NEW ZEALAND

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,

(PROVINCE OF WELLINGTON.)

Published by Authority.

VOL. X.] MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1863. **[No. 2]"

SPEECH OF HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT ON OPENING THE

THIRD SESSION OF THE THIRD PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF THE
PROVINCE OF WELLINGTON.

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council,—
In this Province which contains so large a proportion of the Maori Race, and which has distinguished itself by the prominent part it took in opposing a policy which involved a war of races and the destruction of the weaker, I cannot, in opening this session of its legislature, pass over without remark the present condition of the Native Question.

It is difficult by reference to the proceedings of the last Session of the General Assembly, to understand how far the administration of Native Affairs is that of His Excellency in person, and how far that of his responsible Ministers; but at all events it is highly satisfactory to know, that the course hitherto pursued by His Excellency has been in strict conformity with the advice tendered to him on his arrival in the Colony by his then Responsible Ministry.

The policy then proposed was no new one, but the same as has repeatedly, in analogous circumstances elsewhere, resulted in the restoration to loyalty of a people, whose affections had, by a long course of neglect and misgovernment, become alienated from the governing power. There are two ways of meeting such cases; the one, to treat the disaffected portion of society as a foreign enemy to be subjugated by the sword; the other to remember that they are members of the same community as ourselves, and that they may be reclaimed to their allegiance by leniency, by patience, by forbearance, by the removal of grievances, and the bestowal of privileges.

Let them learn by experience that the law is their friend, not their oppressor, and they will cease to regard its administrators with repugnance, or its sanctions and requirements with abhorrence and fear.

But this is not the work of a day. The confidence of many years of neglect and mismanagement cannot be regained in an hour. If it took years to alienate the Natives from feelings which were at their height in 1860-1861, we cannot hope to see the mischief entirely remedied in a much shorter time.

Those who expected to see the task accomplished by one wave of the Magician’s wand (if any such there be) judged without the warrant of experience and, I fear, either in New Zealand, or in any other field of action. And those who now manifest impatience at what seems to them to be the tardy progress of the Governor’s plans, can have little considered the nature of the impediments which stand in the way of more speedy success. Nevertheless,

if His Excellency be not hurried by the impatience of others into premature or indiscreet action, I entertain no doubt that the progress he has made, and is making, will prove to be as sure and well established, as it has been cautious and deliberate. In the meantime it is extremely gratifying to me to be able to assure you that the relations of the two races in this Province continue to be entirely friendly—that the colonists pursue their usual avocations with security and confidence, and that in all those districts where the Native population is most dense, its industry is found greatly to contribute to the welfare of the settlers and the general prosperity of the country.

Some disappointment may possibly be felt at the result of the land purchasing operations during the past year, by those who, ignorant of Native character, of the complications of Native titles, and how fatal to success is any teasing, any undue urgency, imagine that a bargain for the purchase of their lands can be effected with the same facility as a piece of land, the title to which is clear, can be conveyed amongst themselves; still the expectations I held out to you last Session—that valuable districts would shortly be freely offered for sale by the Natives, have been amply realized. In the Wairarapa, a few small blocks of no great value have been already acquired, and other blocks containing in the aggregate about 20,000 acres are under offer and survey. In the 70 Mile Bush, large tracts comprising, I have reason to believe, nearly the whole of that district within the boundaries of this Province, have been pressed upon me, and will be purchased without difficulty as soon as they have been surveyed. On the West Coast the terms of purchase for the Waitotara have recently been satisfactorily arranged. Valuable as this Block is from its containing some twenty thousand acres of rich agricultural land, it is still more valuable in a political point of view, from its removing the frontier of the settlement of Wanganui some twelve miles further to the North. Its acquisition will also probably lead to the Natives selling the intervening lands at Kai Iwi. Though unable to announce the completion of the purchase of the Manawatu Block, still I am happy to inform you that the chief difficulties in the way have been overcome, and that the negotiations have advanced to such a point, that I feel confident that they will be brought to a satisfactory termination within a very short time. Nor am I without hopes that after this portion, estimated to contain two hundred and fifty thousand acres, is obtained, the