We know, too, that after all the Settler was
and is the best friend of the Maori. On his
arrival he made that laud valuable which was
formerly of no account. It was, I admit, bought
at a low price; but if it had been given away,
it would have amply returned value to the
owners, by enhancing value in the land retained.
The land having been purchased in laying out
settlements, proper and liberal provision was
made for the improvement of the native race.
Schools were instituted; lands were set aside
for industrial and other educational institutes
for the natives, whom the settlers placed on the
same legal footing with themselves. Native
commissioners and other employés were
appointed to protect their interests, and far from
there being any attempt to rob them of their
land, a fee-simple was granted them, and laws
were passed which prevented the land sharker
from purchasing territory, by enacting that no
land sale or lease was legal unless made through
and by the government.

The settlers have submitted to taxation for
the maintenance of their institutes; they have
almost without a grumble suffered from the
cramping influence of enactments designed
solely for the just benefit of the Maoris. And
after all this they were not allowed to have a
voice in the conduct of native affairs. The
imperial government retained in their own hands
all power over this department; a department
indirectly governed by the advice of those men
who first opposed immigration, and afterwards
never stirred one finger to smoothe the road for
their fellow-countrymen in exile.

It may have appeared that the individual
conduct of Europeans has been irritating to the
natives, that the Maoris find themselves looked
down upon with contempt and detestation.
That contemptuous words have occasionally
been uttered by drunken sawyers and ignorant
soldiers, is very true, but that either such
words, or the feeling which prompts them, are
customary to the colonist, I utterly deny. On
the contrary, many close friendships exist
between individuals of either race, and many chiefs
are looked up to with great respect and affection
by the body of the settlers. Take such
instances as Herekiekie, whose loss was
universally regretted by black and white; E. Puni,
an old gentleman, the friend of every man in
Wellington, and at whose funeral the settlers
for miles round attended in token of the great
respect in which they held him. I have seen
Maoris sitting down at the tables of the leading
men of the colony, and after dinner mutually
discussing the affairs of the nation over an
amicable pipe and tumbler. Of late years
some settlers had the pluck to disregard the
troublesome law which provides against the
direct purchase or leasing of lands; bargains
were struck at a fair rent, and arrangements
were concluded to the mutual satisfaction of all
parties, without any of the hampering
interference of government officials.

The Maoris are a people very able to learn
from their friendly neighbours, and I think that
if more confidence had been placed in the honour
of our colonists, and more reliance on the
shrewdness and intelligence of the native, in
the purchase of land, it is very doubtful indeed
whether any of the disastrous wars which have
cost us loss in treasure and repute would ever
have happened. What, for example, is the
history of the late miserable squabble at the
Waitara, which resulted in the devastation of
the garden of New Zealand and the ruin of
hundreds of old and industrious colonists. In
1841 a large tract of land was purchased at
Taranaki for the New Zealand Company, and
Mr. Spain, the commissioner appointed by her
Majesty to preside over the New Zealand Land
Claims Court, pronounced that sixty thousand
acres had been fairly purchased. Of this land
much was taken up and cultivated by settlers.
In 1844, Governor Fitzroy reversed the award,
and a small portion, three thousand five hundred
acres, was repurchased, no more being alienated
for three years. Subsequently about seventy
thousand acres were bought at high prices, and
the last and most valuable portion of the old
purchase was never alienated. Well, in 1854,
Rawiri Waiana, a native magistrate, offered a
part of this land for purchase, but poor Rawiri,
whilst he was actually pointing out the
boundaries of the proposed purchase, was, with
several followers, shot down by members of the
Land League, an association of the most
turbulent tribes to prevent the further extinction
of native title over any land whatever. It was
of no consequence to them whether the tribe
offering land for sale belonged to the league or
not. It was simply given out that whosoever
dared to effect a sale of territory to the government
would surely bring down upon himself
the vengeance of the league. No attempt was
made to punish the murderers, and long and
bloody feuds arose out of this outrage.
However, in 1859 a block of six hundred acres was
offered to Governor Brown by a chief, Teira,
which was accepted, but the title lay open for
investigation for nine months, in order that any
claimant might have time to enter objection.
None was made except by Wiremu Kingi, who,
admitting the title of Teira, merely stated that
he would not allow the land to be sold. Now
this Wiremu Kingi was a staunch supporter of
the Maori king, who, with his kingdom of
associated tribes, had grown out of the Land League.
Kingi's only ground for opposing the sale was
that he was a subject of the king, and, therefore,
refused to agree to it. This objection not being
considered valid, the bargain was concluded, and
surveyors were sent to lay out the block. The
price paid for it was nearly a pound an acre.
Well, the surveyors appeared, but were warned
off by a party of old women, who were sent out
insultingly to break the instruments of the civil
engineers. Governor Brown, not liking this,
sent a party of soldiers to take possession. They
were fired on; and thus commenced this dismal
war. What right has any man to call a contest
thus begun a "Settlers' War?"

The settlers were, no doubt, ready to fight,