THE Manawatu Times THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 1883. THE PARDONING OF TE KOOTI.

Manawatu Times, Volume VIII, Issue 187, 15 February 1883, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times

THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 1883. THE PARDONING OF TE KOOTI.

" Words ora thing*, and ft drop of ink falling like dew upou.a thought, produces that which naukos thousands,! perhaps millions thjnk. '

Verily the miilenium has dawned upon us, for the lion has alreadylain down with v the lamb. The strong-minded Bryoe, the queller of native trouble? on the bloodless field of Parihaka, bns failed to secnre the allegiance .ctf^a" notorious' murderer and outlaw by any other means than that of holding out the right hand of fellowship. EKstoiy records that at Parihakji " Honest John " bestrode his white horse, like Death m the Apocalypse," thereby no doubt stinking terror into the hearts of the prophet and his superstitious followers; but" so Har'it'does not descend to very minute particulars m regard to the meeting of Mr Bryce, and Te Kooti at Maungaorongb. One interesting fact is stated m the telegram sent by Mi 1 Bryce to the Governor, by which* we learn that this bloodthirsty native improved the occasion by abundant quotations from Scripture, and compared the meeting of himself and the Minister to the union of a number of the cardinal virtues. 'Possibly this display of religious feeling may have softened the heart of- Mr Bryce, and caused him to look .upon Te Kooti with favor as a regenerated being, but nevertheless ..public opinion m most parts of the" Colony will certainly be to the effect, that the repentance of Te Kooti would have been far more satisfactoryHhad it taken place just when he was being shuffled off this mortal scene at the end of the hangman's .Jsppe. c .,;ln the annals 'of the colony- there is no. more humiliating spectacle .than that m which Mr Bryce was an actor the other day, and we believe it will go far towards lessening .\Jiis. -political reputation. As. was hinted , m a telegram from Poverty Bay which we published yesterday^ the ... f riends and relatives of those who were barbarously . but* chered by this? Scripture-quoting monster and his crew of fiends, are already demanding his blood, and threaten to take. the law into their own hands should opportunity offer. And m truth this fraternising of Minister and murderer was enough to make the very dead- who fell m the path of .the -latter cry aloud for ven-geance,-and scout the idea of showing clemency to such a rebol. But we ai'e a peculiar race, and our Cabinet ministers partake of our eccen~ tricities. At Parihaka, by sheer force of numbers and warlike display, the pride of the natives was humbled for ever, and after the sue* cess thus gained it appeared to be only a question of time when justice would assert itself upon the person of Te Kooti. Since that Parihaka demonstration a Maori has been hung for the murder of one European, and, sad to relate, a "Maori has been freely pardoned who murdered or caused the death of scores of men, women, and children, and whose repression cost the colony a heap of treasure. If Winiata could be brought to justice there was no reason why Te Kooti could not, and that he has .been, allowed to again sneak within the pale of the law, is a disgrace to the colony, and*"to those who boasted some little time ago that the native difficulty was settled and the Queen's writ could Tun through the land from the North Cape to the Bluff Neither is it too much to say that the whole moral effect of the Pariha-ka demonstration has been lost through thus condoning the offences of the one at whose hands the settlers have received most injury. The natives will again argue, and this time logically enough, that we must still be m wholesome fear of them, otherwise Te Kooti would have received his just deserts. The most iniquitous of all the natives, he has been treated with the greatest clemency. Te Whiti, who desired to settle the differences between the races without bloodshed, is placed m custody for an indefinite period ; but a wholesale murderer is given the grip of friendship, aud indecent haste ia shown m rushing through the formalities connected with giving him his i : ree pardon. Possibly Mr Bryce may have foreseen that if any delay took place m inlawing this rebel, some few of those m whose home, he has caused sorrow to find an abid-ing-place, might have taken time by the forelock and saved the Governor the troubleof issuing a proclamation. " Vengeance is mine," we are told m our sacred Book, but we should not be surprised, judging from the feeling manifested, if m this instance , it took the form of a bullet from ; the gun of some Poverty Bay settler who may believe m the motto of "an eve tor an eye, a tooth for a tooth, 'and a life for a life." We

deplore the action of the Native Mmister not so much, however, for the reason that it has caused a gross miscarriage of justice to take place, but becarsa of the effect which ii must have upon the Native mind, and we fear it will be productive cf very bad results m this particular; We had proved to the Natives the majesty of the law, and our firm intention to mete out. justice to all, I but our labor has been m vain, if we now shi.w them that murderers, deeply dyed m the blood of our kindred, are allowed to go f>cot free. We expected better things from the Minister who but lately discountenanced the feting of Tawhiao at Wahganui, presumably for the rea son he feared that such a course aa that proposed would exaggerate the importance of this shoddy " King," and prevent the Parihaka lepaon having its proper effect.