The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-14 00:00:00

p'.O.lOE 4D. STAMPED , sp.

fewer. But the conquered were allowed to re-
occupy and to acquire new rights. The present war,
however, does not turn on the old dispute settled
by Mr. Commissioner Spain's award, and reopened
by Governor Fitzroy in 1844, or at least only in-
directly and remotely. It arose out of the pur-
chase of a block of 600 acres, on the left bank of
the Waitard River, of a chief named Teira, to which
Wirimu Kingi, as the superior chief of the Hapa.
or sub tribe, to which he belongs—a branch of the
Nga-ti-awa—has what we should call a paramount.
title. This species of title, whether wisely or un-
wisely is of little or no consequence here, has been
recognised by the Governor in many dealings with
the natives for their lands. It was laid down, as
the rule by which the Government Would be bound,
" that the tribal rights should be recognised, and
that individual claims to occupy should be disre-
garded," On the whole, I am inclined to think
this rule was a just one. The title to the land it-
self is in the tribe, i.e., tribal, as the rule calls it—
quasi national, as we may explain it. The indi-
viduals of the tribe have only a right to occupy
for cultivation, and when they have taken what
the land will yield, their right ceases to be of any
value. Bat the tribal right remains. Now, in
dealing with Teira the Governor has departed
from his own rule, and this not without the fullest
warning, not only from Wirimu Kingi him-
self, but from a great number of disinte-
rested and friendly chiefs of the Nga-ti-awa, in-
cluding our noble old friend E. Puni, who is .in-
capable of any misstatement, and Riwhai Te Ahu,
who is an ordained deacon of the Church of England.
Teira's right, if any, is simply a right to occupy a
small portion, I believe about 1-60th part, of the
rock which in the native language is named " Te
Porepore," of which the tribal title is in W. Kingi,
while the individual claims of himself and family
are far larger than Teira's. Riwhai Te Ahu has
written a long letter to the Superintendent of Wel-
lington, Dr. Featherston, asserting and establishing
W. Kingi's claim, and consequently the invalidity
of the Governor's purchase and the injustice of the
war. This is confirmed by another letter, signed
by four other chiefs well known to the settlers of
Wellington. These matters have been brought be-
fore the Assembly by Dr. Featherston in a speech
which seems to me unanswerable, and his views
are entertained by many of the more influential
settlers. This does not bear out the Downing-street
hypothesis to which I have already alluded.
I now come to the question which is really one of
paramount importance in tracing this miserable
war to its source. The cause of quarrel is, no
doubt, the block of land known by the natives as
"Te Porepore." But who converted this quarrel
into a war ? I say, without hesitation, Col. Gore
Browne, and I proceed to the proof. There can be
no doubt that, upon learning the Government had
taken possession of the disputed block, Wirimu
Kingi assumed a hostile aspect. He entered upon
the land, which he asserted was his. I venture to say
that no black-letter lawyer could have tortures this
into a " forcible entry" with " strong hand" under
the statutes of Richard 11. and Henry VI. He
found the door open and he walked in. When
quietly in he fortified his pah and evinced a warlike
intention ; but it was an intention only. Ido not
doubt that Kingi meant fighting, and nothing else;
but he had not gone beyond showing that he in-
tended to keep possession. There was not even the
black-letter man's " forcible detainer" after a
" peaceable, but illegal entry." At this point the
matter was clearly open to adjustment. There were
plenty of " mutual friends" who at that time would
have stepped in to prevent collision—E. Puni, Te
Ahu, E. Tako, Archdeacon Hadfield, Featherston,
the Superintendent, and Whitely, the Wesleyan
missionary. Suddenly, the very door to negotia-
tion was closed with a bang, by what was in-
tended as a declaration of martial law, but which
was really a declaration of war. Here let me ob-
serve, by way of preface, that the Governor has
been ill advised as to his own power to proclaim
martial law. The Governor has no powers but such
as are imparted to him by his commission and power
to proclaim and exercise martial law is not among
them. The Queen herself has no such power, and
therefore could not impart it to her Governor. Yet
in the face of the Petition of Right, the Annual
Mutiny Act, and other statutes—in the face, also,
of numerous decisions, one of which cost a Governor
£lO,OOO and costs, and another cost another Go-
vernor (Wale) his life—this Governor Browne has
been guilty of a double usurpation by proclaiming,
or intending to proclaim, martial law. But now let
us read its terms. The proclamation was, of course,
published in the Maori language, and the literal
translation of the Maori version is as follows :
" By the Governor, &c.
" Because soon will be commenced the work of the sol-
diers of the Queen against the natives of Taranaki, who
are haughty (rebellious), fighting against the authority of
the Queen. Now I, the Governor, do openly proclaim and
publish this word, that the fighting law will extend at this
time to Taranaki as a fixed law, until the t'me when it shall
be revoked by proclamation.
" Given by my hand under the Great Seal, &c.,
"THOMAS GORE BROWNE."

Now, this proclamation is not directed solely
against Kingi's party in arms at Waitara, but is ex-
tended to all the natives at Taranaki who are
alleged to be fighting against the Queen, although
at the time (Jan. 27, 1860) not only had no fighting
taken place, but no open act of rebellion had been
committed. As the natives would read it—as any-
one might read it, the proclamation was against the
Ngatiruanui and the Taranaki tribes who had not
'joined Kingi, as against Kingi's Ngatiawa. It can-
not be wondered at that the tribes who were de-
nounced as rebels fighting against the Queen (an
undoubted falsehood) should at once make common
cause with Wirimu Kingi. Denounced as rebels
they had nothing to lose and much to gain by be-
coming rebels.
Having thus wantonly provoked this wretched
war the Governor seems to have appeased his con-
science by declining to carry it on with vigour.
General Pratt is reported to have declared that
Colonel Gold, so loudly condemned for inactivity,
was justified by the Governor's instructions, and
could not have acted otherwise than ho did. Well
might Mr. Superintendent Featherston say that the
" While honestly and conscientiously balievinfegel
the one
that
we
for
war is an unjust and unholy war, I cannot
while,but
are placed in a most painful position ; . on
hand, any retreat or any vacillation in cariying on
the he
otherw was
might be most disastrous to both races, it is, on
hand, most shocking to urge that wo should go on shed-
ding blood in a cause which we believe to be unjust. I
cannot but express an earnest hope that.we may be able to
of bringing the conflict to a close with-
devise some means
o
out compromising the dignitS,f the Crown or the safety of
I would remind you that, as the natives 'have
nboo?th rinatchesis.
house any
representatives of their race, wo are
bound by a sense of justice to protect their interests—to
mete out equal justice. For my own part, I know of no
higher duty that can possibly devolve upon thiti house than
to prove to the natives that it is a tribunal to which an ap-
peal for redress will never be made in vain. I can conceive
no means more calculated to restore the confidence of the
natives in the justice of the Government, which has been
so entirely destroyed by these transactions, as a determina-
tion evinced by this house to protect them from acts of in-
justice, no matter how high the power by which they are
perpetrated. Such, I repeat, is the most sacred duty which
can devolve on this house."

There are petitions for the Governor's recall—
one from friendly natives at and near Olaki and
Waikanae. The Governor has charged Archdeacon
Hadfield with originating this petition. This Mr.
Hadfield has denied, and Z think a man of his high
character might have stopped there; but he has
thought, fit, to go further. lie has sifted the whole
evidence, and has shown upon what scanty sur-
mises the Governor has thought fit to make a grave
charge against a dignified clergyman of the church.
In fact, Bishop Selwyn, Sir William Martin (late
Chief Justice), and Archdeacon Hadfield have done
no more than protest to the Governor himself
against an act of spoliation which is the sole cause
of this unhappy war.
The innocent victims are the peaceful settlers.

I