E—No 1

TO NATIVE AFFAIRS.

7. The minds of both Eaces have lately been agitated by false reports or exaggerated statements; and, in order to restore confidence, it is necessary that each should know and thoroughly understand what the other wishes and intends. 8. There is also a subject to which I desire to invite your special attention, and in reference to which I wish to receive the expression of your views. For some time past certain persons belonging to the tribes dwelling , to the south of Auckland have been endeavouring to mature a project, which, if carried into effect, could only bring evil upon the heads of all concerned in it. The framers of it are said to desire that the Maori tribes in New Zealand should combine together and throw off their allpgiance to the Sovereign whose protection they have enjoyed for more than twenty years, and that they should set up a Maori King and declare themselves to be an independent Nation. Such ideas could only be entertained by men completely ignorant of the evils they would bring upon the whole Native Eace if carried into effect. 9. While the promoters of this scheme confined themselves to mere talking, I did not think it necessary to notice their proceedings, believing that, if allowed time to consider, they would abandon so futile and dangerous an undertaking. This expectation has not been fulfilled. At a recent meeting at Waikato some of the leading men proposed that Wiremu Kingi, who is in arms against the Queen's authority, should be supported by reinforcements from the tribes who acknowledge the Maori king, and armed parties from Waikato and Kawhia actually went to Taranaki for this purpose. These men also desire to assume an authority over other New Zealand tribes in their relations with the Government, and contemplate the forcible subjection of those tribes who refuse to recognise their authority. 10. Under these circumstances I wish to know your views and opinions distinctly, in order that I may give correct information to our Sovereign. 11. It is unnecessary for me to remind you that Her Majesty's engagements to Her Native subjects in New Zealand have been faithfully observed. No foreign enemy has visited your shores. Your lands have remained in your possession, or have been bought by the Government at your own desire. Your people have availed themselves of their privileges as British subjects, seeking and obtaining in the Courts of Law that protection and redress which they afford to all Her Majesty's subjects. But it is right you should know and understand that in return for these advantages you must prove yourselves to be loyal and faithful subjects, and that the establishment of a Maori King would be an act of disobedience and defiance to Her Majesty which cannot be tolerated. It ie necessary for the preservation of peace in every country that the inhabitants should acknowledge one Head. 12. I may frankly tell you that New Zealand is the only Colony where the aborigines have been treated with unvarying kindness. It is the only Colony where they have been invited to unite with the Colonists and to become one people under one law. In other colonies the people of the land have remained separate and distinct, from which many evil consequences have ensued. Quarrels have arisen; blood has been shed; and finally the aboriginal people of the country have been driven away or destroyed. Wise and good men in England considered that such treatment of aborigines was unjust and contrary to the principles of Christianity. They brought the subject before the British Parliament, and the Queen's Ministers advised a change of policy towards the aborigines of all English Colonies. New Zealand is the first country colonised on this new and humane system. It will be the wisdom of the Maori people to avail themselves of this generous policy, and thu3 save their race from evils which have befallen others less favored. It is your adoption by Her Majesty as her subjects which makes it impossible that the Maori people should be unjustly dispossessed of their lands or property. Every Maori is a member of the British Nation; he is protected by the same law as his English fellow subject; and it is because you are regarded by the Queen as a part of her own especial people, that you have heard from the lips of each successive Governor the same words of peace and goodwill. It is therefore the height of folly for the New Zealand tribes to allow themselves to be seduced into the commission of any act which, by violating their allegiance to the Queen, would render them liable to forfeit the rights and privileges which their position as British subjects confers upon them, and which must necessarily entail upon them evils ending only in their ruin as a race. 13. It is a! matter of solicitude to Her Majesty, as well as to many of your friends in England and in this country, that you should be preserved as a people. No unfriendly feeling should be allowed to grow up between the two Races. Your children will live in the country when you are gone, and when the Europeans are numerous. For their sakes I call upon you as fathers and as Chiefs of your Tribes, to take care that nothing be done which may engender animosities the consequences of which may injure your posterity. I feel that the difference of language forms a great barrier between the Europeans and the Maories. Through not understanding each other there are frequent misapprehensions of what is said or intended : this is also one of the chief obstacles in the way of your participating in our English Councils, and in the consideration of laws for your guidance. To remedy this the various Missionary Bodies, assisted by the Government, have used every exertion to teach your children English, in order that they may speak the same language as the European inhabitants of the Colony. 14. I believe it is only needful that these matters should be well understood to ensure a continuance of peace and friendly feeling between the two Races of Her Majesty's subjects ; and it is for this reason, and in a firm hope that mutual explanations will remove all doubt and distrust on both sides, that I have invited you to meet me now.

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