E-No. 9

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF

2. I take advantage of it also to repeat to you and, through you, to the Maori people, the assurances of good will on the part of our Gracious Sovereign which have been given by each succeeding Governor, from Governor Hobson to myself. 3. On assuming the Sovereignty of New Zealand, Her Majesty extended to her Maori subjects her Royal protection, engaging to defend New Zealand and the Maori people from all aggressions by any foreign power, and imparting to them all the rights and privileges ol British subjects; and she confirmed and guaranteed to the Chiefs and Tiibes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof, the full, exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and oiher properties which they may collectively or individually possess, so long as it is their ■wish to retain the same in their possession. 4. In return for these advantages the Chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi ceded for themselves and their people to Her Majesty the Queen of England absolutely and without reservation all the rights and powers of Sovereignty which they collectively or individually passed or might be supposed to exercise or posse-s. 5. Her Majesty has instructed the Governors who preceded me, and she will instruct those who come after me, to maintain the stipulations of this Treaty inviolate, and to watch over the interests and promote the advancement of her subjects without distinction of Race. 6. Having renewed these assurances in the name of our Gracious Sovereign I now ask you to confer with me frankly and without reserve. If you have grievances, make them known to me, and, if they are real, I will try to redress them. Her Majesty's wish is that all her subjects should be happy, prosperous, and contented. If, therefore, you can make any suggestions for the better protection of property, the punishment of offenders, the settlement of disputes, or the preservation of peace, I shall gladly hear them and will give them the most favourable consideration. 7. The minds of both Races 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 heads of all concerned in it. The framers of it are said to desire that the Maori tribes of New Zealand should combine together and throw off their allegiance to the Sovereign whose protection they have enjoyed for more thiin 20 years, and tliat 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 Hace 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 re-inforcements 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 oiher 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 tie 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 ihese 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 is necessary for the preservation of pea=e in every country that the inhabitant!?, should acknowledge one Head. 12. I may frankly t< 11 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 hitve 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 thus 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 rf 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 te commission of any act which, by violating their allegiance to the

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