AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 



45 



territory. Railroads are projected from Perth, 

 the capital, to Albany, King George's Sound, 

 and the northern districts. 



NATIVE QUESTION IN NEW ZEALAND. The 

 only settlement which is promised for the na- 

 tive question in New Zealand, which has been 

 reopened by the recent invasion of the North 

 Island by new colonists, is the expulsion of the 

 Maoris from their remaining lands and the 

 rapid extinction of the dying race. The Maori 

 chief, Te Whiti, who gathered about him about 

 two thousand natives on the west side of the 

 North Island, and offered a passive resistance 

 to the confiscation of the Parihaka tract, was 

 first approached with an offer by the colonial 

 authorities to settle his followers on other 

 lands. Te Whiti was a pious Christian, who 

 had received his instruction from Lutheran 

 missionaries. He preached in the monthly as- 

 semblies at Parihaka that God would preserve 

 their hereditary lands to the natives if they 

 bore themselves worthily. The tract in dis- 

 pute belonged to the Taranaki tribe, and had 

 been declared confiscate twenty years before, 

 as a penalty for an insurrection, in which 

 nearly all the natives of the west coast took 

 part. They were left in possession, and the 

 Government subsequently promised that they 

 should have the title restored to them. Now 

 that the land had become valuable for occupa- 

 tion, the Government proceeded to carry out 

 the old decree. The religious enthusiast who 

 led the natives was opposed to all forcible re- 

 sistance, but refused the reservation which was 

 offered in the place of the Parihaka block. 

 They asserted their legal rights by remov- 

 ing the fences set by the surveyors, and by 

 many of them squatting in the tract and plow- 

 ing up the land. The Government, on the pre- 

 text that the monthly meetings constituted a 

 danger to the peace, took peremptory measures 

 against the natives, who were only asserting 

 their treaty rights by peaceful and proper 

 methods. The Minister for Native Affairs, Mr. 

 Bryce, at the head of the armed constabulary 

 and a strong force of volunteer rifles, marched 

 into Parinaka Pah, the Maori village. Not 

 the slightest opposition was offered. Te "Whiti 

 was arrested, with Tohu, his principal lieuten- 

 ant, and the other chiefs, on the charge of 

 seditious practices and language. Their fol- 

 lowers were taken away from their lands and 

 distributed among the different tribes of the 

 Maoris. A special law was passed by the Leg- 

 islative Assembly, by virtue of which the 

 chiefs were kept in close confinement, without 

 trial, until the next session. Sir Arthur Gor- 

 don, the Governor of the colony, did not ap- 

 prove the expulsion of the native squatters 

 from the holdings to which they had obtained 

 a presumptive right by ~bona fide settlement, 

 which should enable them to have their claims 

 judicially examined. A correspondence was 

 carried on over this point between the Gov- 

 ernor, the Prime Minister of the colony, and 

 the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 



April Mr. Hall, the Prime Minister, resigned 

 on account of ill health. Sir Arthur Gordon, 

 with a singular disregard for constitutional 

 precedents, went to the leader of the Opposi- 

 tion, Sir George Grey, who was twice Govern- 

 or of New Zealand before the parliamentary 

 constitution was conferred, and has been at 

 different times since the Prime Minister, with 

 the proposition that he should form a ministry 

 which should be actuated by a keener sense 

 of justice to the natives. Besides the special 

 act under which Te Whiti and the other pris- 

 oners were held in prison, the ministry had 

 carried an act of indemnity to protect them 

 from the consequences of their high-handed 

 proceedings. Sir George Grey, as a true colo- 

 nial politician, not only declined to attempt 

 forming a Cabinet, but when the acts were 

 brought forward in the Assembly, to the dis- 

 appointment of his own followers, he expressed 

 complete approval of the course of the Native 

 Minister. The ministry was reconstituted un- 

 der Mr. Whittaker, previously Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, as Colonial Secretary, with Major Atkin- 

 son as Colonial Treasurer, Walter Johnston as 

 Minister of Public Works, and Mr. Bryce as 

 Minister for Native Affairs. Te Whiti, after 

 being kept in prison for many months, was 

 given a tour in railroads and steamers all 

 through the South Island, in order to impress 

 him with the power and superiority of the 

 white conquerors before setting him at lib- 

 erty. 



A deputation of Maori chiefs visited Eng- 

 land in the summer for the purpose of enlist- 

 ing sympathy in behalf of their dying race. 

 It is proposed to defend their remaining pos- 

 sessions by confiding them to a trust associa- 

 tion in England, which will obtain the best 

 prices for them, and invest the proceeds so 

 that they will yield annuities to the remnant 

 of the race. There are ten million acres, which 

 will yield 4,000,000 within eighteen years, 

 and leave land of the value of 14,000,000 for 

 subsequent sale and distribution among the 

 Maoris and shareholders of the association. 



REVENUE. The revenue of New Zealand in 

 1881-'82 was 3,488,170, being 190,650 in 

 excess of estimates; 125,000 of which excess 

 was under the head of customs and 11,115 

 under that of stamps, showing increased con- 

 sumption and accumulation of capital. The 

 railroads produced less than the estimate, but 

 the receipts were largely in excess of those of 

 the previous year. They pay 4 per cent net 

 on the cost of construction. The land-sales 

 amounted to 317,000, of which 34,000 was 

 in deferred payments, showing the success of 

 settlers who took up land without any capital. 

 The deposits in the savings institutions, chiefly 

 in the Government banks, give another indica- 

 tion of the general prosperity. These deposits 

 aggregate 1,549,000, belonging to 61,000 de- 

 positors. Of the population of New Zealand, 

 which has increased in ten years from 266,988 

 to over 500,000, the class of workers for wages, 



