NATIVE CHIEFS. 
273 
English law in New Zealand is confined to English towns, and 
that outside of them, Maori law still prevails. This is a very 
great evil, and productive of many others; it is calculated to 
inciease crime, destroy the want of confidence in British 
justice, and also diminish that good feeling which, in spite of 
all obstacles, still exists between the two races. 
One of the great wants of New Zealand is roads. They 
are as essential to the welfare of the community, as arteries 
are to the body ; and until they are formed, no great progress 
can be expected to take place. Settlements have been formed 
in almost every part of the Northern Island, from the Bay of 
Islands, and even further north, from Manganui to Wanganui 
and Wellington, and these may be said to encircle the entire 
island; yet, at present there are not two places connected by 
roads. Each located spot is as completely isolated as if cut 
off by a strait, as many miles wide as the places are distant. 
It is evident, that the sooner this is remedied, the sooner will 
the settlements advance. Governor Grey made the attempt 
to connect Auckland with Wellington by a grand central 
road; but directly the chiefs of the interior heard of it, they 
declared their determination not to allow it. The project 
was given up. It is evidently necessary that roads should 
be made, and equally so that the consent of the Chiefs must 
be obtained; and this can only be accomplished by con¬ 
ciliatory means, and not by force; for such is the character 
of the country, that it could not otherwise be done without 
exterminating the entire race, and even that could not be 
effected without there being first a great sacrifice of life on 
our side. 
How then are roads to be made ? By simply doing what 
ought to have been done at the commencement of the colon} r . 
The head Chiefs must be acknowledged by the Government as 
officers; they must be treated and consulted as such. Their 
native rights, as British subjects, claim to be represented as 
much as our own ; and until they are, there is no advantage 
derived by them from their alliance with us. They will con¬ 
tinue to feel as Honi Heke did, that their connection with us 
has been a degrading and not an elevating one. Honor them, 
