be sincerely congratulated on having such a luminary as, Mr Graham for their representative. Should he ever lose the seat he mow holds, let him jfat up for Patea, and I will guarantee that if he does not get elected, that he will at all events get a' good coating of Archangel tar and the very best robsterV feathers to be procured, in the district for love or money. The fleas that bothered him and poor " Toby," will be a jest to it. I have thought Mr Editor, of a speedy solution of the difficulty in which the country is at present through this cruel war, it is this Mr Graham that talks of a " face to face" policy ; well, )et him be brought face to face, with TitOjKowaru. Tito's "throat is at present open for human flesh," then let Mr Graham emulate the ancient Romans and immolate himself upon the altar of his country. " JDulce et decorum, est pro f atria mori,'* which in this instance might be freely rendered, " It is a Bwect and an honorable thing to be killed by a Maori." I can fancy the hqnorabie member leaving that arcanum of wisdom in which h« now sits like a senator of old, bidding adieu to all, his blushing honors thick upon him, and gqing, decked with ribbons and garlands, like one of the ancient sacrifices, accompanied by the relatives and comrades of those murdered by the Pokaikat Commission, accompanied by the music of the tin dish, and the shrill notes of the penny whistle, to meet Tito Kowaru face to face. Curtius leaping into the chasm, or Marcus Scaevola with his hand in the glowing brazier, would look small indeed compared with the hero of Newton. Will Mr Graham not Bee that he is not the mas to legislate for our swarthy brethren, that from the continued blunders he is making, and the one-sided view he is always taking of native matters, most people believe, and with truth,. that he knows very little of native character. He seems to be troubled with a political "strabismus" of the most inveterate kind. Since the Patea murders, Mr Graham has not been quite so blatant as usual, but it seems that the Native Minister's taunts stirred the old leaven within him, and acted upon him much the same as poking with a long pole would act on a tiger. Cave canem, Mr Richmond, he bites occasionally. In conclusion, Mr Editor, Mr Graham tells us that his family is living quietly clobo to the Aukati line, in the Auckland province. As the hon. gentleman has located them there, no doubt to show what confidence he has in the friends of the pot and tomahawk, let him not expect much sympathy from some of us should he find them, made soup of, a la Tito Kowaru, some fine morning. Thenwillthere.be weeping, and wailing, and much sorrow in the house of Graham when its chiokens come home to roost.— l am, &c,, Patea Ranges.