THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 6, 7 June 1873, Page 10

THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY.

(-An Auckland Contribution,) : The effectual mode of settling the "Native difficulty has been permitted to pass away; the only mode of securing and promoting the peace and prosperity of the Colony has been manifestly negleSted If the millions lavished upon an almost profitless war had been SS '} POn * T^V&S 88 ** 1 s y ßtem of immigration, the Colony would bear a far different aspect to that which it presents at present, and we should not be again, as we are at present, threatened witn and obliged to enter into another of those death struggles with a ? £r S \T a ?- c ' °SJ withal a brave race 5 tf tTl e cost of the maintenance ot the Native Dedartment, both before and since the last war, had ■been laid out in the introduction of tie right sort of immigrants, and placing as near as possible to Maori settlements, the peaw of the country would long since have been secured, and we would now be on the highroad to prosperity. If this were done, tne Colony would be occupied by an industrious and thriving yeomanry; we should enjoy the blessings of peace and civilization, and not be compelled to enter into another struggle with the Katives to maintain our supremacy- a strife which it makes one shudder to contemplate. The Maori is not yet conquered. "We have scotched the snake, not killed him." But this mode of settling the Native difficulty did not suit the powers that were, nor does it yet seem to suit -he views of the powers that be. The difficulty of settling the question of the subjugation of the Native race, and making them amenable to law and order is, to our mind, not at all in the manner ot doing it, but in knowing how to do it; and, in knowing it, havinjr the inclination and courage to do so. The Maori is shrewd and intellegent, and, depend upon it, when he finds himself surrounded by a power superior to himself in streagth and intelligence, he will ftnd it to his interest to quietly settle down to peaceful and induEtrial pursuits. But a policy has been pursued towards the Natives that is at once degrading and ruinous to both races. This policy must sooner or later have an end. It is not for the interest o? £? ttS 1 ? « ° r Ma .° n t] ? at ** should continue. It is therefore to 1,,T 11 1 tl l at the next session of the General Assembly will not be 2 cd +i \ ? aSS ? ver witllout m aking some effort 4 settling a question that is notoriously retarding the peace and prosperity of the Colony by preventing capitalists from coming here to establish ThTNs^ e^ and .° tll T^ SS 1 c de% ; el °P c ottr Wificent resources De£.i«no t De P artm , ent w looked upon with great suspicion as perpetuating a system fraught with great mischief and injury to the interests of the country, and it is thought if that Department was swept away altogether, the result would be hailed with satisfactSS by the colonists; except, indeed, by those who "live, move and have their being" under the shadow of its bountiful fig tree mestin B Zf ■T ° f co , nt^* io \ with the Natives is the land C ol ' antl - in this regard, New Zealand bears a striking resemblance to poor old Ireland. There, like here, the great obstacle to ffi shSri Pr - S1 T ty iS S6S 6 land < l Uest4n - Tw!likf here? tW^fl fl P U \ to TVT V - the P r °£ress of the country, and by their evil influence, to ostracise its inhabitants to enrich by theiV be dealt w^ri^tl- , T^ S iS an ° tW difficult y *' hieh to ™3 tl J y le S lslatlll>e - A system that is fraught with no good to the general interests of the Colony, but, on the contrary, a fvlnt^nl° f - niScllief ' VllV 11 have t0 P^t a ?o-a7aU till S■ i i J,» a § ci l eral consent on the part of the Natives to s^^i^iSttS^ 11 * is the *»**»*» «* T - wa ° « M^ii^xr^^iS:^ 0 ' to apply not alone to the tfii Maori peoplT t0 aU leaSi " S and sellin S of laJld b J

"2nd. Let the Enropeanß cease tempting the Maori people to sell or lease their lands in all time to come (mutu mutu rawa). "3rd. In the case of any Maori selling or leasing his lands to Europeans on and after this date, he will be fetched to Te Kuiti "