E—No. 2

40

FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO

" posals were made to adopt extreme measures: the most violent party advocated a clear sweep of all " the Pakehas —Governor, Misspnaries, settlers—all It was decided that Tongariro should be " the centre of a district in which no land was to be sold to the Government, and Hauraki, Waikato, " Kawhia, Mokau, Taranaki, Wanganui, Eangitikei, and Titiokura the circumference : that no "prayers should be offered for the Queen, no roads made within the district, and that a King should "be elected to rule over the New Zealanders as the Queen and Governor do over the settlers." {Rev. T. Buddie, Origin of King Movement, pp. 6-8.) The Waikato King party and Laud League laid down a' similar rule to that which had been established by the Taranaki League. " The land thus given over to the King is not to be alienated " without his consent. This might be all very well if the party stopped here. But they resolve "that no land shall be sold within their territory even though the owner may not have joined the " League. Any man therefore attempting to sell a block of land would subject himself to summary " proceedings at war. And any attempt to take possession of the purchased block by the Govern* " ment would be resisted by force of arms, as in the case of the land at Waitara." {Rev. T. Buddie, ibid, p. 20.) The insurrection at Taranaki is the direct result of these Leagues. " The vital question with the Maori Kingites now is, whether the King or the Queen shall " possess the mana of New Zealand. The Maori King Movement is the strength of the Taranaki " war." (Rev. J. Morgan and Rev. J. Wilson, letters to Select Committee on Waikato affairs.) —"You must understand this: the war is not a struggle of the Maori with the Pakeha; it is not a "war with the Missionary; it is not a war with the Magistrate; it is a war of the King with the "Queen." (Wiremu Nera Te Awaitaia, a head Waikato Chief speech to the Rev. J. A. Wilson.) —" Friend, all this fighting and plundering would not have occurred had we not made a King. " This is the root of the strife. It is Waikato who fight the cause of Taranaki; the men of the soil keep at a distance; they are but slaves; we fight their battles, we are the strength of the war." (Te Waru, a Waikato Chief, speech, ibid.) — ".The war was not merely a contention for the land "at New Plymouth, but for the Chieftainship of New Zealand. Wherever the King's flag went " they would follow. ( Wetini Taiporutu, speech, ibid.) —•" I met one of the Waikato Natives and "had a long quiet conversation with him; from which it appeared evident that the Waikatos in " reality are not interested in William King's quarrel, but have only used it as a pretext of " quarrel ivith the Government, and to commence carrying out their plan, initiated nearly six years "ago (to which I referred in my work), which is the organisation of a Native polity independent of "ours, and if possible subversive of it: that for this purpose they have been quietly preparing, in- " creasing their stock of arms aud ammunition by every means in their power. I have come to this " conclusion from long and close observation, which my constant visits amongst them have given "me every facility of making." (Rev. R. Taylor, Letter to the Governor, 19th December, 1860.) ■ —•" It is, however, a very great error to suppose that the war has assumed its present proportions "to support William King's title. Waikato care nothing really about his title to the Waitara. " Their object is to assert and support the mana of the Maori King's flag. William King's " land brought mutters to a crisis, nothing more. The Auckland Province was all but the seat "of war, had v Viremu Nera [To Awaitaia] persevered to sell, and the Government had purchased, " the last block offered by him between Raglan and the Waipa. The Kingites were prepared to " dispute the sale. The simple question with them is, not whether the parties who offered to sell are "really the only owners, but that the King flag should be respected, and no land sold within defined "Maori districts without the sanction of the King party: their policy being to prohibit sales." (Rev. J. Morgan, Letter to the Governor, 26th December, 1860.) It will, however, be satisfactory to see what Wireinu Kingi himself says on the subject. When the Waikato Chiefs and Wi Tako visited him to enquire into the truth of the matter, he said : —" The " Pakeha wants our land, but this mar is about your Maori King. Do not listen to the Pakeha, but " bring your flag to Waitara. Go back and clear them out; send them all back to England." (Rev. T. Buddie, Origin of King Movement, p. 38.) — And in a letter just received, addressed by Wiremu Kingi on the 14th November 1860, to Te Kuini Topeora and others at Otaki, he says :— " / am clothed with the dying injunction of Mokau \ Rangihaeata, who died some years ago,'] that '' is in regard to the redcoats: and this it is that lam carrying out now. This is a word to you ; " Let not the Chiefs of your Runanga. come to make peace. Mother, peace will not be made. 1 " will continue to fight, and the Pakeha will be exterminated by me, by my younger brother Te " Hapurona, and bij Waihato. I say to you, therefore, let no man come to make peace or to insult " me." — (Letter ftom Wiremu Kingi Whiti, copied and sent up by Tamihana Te RauparaAa.) No view, therefore, of the Taranaki insurrection couid be more erroneous, none more certain to mislead, as tending to place the subject on the narrowest and most superficial grounds, than that with which Sir William Martin opens his examination of the question, in the words " the present is a land quairel."

Note 2. "Native Tenure of Land." (Page 1.) It ie necessary to say at the outset that there are no fixed rules of Native Tenure applicable alike to all the tribes of New Zealand, [See Note No. 7.] In his Despatch to the Secretary of State dated the 4th December, 1860, after giving numer-