IV.—The Aborigines.

The aborigines of New Zealand will, I am convinced, be the objects of your constant solicitude, as certainly there is no subject connected with New Zealand which the Queen, and every class of Hen Majesty's subjects in this kingdom regard with more settled and earnest anxiety. At the same time, you will look rather to the permanent welfare of the tribes now to be connected with us than to their supposed claim to the maintenance of their own laws and customs. When those laws and customs lead one tribe to fight with, drive away, and almost exterminate another, the Queen's sovereignty must be vindicated, and the benefits of a rule extending its protection to the whole community must be made known by the practical exercise of authority. Yet amongst the many barbarous tribes with which our extended Colonial empire brings us into contact in different parts of the globe, there are none whose claims on the protection of the British Crown rest on grounds stronger than those of the New Zealanders. They are not mere wanderers over an extended surface in search of a precarious subsistence, nor tribes of hunters or of herdsmen; but a people among whom the arts of government have made some progress; who have established by their own customs a division and appropriation of the soil; who are not without some measure of agricultural skill, and a certain subordination of ranks; with usages having the character and authority of law. In addition to this, they have been formally recognized by Great Britain as an independent State; and even in assuming the dominion of the country this principle was acknowledged, for it is on the deliberate act and cession of the chiefs, on behalf of the people at large, that our title rests. Nor should it ever be forgotten that large bodies of the New Zealanders have been instructed by the zeal of our missionaries in the Christian faith. It is, however, impossible to cast the eye over the map of the globe, and to discover so much as a single spot where civilized men brought into contact with tribes page 32 differing from themselves widely in physical structure, and greatly inferior to themselves in military prowess and social arts, have abstained from oppressions and other evil practices. In many, the process of extermination has proceeded with appalling rapidity. Even in the absence of positive injustice, the mere contiguity and intercourse of the two races would appear to induce many moral and physical evils, fatal to the health and life of the feebler party. And it must be confessed that, after every explanation which can be found of the rapid disappearance of the aboriginal tribes in the neighbourhood of European settlements, there remains much which is obscure, and of which no well ascertained facts afford the complete solution. Be the causes, however, of this so frequent calamity what they may, it is our duty to leave no rational experiment for the prevention of it unattempted. Indeed, the dread, of exposing any part of the human race to a danger so formidable has been shown by the Marquis of Normanby, in his original instructions to you, to have been the motive which dissuaded the occupation of New Zealand by the British Government until the irresistible course of events had rendered the establishment of a legitimate authority there indispensable.

Amongst the practical measures which you can adopt or encourage for the protection of the aborigines the most important are, the support of the missions and the missionaries established for their conversion to the Christian faith, and for their instruction as Christians; the assigning officers charged with the duty, and, as far as may be, provided with the means of protecting them in the enjoyment of their persons and their property; the enactment and enforcement of such laws as can be devised for preventing and punishing any wrongs to which their persons or their property may be exposed; and the encouragement of the education of their youth.

The missions to the aborigines of New Zealand have been established by Christians of many different denominations. With the most absolute toleration to every form of Christian worship, you will afford support and countenance to all Christian ministers engaged in this benevolent work, dissuading, as far as your influence may extend, the exhibition of those mutual jealousies and discords which unhappily so often accompany differences of judgment on subjects of this nature, but resolutely opposing any practice by which the peace of society and the freedom of religious worship might be invaded. As far as the means at your disposal will admit, you will aid, from the public revenue, the efforts of the missionaries to educate and instruct their proselytes, considering that we owe to the aborigines of the country a debt which will be best discharged in proportion as we can thus promote these their highest interests. The missions must, of course, continue chiefly dependent on the voluntary zeal of the people of this country in supporting the various societies by which they have been founded; and, it is gratifying to know that on that zeal we may rely with the utmost confidence for raising the supplies requisite for this purpose. The contributions of the Government can only be subsidiary to this principal resource.

The official protection of the aborigines will be committed to one principal officer, with such subordinate assistance as may be found necessary. The general duty of the Protector would be to watch over the execution of the laws in whatever concerned more immediately the rights and interests of the Natives; and, to reduce this general principle into a definite form and practical usefulness, it would be necessary that laws should be framed, investing the principal Protector and his officers with every power of prompt and decisive interference which it may be found convenient and practicable to confer. In such a case, the analogies of the law of England, as administered [gap — reason: damage]amonges[gap — reason: damage]Englishmen, whether at home or abroad, will, in many respects, be found to fail. A [gap — reason: damage]magisterial authority, more prompt than that of our Justices of the_Peace, and less [gap — reason: damage]lettered with technical forms and strict legal responsibilities, will probably be indispensable. I should also anticipate the necessity of providing some method by which the Protector might, under proper legal advice, have at all times immediate access to a Court of criminal justice, the duty of which should be to give immediate attention to all prosecutions instituted under his orders. In the Protector should also be vested a summary jurisdiction for arbitrating on all questions controverted between the European and the Native settlers, with, perhaps, a right of appeal in the more weighty cases to the ordinary tribunals in the Colony. In the same way questions disputed among the Natives themselves should fall under the cognizance of the Protector, so far as this might be compatible with a due regard to any Native customs not in themselves immoral or unworthy of being respected.

Amongst Native customs there are some which it will be the duty of the Government not to tolerate. Of these, the chief are cannibalism, human sacrifice, and infanticide. With such violations of the external and universal laws of morality no compromise can be made, under whatever pretext of religious or superstitious opinion they may have grown up. On the other hand, there are customs which, however pernicious in themselves, should rather be gradually overcome by the benignant influence of example, instruction, and encouragement, than by legal penalties. And, finally, there are customs which, being rather absurd and impolitic than directly injurious, may be borne with until they shall be voluntarily laid aside by a more enlightened generation. It is important to advert distinctly to this topic, because, without some positive declaratory law authorizing the Executive to tolerate such customs, the law of England would prevail over them, and subject the Natives to much distress and many unprofitable hardships. It will, of course, be the duty of the Protectors to make themselves conversant with these Native customs, and to supply to the Government all such information as may from time to time be required on that subject.

The education of youth among the aborigines is, of course, indispensable to the success of any measures for their ultimate advancement in social arts and in the scale of political existence. I apprehend, however, that for the present this is a duty which could be properly undertaken only by the missionaries, or at least on some system to be formed in concurrence with them. I therefore confine myself to a mere indication of this subject as one which will demand, and which will doubtless receive, your careful attention whenever your leisure shall be sufficient for the purpose. For the present I abstain from touching on any of the topics connected with, and more or less inseparable from, this much controverted subject. I trust, however, that the dissensions which have so largely prevailed regarding the education in the colonies of the children of European settlers will not be permitted to obstruct the complete attainment of an object which might seem so little adapted for polemical debate, page 33 as to the best method of imparting religious and other knowledge to the children of the native New Zealanders.

It appears to me an experiment fit to be tried, whether the sentiment and the habit of military obedience might not be created amongst these people in such a manner as to render them at once useful in maintaining the public peace and in resisting external aggression.

I am of course aware how much such a suggestion would be opposed by difficulties, partly real and partly imaginary. To such difficulties it would be idle to oppose mere authority an a peremptory decision. But if it should be found practicable to try such an experiment as I have mentioned, on a very small scale, and with every due precaution, experience might reconcile the public mind to the extension of it, and the results might be such as I have anticipated.

It is only in proportion as either respect for the strength of the aborigines of a clear sense of the utility of their services and co-operation shall possess the public mind, that they will be placed beyond the reach of those oppressions of which other races of uncivilized men have been the victims. Great difficulty must be encountered in rendering their physical powers available in those various descriptions of manual labour for which so great a demand must exist and long continue in New Zealand. On the part of the Natives themselves, we shall have to contend with all the bad habits of an indolent, predatory, and wandering life, united to distrust of their employers, and inadequate appreciation of the rewards of industry. On the side of the employers must be expected a disposition to demand much more than the Native can be reasonably expected to perform; great impatience with his unskilfulness and caprice; irregularity or an entire failure in paying the stipulated reward of his service; and a jealousy or aversion fatal to the growth of mutual confidence. Thus it is to be feared that the inestimable resource which might be found in the employment of the aborigines will be lost to the Colony, and that the civilizing influence of such employment will be lost to the aborigines, unless the solution of this practical problem be undertaken by the Government or by public officers expressly assigned for this service. As an illustration of the manner in which men far more ignorant of the arts of civilized life than the New Zealanders may be won over by gentleness and skill to execute laborious works (such, for example, as opening roads), I would refer you to the accompanying report, lately addressed to me by Captain Grey, a gentleman whom Her Majesty has appointed to the Government of South Australia, but whose observation of the aborigines of New Holland was made in the double character or a traveller and a magistrate in the Western Province. You will probably find some of his suggestions inapplicable to the state of New Zealand, but there can be little doubt of the applicability of the general principles he inculcates, namely, that savage men can best be converted into useful labourers by humouring all the innocent habits and tastes which have grown up with them; by avoiding every exaction of labour calculated to give them needless disgust or lassitude as counteracting too directly those tastes and habits, observing towards them the most exact punctuality and justice in paying the wages of their labour; by allowing or encouraging them in those modes of life which custom has rendered necessary to their health, however dissimilar to our own; and by establishing, as far as possible, barriers against the relapse into barbarous usages of such as may be reclaimed from them. Especially would a wise foresight exhibit itself in the care of the children of the aborigines, and in providing for their moral, religious, and industrial education. In all these matters, the Government, the Protectors, and the missionaries should earnestly co-operate with each other; and every effort should be made to secure the cordial assistance of the more intelligent and wealthy settlers. Penalties, regulations, and even the precepts of religion will prove unavailing to avert from the Natives the dangers impending over them, if these be not aided by experiments, wisely conducted, to show at once the practicability and the advantage of enlisting the services of these people in works of public utility. Such experiments must be conceived and executed in the spirit of forbearance and patience; of a reasonable allowance for the defects of the savage character; and of a just faith in the susceptibility of improvement and culture, which belongs to men of every race and condition. I must also especially commend to your attention, and that of the Protectors acting under you, a due regard to those rules which medical skill and experience may have established regarding the effect of sudden changes in dress, diet, and modes of living, on the health and longevity of men brought up from infancy in the habits of savage, or at least of uncivilized, existence. To the neglect of these rules, or to the hasty and inconsiderate formation of them, is perhaps to be attributed much of that rapid mortality which has attended all such tribes when taken under the care of European guides, even though animated by the most lively solicitude for their welfare. Of course it belongs to men educated in the medical art, and conversant with the physiology of the human frame and constitution, to reduce this general suggestion into any definite and useful form; but I believe that all experience concurs to show that the injudicious care of savage by civilized men, though not the usual, is yet a fatal cause of their premature decay.

I have insisted on this subject at great length, and have thus brought together the most material suggestions which have occurred to me respecting it, rather from the deep sense which, in common with all ranks of people in this country, I entertain of is importance, than from any considerable hope that it would be in my power, at this distance, to guide your deliberations on a question at once so arduous and obscure. It is necessary that you should possess, and it is far from my wish to withhold from you, an unfettered freedom of judgment as to the choice of the most effectual means for promoting the ends respecting which there can be no difference between us. Those ends are, the protection of the aborigines from injustice, cruelty, and wrong; the establishment and maintenance of friendly relations with them; the diversion into useful channels of the capacities for labour, which have hitherto been lying dormant; the avoidance of every practice towards them tending to the destruction of their health or the diminution of their numbers; the education of their youth; and the diffusion amongst the whole Native population of the blessings of Christianity. If the experience of the past compels me to look forward with anxiety to the too probable defeat of these purposes by the sinister influence of the many passions, prejudices, and physical difficulties with which we shall have to contend, it is, on the other hand, my duty and your own to avoid yielding in any degree to that despair of success which would assuredly render success impossible. To rescue the Natives of New Zealand from the calamities of which the approach of civilized man to barbarous tribes has hitherto been the almost universal page 34 herald, is a duty too sacred and important to be neglected, whatever may be the discouragements under which it may be undertaken.