CORRESPONDENCE RELATING

'F— No. 5,

4

G. One consideration alone has induced me to lay aside the extreme repugnance I may not unreasonably be supposed to feel at being compelled to deal with charges of so extraordinary a character. That consideration is not altogether a personal one. Your Lordship is probably aware that many charges have from time to time been made, in England and elsewhere, against the New Zealand Colonists either anonymously or in such a shape as to render their contradiction difficult. In consequence of these charges, often very unjust, the reputation of the Colony has severely and undeservedly suffered. When, therefore, scandalous charges against a Colonist so well known as myself are mado and authoritatively circulated by one of the Ministers of the Crown in this Colony, I should bo neglecting a manifest duty, both to myself and my fellow-colonists were I not to take every proper means to procure for my statements as wide a circulation as the charges which have been made against mo have obtained. 7. I very much regret that the course pursued by Mr. McLean has forced this step on me. In defending myself I shall not attack him, for though I think I have good reason to complain of his statements, I shall not presume to trouble your Lordship with a colonial quarrel, more especially, as I frankly admit the value of the services rendered to the Colony by the present Native and Defence Minister, and because I think Native affairs are steadily drifting into a condition of peril which will need more than ever the united efforts of the Colonists to remedy. 8. I shall therefore transmit to your Lordship only such documents as may enable you to form a correct opinion whether my efforts to establish peace in this Colony have warranted tho charges made against me. 9. I now proceed to notice Te Huare's statement as detailed in paragraph No. 2 of this communication. AVith reference to it, I beg to deny absolutely every allegation made against mc in this person's statement. I met Te Ivooti once only ; 1 did not then, nor at any time, give, sell, or supply in any way to To Kooti, or to any of his followers, any rum, cups, arms, or ammunition of any kind. In confirmation of this denial, I beg to ask your Lordship's perusal of the accompanying documents, namely : —l. Enclosure A., being a certified copy of a statement made by Mr. Campbell, who acted as interpreter during my interview with Te Kooti; and, 2. Enclosure 8., being a certified copy of the translation of a statement made by the Ngatihaua chieftains who accompanied me; both documents being authenticated by declarations made before Magistrates of the Colony. 10. The further statement made by the Hon. Mr. McLean, as detailed in paragraph No. 3 of this letter, charges me with having been animated by mean and unworthy motives. I do not hesitate to say that nothing in my character or actions has given the Hon. Mr. McLean the smallest ground for making such suggestive accusations against me. That portion of Mr. .McLean's Memorandum, in which he says that 1 have sou rht to procure for Te Kooti something like a free pardon because he had promised not to interfere with my land, as well as that in which he suggests that I, amongst others, have felt myself at liberty to interfere without authority and lend my countenance to rebellion, aro charges which, I venture to hope, will bo considered by your Lordship sufficiently met by t C the perusal of the enclosed documents, namely, Enclosure C, being copy of a "Report of my interview t, with Te Kooti;" Enclosure D. being a telegram to the Hon. D. McLean, warning him of the danger of elevating Te Kooti from an outcast into a representative of national sentiment, and so — provoking a general war; Enclosure E, being a telegram to Lieut-Colonel Motile, commanding the ? Waikato District, conveying my refusal to supply stores for the use of the troops, for the reasons moro ' fully given in Enclosure D, and being my protest in actions, as well as in words, against the course the Government were then about to pursue : Enclosure F, being a translation of a letter addressed to "~ me by Manuwhiri, the King's chief adviser, showing his opinion of my interview with Te Koot i, and of I, the inevitable result of a continuance of the policy then being followed by Government. Enclosure G, being my reply to Manuwhiri, urging upon him a conciliatory policy, and asking him to advise the powerful chief Te Hira, to throw open the gold district of Ohinemuri. It may not be improper hero — to observe, that shortly after the arrival of this letter at Tokangamutu, Te Hira consented to a sitting _of the Native Lands Court at Ohinemuri, appearing himself in Court, and giving evidence i:i a case _ under investigation. Finally, I invite your Lordship's attention to Enclosure 11, being a letter addressed by me to the Native and Defence Minister, dated 25th July, 1870, giving him certain information regarding important Native movements, and offernn; my views regarding the perilous aspect which the Native question in this Colony was rapidly assuming, and with which 1 do not doubt the able and statesmanlike dispatches of His Excellency Sir G. F Bowen will have made you acquainted. With the pride, not, I hope, yet unnatural to an Englishman, I repudiate the insinuation (hat I have ever been influenced by tho sordid and unworthy motives imputed to mc by .Mr. McLean. On the contrary, I have never hesitated to sacrifice my own interest, nor have I hesitated to incur any personal danger, whenever, in my opinion, these have been necessary to promote the general welfare. It is true, that I have leased and purchased lands from the Natives. It is also true, that I havo invested in aud upon those lands, a very large sum of money in making roads, rearing stock, planting forest trees, and in largo agricultural operations amongst the Natives beyond tho frontier. If the constant exerciso on my part of upright dealing towards the Natives ; if firm, straightforward, and fearless efforts to show them that both Government and Colonists are most anxious for their welfare anil prosperity ; if the greatest attempt to open the country, and to establish peace, yet made by any private citizen since the commencement of hostilities in 1800 ; if these acts, or any of them be offences, they are offences for which I am ready to answer. 11. Notwithstanding the odium I have incurred by these efforts to secure peace, I have continued steadfastly to advocate a wise and magnanimous policy, similar to that recommended to the New Zealand Government by Earl Granville, your lordship's predecessor ; but I have never ceased to regret the fatal error committed by the Imperial Government, in not establishing peace on these principles before the}' withdrew from the Colony. Now, the work has to bo done under daily increasing difficulties. On the one hand, the Colonists would, I believe, be ready to make large concessions, could they be assured that these concessions would not be regarded by the King Natives as being dictated by fear. On the other hand, I think such concessions would be frankly accepted by the King party, could they be convinced that they were not the dictates of conscious weakness on our part, but that they were

Enclosure A. Enclosure B.

Enclosure C. Sc A.—No. 24, p. 4 Parliamentary •, Papers, 1870. Enclosure D. Sc A.—No. 24a, p.! Parliamentary Papers, 1870. Enclosure E. See A.—No. 24j p. 4, Parliamentary Papers, 1870. Enclosure F. Enclosure G. Enclosure 11.