THB CONDITION OF THE NATIVES.
The following is the report upon the Maoris in the Wanganui district, contained in the Parliamentary Papers : — R. Ward, Esq., R.M., Whanganui, to the Under-Secretary, Native Department. ""'... i ' Resident Magistrate's Office, Whanganui, May 19, 1883. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular of the 11th August. In reporting on the state of the natives in my district, I do not know that there is much I can say. Ab a whole they are peaceable and well conducted ; they are quietly settled on their lands, portions of which they cultivate, while other parts are leased to Europeans. Those natives living in the Whanganui part of the district, who have attached themselves to Te Whiti and Tohu, and were at one time residing at Parihaka, are quietly settling down again on their land here. Te Whiti's excellent conduct since his return from the Middle Island has done so much towards removing the sullenness of his Whanganui followers. In the early part of this year Tawhiao, with a party of nearly two hundred Waikatos, visited this district. He .was well received by the natives wherever he went, many obtaining advances on their luases, or borrowing money anyhow they could, and in many instances temporarily impoverishing themselves, in order to find means to feast their visitors, and to present, large sums of money to Tawhaio." I do not think the latter added much to- his' pretensions to kingly power : his almost' continuous drunkenness and licentiousness produced in the minds of many natives mingled feelings of shame and pain. Putting on one. Bide the excesses, of their leader, I am hopeful that the visit of these Waikatos will do good. Although Tawhiao was not accorded a public reception in the 'town' of Whanganui, still very many of our townsmen I visited him and his party at Putiki. Tho Waikatos received their pakeha visitors with great courtesy and manifestations of a friendly feeling; in fact, a thoroughly 'go6d'underst j andihg'.,was shown jto 'exist by" bo'th'lWopeahs and Maoris wherever the latter went in. the Whanganui, Rangitikei, and Manawatu dis' tricts. lam inclined to think that the visit of these people . will , ; tend much to; 'break down' the barrier of isolation, and 'so bring about a better state of things i than has existed for many years in the so-called King country. ' lam decidedly of opinion that it is only a question of a very few years when -Maori difficulties f and troubles will be known only as a I matter of past history — a state of things to be.thoroughly understood and appreciated only by those who have passed through the sorrow ahd gloom occasioned by a Maori war. I regret to say that, so far as I can see, the Maoris are very apathetic about religious matters. I am. glad to be able to report that the yice of drunkenness is still on the decrease among them. I have to repeat my regret of last year in saying that the natives do not avail themselves of the advantages of schools for their children, or, except' in -a very few cases, take much, if any, interest in their education. At the last sessions of the Supreme Court, held in Whanganui, two natives were charged with having committed offences against other Maoris, and claimed, under "The Juries Act, 1880," to be tried by, juries of their countrymen : they were accordingly so tried. Great interest in these proceedings was manifested by both Maoris and Europeans, as it was the first time Maori juries had been made use of. The local Press spoke very highly of the intelligence, and upright conduct displayed by these jurymen. To those having a knowledge of Maoris and their customs the satisfactory conduct of these juries was not a matter of surprise, for the reason that Maoris have been accustomed for years to act in a somewhat similar capacity at their runangas, where, as a general rule, their minor offences are tried and determined. On the whole, I am glad to be able to report favourably on the state of the Maoris in my district
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