Callousness of The Government

Te Ao Hou, September 1964, Page 49

Callousness of The Government When reading Mr Rickard's account of the various incidents which finally led up to the unprovoked attack on the small pa at Waitara on 17 March 1860, I was deeply moved by the callousness of the Government and the men in high places of that time. The events which finally led up to the invasion of Waikato by Government troops followed remorselessly on the attack on Waitara and the siege of Pukerangiora in March 1861 by troops under General Pratt. A Declaration by the Governor to the natives assembled at Ngaruawahia, dated 21 May 1861, was the dire portent of coming hostilities in Waikato. The writer closely examines the contents of this Declaration. After some preliminary remarks as to what he describes as a document with ‘numerous flaws in it,’ he comments that a statement in the Declaration that ‘the law guaranteed freedom and security … must have seemed particularly rich to the better informed Maoris who were well aware that the former Chief Justice, Sir William Martin, had declared that the Government's actions over the Waitara [purchase] was unlawful' (page 107.) The document also contained this declaration: ‘that every man was to allow roads and bridges to be made on this land when required by lawful authority.’ and the author comments on this as follows: ‘As the Maori had no share in any lawful authority, that would mean whenever the Pakeha chose.’