61

A.—3a,

present despotic form of Government as the best guarantee for the protection of the Native race, and the best means of advancing their civilisation. The argument was answered in the resolutions of the Settlers' Constitutional Association in August last, by which it was shown that the colonists were quite as likely to care for the welfare of the Natives, and much more capable of promoting it, than an arbitrary Government, which, after all, so far from having done anything towards civilising the Natives, had by its vacillating and mistaken policy been the originator of three rebellions and the principal means of retarding the advancement'of the Natives and the amalgamation of the races. In urging this reply, the colonists have surely the best of Sir George Grey ; because, while he can only appeal to his fears for the future and rest his case on predictions of what he thinks likely to come to pass, they appeal to facts, and rest their case on ascertained events. They assert boldly that the Natives have not prospered in consequence of the patronage and guardianship of the Government; that nearly all the evils which have existed in reference to them are traceable to their mismanagement under the present system ; that little or no provision for their permanent or general benefit has been, or is likely to be, made by the present Government. And further, they contend that there is every reason to believe, if the settlers had the control of their own affairs, the impediments to Native civilisation would be much removed, and many more steps be taken to secure it than have ever been thought of by their present patrons. We are confident that, in the mouth of Sir George Grey, this argument about Natives is merely made a stalking-horse, by means of which he hopes to impede the introduction of self-government; that, even if it were clear to him that the institutions bestowed on us would raise them in the scale of humanity, so great is his dread of self-government and so strong his determination to resist its introduction till he can escape from the colony, that he would still oppose it. But as we write not to convince Sir George so much as those whom his statements have misled, we trust that your Lordship will not consider us trespassing too long on your attention while we offer some additional illustrations of the position taken in the resolutions before referred to. 13. The treatment of the Natives on the two opposite sides of Cook Strait has differed -most materially, and, while it illustrates two different systems, has been attended with results most widely different. On the northern shore, extending from Cape Palliser to Wanganui, paternal Government, by means of the protector and missionary system, was established soon after the commencement of the colony. Under these influences the Natives have generally declined to sell the land ; and, with the exception of the small portion constituting this settlement and the Rangitikei lately purchased, have continued in occupation of the whole territory on this side of the Strait to the almost total exclusion of the colonists. At Waikanae and Otaki, fifty and sixty miles from Wellington, a central point as regards this district, there have been established the southern head-quarters of the Church Mission, where, under the superintendence of two energetic missionaries and a Resident Magistrate, it has been attempted to spread whatever good their system possesses for the civilisation of the Native race. The number of Natives within the district, including the Wairarapa, which is visited by a missionary from Hawke's Bay, is, according to the recent Government returns of Mr. Kemp, about 5,000. They may be considered as living under Government and missionary guardianship, and, with the exception of a small number near Wellington, are removed almost entirely from contact with the colonists and the influence of colonisation. On the southern shore of Cook Strait, extending from Cape Farewell to the Wairau, within the limits of the Nelson Settlement, the Natives early sold by far the greater part of their lands, leaving themselves nothing but the reserves made for them by the New Zealand Company. No protectorship, and scarcely any missionary influence, has been brought to bear on these Natives ; for, though Mr. Thompson, who fell in the Wairau massacre, held the office of Sub-Protector for a few months, it was allowed to continue vacant after his death in 1843 ; while two missionaries (Church and Wesleyan) devoted their services almost entirely to the colonists in the Town of Nelson, residing there, and very seldom visiting the Natives, none of whom lived nearer than fifteen miles, and the majority between that and fifty miles. On the northern shore of Cook Strait, we have referred to Waikanae and Otaki as the focus of Native civilisation and Government missionary influence. In the latter of those locations a ground survey of a village or town has been effected by the Government; the Natives removed to it from their previous residence nearer the sea, and there, apart from all colonising operations, remote from all European settlements, their instruction is carried on by the two missionaries before referred to. On the southern shore of Cook Strait the focus of civilisation is to be found in Blind Bay, at the Motueka, a place about seventeen or eighteen miles from the Town of Nelson, where nearly all the Natives in that bay, amounting to about 400 souls, reside on reserves set apart for them by the New Zealand Company. It happened that, at the very commencement of that settlement, a considerable body of settlers, two or three hundred souls, since much increased, located themselves in the immediate neighbourhood of the Motueka reserves. We know of no instance in which the juxtaposition of the two races, by intermixture of land and proximity of dwellings, in accordance with the plan originally devised by the New Zealand Company, has received any fair trial except in that locality. There, apart from Government influence and missionary control, in direct contact with European colonists, we see the exact reverse of the Waikanae and Otaki establishments, and have the materials afforded for a fair comparison between the two systems. It was an observation of Sir Fowell Buxton's that, in the endeavour to christianise and civilise aborigines, it is of little use to send the Bible unless you send the plough with it. This principle was well known to Elliott, the apostle of the Indians, and perhaps the most successful of the missionaries. It was acted on equally by a man of like attainments, and with nearly as great success —John Williams, of the London Independent Missionary Society, who lost his life among the Polynesian groups a few years ago. We believe that the progress of civilisation, and the religious advancement of the Natives also, may with great nicety be tested by the amount of their agricultural industry. Indolence is the besetting vice of savages, the foundation of nearly all their savage habits, and it is only as it is replaced by steady industry that evidence can be found or hope entertained of their civilisation. So long as " slothfulness in business " continues the prominent feature in their character, but little reliance is to be placed on the assurances of the " fervency of spirit " to which their well-meaning but too often not very judicious patrons are in the habit of appealing as evidences of the success of their tutelage. We