E—No. 1

TO NATIVE A FFAIRS.

rous population ; or at least, shall render it practicable to reduce them to the condition, for which nature has intended them, of hewers of wood and drawers of water. An exclusive reliance on the personal influence with the Natives of particular individuals, and on the effect of gifts and flattery upon the more powerful or more turbulent Chiefs would be natural features of such a policy ; which by its demoralizing influence would realize the expectations of its advocates, and render the annihilation of the Maori Eace both certain and speedy. 6. To the present Advisers of the Crown in New Zealand such a Policy appears false, cowardly, and immoral. In common with the whole intelligence of the community whose opinions they reprelent, they believe it to be at once the interest and the duty of the Colonists to preserve and civilize the Native people. Though not blind to the indications ot physical decay which the Race exhibits, nor to the great difficulties in the way of a Policy of Fusion, they do not permit themselves to despair. And they believe that the true course —a course which, however small the prospect of success, the British Government would still in honor and conscience be bound to pursue—is to take all possible measures for bringing the Aborigines as speedily as may be under British Institutions. 7. In order to the correct apprehension of the position of the Native question, it ought to be fully understood that the British Government in New Zealand has no reliable means but those of moral persuasion for the government of the Aborigines. It is powerless to prevent the commission by Natives against Natives of the most glaring crimes. Within the last twelve-month blood lias been spilt in Native quarrels in at least four different places in the Northern Island, —at New Plymouth, — the Bay of Plenty, —Hawkes' Bay, —and the Whanganui River ; in one instance, within the limits of a British Settlement. In the cases, which happily are not numerous, in which aggressions are committed by Natives against Settlers, the Government is compelled to descend to negotiation with the Native Chiefs for the surrender of the offender. The development of the material resources of the extensive wilderness still in the hands of the Natives, which comprises nearly three-fourths of the total area, and some of the most fertile portions, of the Northern Island, depends absolutely on their will. Without their consent it is impossible to survey, or even to traverse the country. Much less could the Government undertake the execution of roads, bridges, or other Public Works, in Native territory. Considerable difficulty was lately experienced in the establishment of a Mail route between Auckland and Napier, though the mail bags are carried by Maories. And it was very recently represented, by the Chief permanent officer of the Native Department, that it would be inexpedient, and even dangerous, fcr the Government to make a gift to certain Waikato Natives of a few bags of Clover Seed, lest the present should give rise to disputes respecting the ownership of land, and the Government be blamed by the Natives for having introduced among them a cause of dissension. These instances may serve to illustrate the nature of the present relations of the Colonial Government with the Natives. 8. Whether a Government reduced to such timid shifts, and with nothing beyond a moral hold upon the allegiance of a self-willed, suspicious, and warlike race, can succeed in subjecting that race to the salutary restraints of law, and in preserving it from the destruction which must result from a continuance of its own barbarous usages, is a problem which remains to be solved. There can be no doubt that the presence of an increased Military and Naval Force of sufficient strength to command respect for the British power,—now very lightly esteemed by the New Zealanders,— would greatly forward any efforts for the permanent amelioration of their condition. In the legislative measures proposed and carried by the present Government it has, however, been assumed as a condition, and steadily kept in view, that the Colony will remain practically destitute of any Force available for the maintenance of law and order amongst the Natives, and that reliance must be placed solely on the good sense of the people, and their innate capacity, under wise guidance, for self-government. 9. Accordingly) nothing more has been attempted than to facilitate the voluntary acceptance by the Natives of Er: j,iish Institutions. And, fortunately, many Maories are sufficiently intelligent and far-sighted to perceive the necessity for promptly taking advantage of such a facility. The old Maori regime is fast falling into decay whilst a substitute is naturally sought in a spontaneous imitation of British usages. Native Chiefs in various places affect to administer justice with the forms which they have observed to be used in the Police Courts of the Colony, and attempts have been made at many Native Villages to enact, and put in force, local regulations on various subjects. The leaders in these movements are mostly young men of standing, educated at the Mission Schools ; who though they appear destitute of the requisite knowledge, judgment, influence, and force of purpose to effect, unaided, the needed reforms, may yet, it is hoped, be counted upon to second the endeavours of an European Magistrate. 10. The Policy of the British Government in New Zealand'has generally been identical in its main purpose with what is now proposed. It seems, however, to have been expected that the Natives in the neighbourhood of the European Settlements would naturally aggregate themselves about these centres as so many nuclei of civilization, adopting the laws and usages of the Settlers, and resorting to the European Tribunals for the settlement of their differences. This expectation, if such there were, has been in great measure disappointed ; and the social organization of the two Races remains as distinct as ever, even in the immediate vicinity of the Towns. In a few cases Magistrates have been stationed in purely Native Districts. But placed there independently of the will of the people, and utterly without power to enforce their own decisions, their position has been a false one ; ai.d they have done nothing to supply the needed reconstitution of »aori Society. It appears to the present Advisers of the Crown that there has been no proper adaptation of British Institutions to the present condition of the Aborigines. It is unreasonable to expect that ;hoy should accept our Laws without those local modifications of detail which even British Citizens require. It is now therefore proposed to

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