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Show OUR ANTIPODEAN LETTER. Bra Zealand Has JSmuhh, Land Coutts and Ttias Cosbojs. scccrssrui. vtobk of tiii: l mji:i:s. irtouli" Writ" FnlfrUIMwilr ot allto Oinlomi. I .Maori Fenst nl Midillur?. ole. p.cUl CorMsponesaee of mo Nrwl 1 pAWtmSTO( NoiiTif, Near Zealand, tiepL 8th, 1891 At Hit ecaaim of llm ,,ir,our friends in Hlon usually mo rolJ mountain retreats, null, while ninoynferuttbnilog Gn "'" ''"" "" teylnir. their midsummer holiday, tho reople of tho Houthern liemlsihero t rictrctln IhenmWte ngalnit the (omi of winter, llooniers assure us loat In Sow Zealand, "thcteare nj titrtiirt ef luat and cold, ts com- tred will' of"' countries." Certsln- Ijr, loo loresla are eeer grein, catlla .riieon tho bills or lu tho j.asturiM all Ibe yesr round, downs bloom lu tho firdnif, and frosto are not neTiro enonsh lo J'Jtroy vrgolablee. 11 it Hilt decs not" make It a larndls. lltln, rnln, rain Is tho order ol tho day, and a Mormon missionary h many opnorluiiltlo, of testing ila arsrchlntf qualities. Alter laolng a looga," or cold south wloil nail tain norm all day, wo nro oonalnced that the cold frosty breoi-t of "our raoun tiln homo" are preferable. Tliodunr, cold rduiosj here It chlllinR and dim. grrrablo ae toraparcd with our bracing and Invigorating northern winds. Wo nro looking forward to nu tarty iuiHi?! and farmers am commencing lo rdovr olid pt In crofa. 'lbs work of thu l.otd 1 atlll iro grettltiRlu Hi I" lartnf JIla'Ylueyard, Hough It Is pflLclfially amour; tho Maoris. W liaTo n c,oid branch of Hi;- CI llrch at ltotoalane, tirar l'al-nieratniiNorlh, l'al-nieratniiNorlh, andalsa a nember nf luru-eau numbers In the vicinity. Wu havo hold n uumbrr of cottage nurllnge recently, and our con-greealloiialiavoUtu con-greealloiialiavoUtu qui to Intertilled. Of courte, wo do not nm t with tha o jc.UIuii or lll-uut'o which our J.ldira vifirrieuce In a mo countries, but still 1Mb eurmy la ntcrt, nnd strla-Ini; to c-ountcraotthttwott- An 1 ilacoal minister ventured to attend ouo of cur Maori tuceilnhs a low wtL ngo, and listened atleutlvoly while thn l.Ideie explained the prlucl. i.laa.if life ami salvation. At thn close cf tbo rrretluir, Iionitio! tho rlvlk'n c.f audrstaln tho Maoris, whloli wai Iradlly grunted. Ho endeavored Id conirovttl our doctrines, tut cur Maori 1 rclhrcn toon took the matter lu hand, nnd discussed the prluclplia of tho (Jcijel with him, and aoon confoundril Mm by pion titlutf llm Irulb, with acrlptutal proofs, lie was glad to letlio run!utod,r tarrying with him mauy leatlmonfcis, aa foui lor reflection. The Maoris needed no help from Ibo trawdlon Kldrre, in , many of them are living rcraiindlumi. Weclten llnd luslaucea of tho old tplllt rf lutoloiancn and bigotry arnsug those who profeanto bo nnuli . ten of Lhiltt. A vUlt Was paid, a abort time ago, to a lady who had beeu lavtallgatlnK our doctrine, and we were amuied to learn that alio had I ten convince! In a i'C ilUr way that Mormonlam a true. An ovancellat or, revival rolnlaler had vlallvd tho town, nnd called at her residence while maltluK houao to houiu visits. The reverend ccutlinmn in smooth, bland tonia, aiaurel the lady that ho was uotinel)tlng, but wni aeeklUK Iierrons who wcrn not church nioni. lera, for "lu bcavcu there were many Catholics. Methodlata, Jla tltts, uc." "Ale thcro Moimnns In henven?" quelled his llatener. At onco tho tevrreud gentleman's lounteunnce tlianKtd as he Indignantly relloj, 4,Ilecldedly not, madam;" nnd then followed thu usual abuse of a people, of whom he afterwards acknowledged ho was Ignorant. llHcouvluced tho lady tint bo did not pcsm n tho t Irlt of (ho meek and lowly Jteue, a&d she Is now ready fur baptism. , There are a number of email towns In Him northern part ol Manawstu district, Including ralmerston North, Poxtou, etc. ralmrnton North U the chief tiwn, nnd the rallroid line) to callous parts of thu Island raillate from this joint. The bor.ugh lomprlaia an irra of (COO acrir, and la l.il I out lu a natural lovil ckarl ig. Usually the country Is covirid with biavy bmeli and tlmUr, and tliU has to be oleared II topreiarothelind for cultivation. Tlin liriiah Is rapidly disappearing lu this vicinity, and small farms nru now under cultivation In all dlriittlons. The town Is laid ofl to good ad. vantage, a largo sijnaro btlog erod In tho culro, around which are tho innln businers hloi'is. It coidalns n very eutcrprudng class of ciitsji f, nnd will undoubtedly run), as rmu of tho foremost Inland towns of -New Zealand. Arl otDay was obtervod thlsjetr, and a lar,o number of tree wite anted, which will ten I t beautify beau-tify Itie town. The chief Industry 11 heep and rattla raising, mid public Auction silee of horees occur wethlj, A fnuilllar figure on the streets It thu Texas ciwloy, as a company have located her,, aud are chyaged training ttiorita and conducting a livery stable, ''ho roiulallon of ralnienton North Is rU'jul four thousand, but It Is rapidly lnrs-aslng. Foxton Is a email town situated on JnoMariMvutu tlver. It fiotfcOMicfl an txcellentwhsif, nnd has flno shipping fscllltlcf, as tho river will permit mall steamers nnd tailing vessels to enter, which trade regularly bitwien Jton and Wellington In the sjulli, l ontldcnblo llax Is rn pared for ship-Icent ship-Icent In this vicinity, and there are many flax mills nonstautly at worU. Minawatu Uorge hat aluaH tenia Joint cf lutcust to tourletv. lUrntho Manawatu liver 11 iw betwu-n two fuiiuiitaln ranger tho lararua nnd iluahliic. 'Ihogorgola thu boundary lino of the iro provincial Ul-trlcts Ul-trlcts of Wellington and llawket Day. I no scenery nn the Msuawatu side It "ery ploturmcuio. rnoralhuad Isojn-stiucted Isojn-stiucted on tortuous slde-culllng, and rtlliiHsnijicarato bo winding nlcng ins i edge of a pnolplic. At Ihe bullom d the yawning ohaacu tin, river may ienfloli,gtcno moment llki a '"wyainamaul the next dashing fnd brtaklcg ovir diobsIv., boulders, toe mtunlains are coviicd with f irc i 7 ".f dunk" ' n",,l An immeiiFo jna-sllda occurrid ruen'ly which 1 ""'ojed a seutlm ol the railroad ustlt, and as our lulu ruabed ihtougu the gprgo aud vtr t,c , w.m ,je road It apwareil in tin ugli u( n,0 mountain moun-tain ha I falli n awn) Hie Ilawken Day conference or Hul wot held at TamaKI, near IMuevlrke, on the llrd nud 4.h of Heptember. The Maori "p," or ttliniit. Is altuated In an open flat, aud on eery aide la denaubtush, ur foreal land. It la situated situ-ated near tbe railro d atallon, an I on rhuislsy, Uept, 1st, carriage lovl ol visiting rtalntafroBi Msnawstu dlatrlct, alighted from the train and rtcelvmi an cnthuilastlo Wilcomo. The con-feienco con-feienco was held lu a largo Maori Where, 10; fett loug The wludows were drnd wills Inie mttalns, and tbe walla wem elau"rli ly tlacoralud lntruMAorlate. ( Imndellttanere tusrendnl Irom tho polling, and,at one end, a large staluel-gla, d ,ur and inlirors ooutrlbuled to lisanurortablu aud home-llie apionrann- I.nin tables ta-bles were apread with thu IiouiiiIm of llfi.und Uauillull) adorned lth large vaes nf flowera. A Morl "Uul" mav filly be tonnei "a feast of fat thlnga." No oiptnMls tpaied In providing for thn commit of ml comers, ai.tl many attend who ila not regard the religious ettvlcee as the mest at'ractlvu feuture. lloauvcr, many outsllersaro Induced t alls lid by this means, nnd an opportunity la furnished for priaohlug the (loipel I them, and application for uapllim often follow. On Saturday, Koptember SlJ, the Hawkea bay cunfetoncu was cilM to order by l.ldirJoltn U. Keltn, president presi-dent of the dlatrlct. Tun folloHlng Kldera from .ton wero l reacnl. llldtrt W, Dougloi-s and T. I,. U.u, of Huwkca Uay illslrlcl; l.lder Wesley (Jlbeon, from Walrarapa district, nud I-.ldera 1. 1'. Thomas anil II. Uiddard, from Msnawalu dlatrlct. lrhiruareMVenbraULheaintbediairii.t, aud nuat of theso were rcportn 1 In a good condition by the prnljunls. 1.1-dir 1.1-dir Kcleou gieeteU Ilia Htlnts, x-pressing x-pressing his plcaturu In meeting eo many of the members, and heattlly w elcomtd the mtny vlatlors from Man awator district. J.licre riiiniins and Dougliuis and several nativa IIiJuih also aJdrceeed words of encuumgcmeut to the I-Bjj.lt-, i-xhottlng them to faith-fulutea. faith-fulutea. A. pfletthoiHl lueetlug Woe held lu the evening, nud Inntruotlime neru given on thu dutloi of those hold-lug hold-lug the holy prlclbood. lho lint Bundy In the muuth Is observed as fast dny, and the stooad ilay of conference con-ference wad, thircfofi', so reparuod. The Haciament on such days Is ndnilu-ltired ndnilu-ltired during the forenoon meeting. After Hacra-mnt lCldorfJot nlilreueJ the Kilnla, and referred to his curly experiences nud exptalnud the tl rat pripclplts of the OosimI. In thu afternoon about fifty Kurupsaus wero prtscnt, and thu ap'istacy of thu primitive tburch nnd tho restoration of the UMpel was treated upou b i;iiler QodJsrd. A teathuony mietlug was held In the evelllug. l.lder (lib-eon (lib-eon adiliuui.il tho f jople and alicr-warda alicr-warda rliluta boro tnclr leatluuulitf, and the mooting u-iutinued until midnight. mid-night. Iliu following day flvuperajiu applied for baptlHUi On Tutfday a rieno nccurre-l charact rl-llo ul Maoridum. Afur morning "Knraklu," or prayeii, n of the raiUJlirai (or uulefa), aJigesled the marriage of a young couple, who had met for tho Cr.t time dunug conference, con-ference, lu olden tluuflchtldraiiwure oftuu betrothed by their parents, and marriages were etldom tolriuaUcd without oonaultlng the whole ttlbo. Ofteu a wholo day and night Is spent dlacunlng thoeubji-ct In order that the trlbu may unaulmouily agreo upon It. On tbo occasion referred to all forenoon wastpent luarrauglug the union, und though the young couple were present no expression of opinion wasrc'iulrud from them as the chlola claim jurisdiction lu such uuttirs. It was finally doolded that they should be marrlud, the ceremony to take placo In thu evening. Djflug the atternouu "karakbi," or prayers, l.lder lCelsjn addressed tbe Halnts on tho subject of marriage and the Importance ol oh serving tbe laws of chastity, etc. T ho bridegroom nnd hrldu then came for waid and wore united In the bonds of holy matrimony lu tbe usual manner. Afterwards tbe friends and rulatlvin greeted tho newly married couple and cheered over the celebratl in of thu nuptials. Thu company then enjoyed asocial dance. Jmid matters receive considerable Attention In this oountry, aa all the laud originally wat clalmtd by lho natlvu tribes collectively, Land courts aru now organlrid to grant the laud to Individual claimants. Thu Maoris own 10,000,000 acres of lanl In thu North Island, (wo-llftln of wblotl Is agricultural, and thu rett grazing land. A coualderablo portion of It la covered with demo timber or brush, and la qutto mountainous. Tho gov eminent has control of all the land courta and lho Maoris complain of thu heavy asseesiuenta and taxes levied upon up-on tlit Ir lands. l.nnd la often Itnwd to Kuroi-e-ius, an 1, lu many cases, thu aaaeuiumt exctoJ thu rental. In order to remedy tblaovll, the Maoris are organizing what Is termed aMaoii parliament, and petitioning tbo government gov-ernment lo Rrant them absolute con-trul con-trul of their own land allalra. Ilamlorn Maui.akahla, an educated natlvo lawver, Is rreinlcr. lie Is ene rf the eldest members of thu Church, and was present at our conference, lie stated that about Sl.O.W Maoris had signed thu agreement agree-ment and petition for said parliament, par-liament, anil that the objtct was to control the leasing and tale of tha land, alsa to enrourage the cultivation of it nu I to locate and build towns after thu I..uroieau style. The proposition Is receiving thu euppoit of prominent stateimon nud It may probally eucour ago tho Mairle to l-a mora Industilous nud energetic. Thu Nfcv,s Is always a welcome visitor In this far oil land end wu nru all Interested In theprcgnwof allalra In SCIon. Kveii political questions ere not overlooked and Cleveland and Ilarrlaun men are eomellmes im-t with who would bu glad to cheer forL'ielr tesiectlve candidates. Wu nro gratified tu notice thn In-rrtased In-rrtased dttlro to do Juitlin to Utah nnd that so many now acknowledge the loyally of her citizens. lho following literary gem, received Irom it "Mormon" frlond, txmtalns luulimi-iita which may convince, some of our ce Ileal opponents that there are ns loal hearts In uur mountain valea as can bu found In Uncle Ham' domains. I'MikM. |
