THE NATIVE POLICY PAST AND PRESENT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVII, Issue 3114, 3 February 1871, Page 3

THE NATIVE POLICY PAST AND PRESENT.

. « TO THE EDITOR OF THE INDEPENDENT. Wellington, Feb. 1, 1871. Sib,— -Judging from the " Evening Post's" leader of yesterday, I presume some ingenious arrangement must have been made by its editor for carefully limiting its circulation to the town of Wellington, or at any rate for insuring that no single copy should ever reach the West Coast, for surely no writer who did not presume on the ignorance of his readers could have written such arrant nonsense as (he article in question contains. After sneering at the establishment of a coach lino be* tween Wanganui and New Plymouth—material progress being much too low a thing for the ardent admirer of the philosophic Richmond and the modest Travers to applaud on any occasion whatever— the writer continues, " if the West Coast is really in a state of peace and security, if the settler's of Whitotaru and Patca, dwelling beneath the protecting wing of Fox, can sit uuder " their vines and fig trees, no one daring to make them afraid," how comes it that the Disturbed Districts Act is still in force in their country ?" and he then goes on to prove, after his own fashion, that tho act remains in force, because 1 the country which was pacified by Whitmore, is not so secure as when he left it." I can imagine the shouts of derision with which a meeting of West Coast settlers would have received such a statement, had it been made, let us sny, by the adventurous Gil lon in search oi a seat. Whitmore pacified the West Coast! Why even now the gallant Colonel is execrated by every settler upon it, as tho cause of all their wdes. "Is not ao secure as when he left it ! ! " Well his leaving it certainly did add to the sense of security, but otherwise one cannot help thinking that the best guarantee we have for tho j continuance of peace is the denth or imprisonment of most of our enemies, and our evident power to deul with the remuinder should they venture to attack us, a thing which there is every reuson to suppose they have not the remotest intention of doing. For an instant a glimmering of common sense seems to have shown the writer that his brilliant theory did not quite ngreo with fucts. "It may appear singular,"' ho remarks, "that bucli reports about the tranquility of the West Coast districts, as are trumpeted forth by the Government organs, should be allowed to pass

unchallenged by the settlers if incorrect." To any ordinary person, this singularity wott.d hare amounted to an impossibility , but I a man arguing in eupport of a foregone conclusion is frequently " fact blind ' and so our ingenious gentleman of the forces shufs his eyes, and goes in for a more preposterous theory than his first, and makes the astonishing assertion that the settlers on the West Coast, being " under martial law or semimartial law, are afraid to quarrel with the powers that be." " The detective system is at work amongst them," says the " Post," " to enable the authorities to beep an eye on those who dare to differ from the Government." Really I feel much inclined to invest several pence in this particular copy of the " Evening J?ost," and forward them to Wuiroa, Patea, and Waihi, jußt to show these victims of a tyrannical Government what miserable slaves they are without knowing it ! Fancy a lot of people investing their money in land, building .their houeeß, and living in a district which they know to be utterly insecure, but not daring to say a word about it, or indeed to call their souls their own for fear of calling down upon their devoted beads the vengeance of Major Noake and Mr Branigan ! How any sane man can have committed himself to such absurdities, it is difficult to imagine. There is but one way of accounting for it, which ia this — that eome West Coast publican has got hold of the " Post," and has " crammed " its able editor with cock and bull stories, for the purpose of getting up au agitation against the Disturbed Districts Act, which certainly does subject public houses to greater control than that given by the ordinary law. The fact is that the act in question is enforced on the West Coa9t, because under it drunkenness and sly-grog selling; ia supposed to be more easily prevented. Whether it is reallj required or not raay be questioned ; from what I have observed myßelf, I am inelinod to think that it is no longer necessary. At the same time it has worked exceedingly well as administered by Major Noako and other officers of the Government, and it is often wise to let well alone. The ridiculous stories told by the " Evening Post's" very good authority, l need hardly say, are utterly without foundation. The West Coa9t settlers are just as free and independent as any other body of colonists, and if they thought the policy or the action of the Go- , vernment wrong in any particular would say ] eo without a moment's hesitation. As a mat- j ter of fact they happen to be very well satisfied with the present state of affairs in their district. Feeling secure and having no particular grudge ngainst any member of the Ministry to gratify, they don't hold meetings to denounce its conduct, and if they did see the article in the " Evening Poiit" which I have criticised, they would certainly pronounce its writer to be either a fool or a rogue, or that miserable mixture of both which does more harm than either. — I am, &c, A Waitotaba Settles. i —