FROM A SAFE DISTANCE.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 269, 5 March 1889, Page 2

FROM A SAFE DISTANCE.

The Government are coming in for a regular “roasting” by the Wellington papers, for the action taken with regard to the Te Kooti trouble. Not one of the writers understand the position, and seem to care still less whether they do or not, so long as it affords them the opportunity for a political attack upon the Government. These journalistic critics, in the security ot their sanctums in Wellington, can well afford to sneer at the fears of the outsettiers of this district, but that only makes their action a less manly one. Their references to “a lawless mob,” and all that sort of thing, can be borne by the settlers of this district with the same equanimity that such vapid and frothy denunciation can always be borne by people who are confident they have acted rightly, and if the means taken to achieve a purpose were of a radical nature at any rate the end justified the means. What the settlers here want is peace, and that the outsettiers should be protected from a certain danger to which they could not be blind.

. One journal insinuates that the excitement is got up by the Poverty Bay people so that they may turn it to profitable account in a commercial way. When such reckless assertions are made at the outset it is useless to go further in the hope of finding a grain of truth in anything that newspaper may urge. Instead of making a profit out of the affair it will be a serious loss to the place on account of the interruption of business, but it is better to put up with a temporary loss in the hope of obtaining an immunity in the future from these disturbing influences. Another journal takes up the subject in a more vituperative strain, and says—“ The Premier has not only committed a ludicrous blunder, but has committed an outrage on the colony by setting up martial law at Poverty Bay. . , This military raid on the Poverty Bay district, for that is what it is, cannot fail to leave a very bad feeling there which will not be got rid of for years to come. The arming of the Ngatiporou was a terrible mistake. It will make the Ngatiporou 1 themselves a dangerous element in the community henceforward, and it will inevitably inspire the Hauhaus with a sense of oppression and a longing for revenge. The whole expedition too, will revive Among the settlers that milltaryism which was the curse of the North Island for so many years, and which it

has been the wise policy of the Government ever since 1869 to discourage as much as possible. The mere cost of the affair will not be inconsiderable.” This is a lot of nonsense in a small space, and is hardly worth taking notice of. If the Government had not taken up the matter there would have been many other dangers to contend with, but the worst of all would have been the insecurity and suspense into which hundreds of honest hardworking settlers would have been thrown, all because it was decided that a rum-besotted murderer and his fanatical followers would have been allowed to come amongst them, taunt them, and do worse if the old devil drove him to it. If there is to be any sentiment about the matter, these settlers are entitled to be considered. Instead of making the Ngatiporou a dangerous element in the community, they have been made firmer friends by the Government’s action, and have been prevented from giving way to any outburst of fury to which they may have been incited

by seeing the murderer of their relations stalk triumphantly in amongst them. Instead of inspiring the Hauhaus of this

district with a desire for revenge, the reverse is the case. Numbers came in a bounceable way threatening what they would do when Te Kooti came, but they went away again on the friendliest terms with the pakehas, and even joined in the request that Te Kooti should not be allowed to come. They had by that time been convinced he was not the Omnipotent they believed him to be, whereas before if he had simply raised hand while in a drunken spree the natives would have been prepared to do his bidding even if it cost them their lives. As to the revival of the spirit of militaryism, that is all “moonshine" Men like Messrs Chambers, Sunderland, and Clark have quite enough to do. to attend to their own affairs without being harrassed as they have been lately, and we do not suppose there is one man in the local forces who would not find it more profitable to remain steadily at his business, and experieneing none of the unavoidable hardships, if he could possibly do so without laying himself open to a charge of cowardice. The cost of the affair would have be avoided if decisive action had been taken. With some of the remarks of the Wellington paper we can to a certain extent agree, but the fault was in Government allowing matters to drift into an awkward position before they would themselves move in the matter. The Press remarks : —" Even assuming what we do not admit for a moment, that the Government are justified by the peculiarity of the circumstances in restraining Te Kooti’s liberty, without regard to the law, was such a senseless way of going about it ever heard of ? He might have been detained in Auckland three weeks ago without the least difficulty and without a hand being laid on him ; or, when he arrived at Opotiki, he might have been placed in custody by the Resident Magistrate or by a single constable, without a particle of danger from any quarter. In a word, the whole of this outrageous military occupation of the district was entirely unnecessary, even for the illegal object which the Vigilance Committee and the Premier had in view.”