Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. ARMS CONTROL IN NEW ZEALAND 1854-1861 A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University Craig Innes 2005 ABBREVIATIONS............................................................4 INTRODUCTION..................................................................5 CHAPTER ONE. STEMMING THE FLOOD, 1854-1857 ....12 THE INHERITED REGIME..................................................................................13 THE PUKETAPU DISPUTE.................................................................................20 THE NEW GOVERNOR .....................................................................................28 THE KAWAU ISLAND GUNPOWDER RAID.........................................................31 BOARD OF INQUIRY INTO NATIVE AFFAIRS.....................................................36 MOBILISING THE SETTLERS ............................................................................41 CHAPTER TWO: THE 1857 PROCLAMATION AND ITS AFTERMATH.....................................................................47 PARTIAL RELAXATION OF THE RESTRICTIONS..................................................49 LICENSED FIREARMS SALES TO MĀORI ...........................................................60 SALE OF ARMS SELECT COMMITTEE...............................................................62 THE HISTORIAN’S VIEW...................................................................................77 GROWING CONCERNS IN TARANAKI................................................................81 FEATHERSTON’S LETTER.................................................................................85 DID THE TRADERS HAVE THE POLICY CHANGED? ............................................88 CHAPTER THREE: THE 1860 ARMS ACT. .......................92 TIGHTENING THE OLD LAWS ...........................................................................92 UNSAFE CONVICTIONS? ..................................................................................97 KOHIMARAMA CONFERENCE........................................................................101 TURNING A NEW LEAF: 1860 ARMS BILL......................................................104 THE 1860 ARMS ACT: THE LAWMAKERS BACKTRACK..................................116 CHAPTER FOUR ARMS CONTROL THEMES................133 ARMS CONTROL AND THE ENGLISH TRADITION ............................................133 RIGHT TO RESIST...........................................................................................144 WHO WERE PREPARED TO SEE MĀORI POSSESS ARMS? .................................150 FIREARMS FOR SPORT OR SELF-DEFENCE?.....................................................154 MĀORI RESPONSE .........................................................................................162 SECTION 71 AND MĀORI AUTONOMY...........................................................165 ARMS CONTROL AS PUBLIC POLICY: TILTING AT WINDMILLS.....................177 POSTSCRIPT ..................................................................................................182 CONCLUSION..................................................................184 BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................204 Tables TABLE 1: SHOWING QUANTITY OF GUNPOWDER, SHOT AND PERCUSSION CAPS SOLD BETWEEN 25 JUNE 1857 AND 31 MARCH 1858, BY ETHNICITY OF PURCHASER. ...................................................................................................76 TABLE 2. TOTAL CONVICTIONS BY ETHNICITY OF OFFENDER, RESIDENT MAGISTRATE AND MAGISTRATE COURTS 1853-1861...................................127 TABLE 3. TOTAL CONVICTIONS BY ETHNICITY OF OFFENDER, RESIDENT MAGISTRATE AND MAGISTRATE COURTS 1862- 1870…...…..……………...128 3 Abbreviations AJHR…………………Appendix to the Journals, House of Representatives BINA………………...Board of Inquiry into Native Affairs (or Native Matters) BPP…………………..British Parliamentary Papers C……………………...Archives of the Customs Department DNZB………………..Dictionary of New Zealand Biography EC……………………Archives of the Executive Council G……………………..Archives of the Governor IA…………………….Archives of Internal Affairs Department IUP…………………...Irish University Press J………………………Archives of the Justice Department JPS……………………Journal of the Polynesian Society Le…………………….Archives of the Legislative Department MA…………………...Archives of the Māori Affairs Department MP……………………Member of Parliament NA…………………....National Archives, New Zealand NZPD………………...New Zealand Parliamentary Debate. RDB………………….Raupatu Document Bank 4 Introduction. This thesis examines the issue of arms control within the Colony of New Zealand between 1854 and 1861. It is an examination of the events and debates that preceded and precipitated the 1860 Arms Act. This thesis will show why the 1860 Arms Bill was introduced, and why the Bill, modified by Select Committee, was passed into law. The period covered was a significant period in New Zealand history. The settlers were granted representative government in 1854. That year also marked the outbreak of the Puketapu dispute in Taranaki, which was the beginning of a series of events, which would eventually lead to the outbreak of war between the Imperial troops and Māori in 1860. In March of 1860, troops were sent to occupy land at Waitara that had been offered for sale by one of the warring Taranaki Māori factions. By this act the Government would effectively enter into, and greatly extend the Puketapu dispute and the first Taranaki war would begin. The first Taranaki war was the beginning of a series of wars, which would dominate the decade and would prove to be the turning of the tide for Māori autonomy in this country. Within months of the outbreak of war, the 1860 Arms Bill, was presented to the House of Representatives and later enacted as the 1860 Arms Act. The new law would be used alongside earlier regulations to try to stop the supply of arms and ammunition to the Māori opponents to the Government and to the Māori population in general. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter examines the period between August 1854, which marked the outbreak of the Puketapu dispute to mid 1857 immediately prior to the announcement of new regulations governing the importation or sale of firearms. From 1854 to 1857 the authorities would try to stop the trade in arms and ammunition to Māori using the regulations enacted between 1845 and 1847, during Governor Grey’s first term as Governor. The start of the Puketapu dispute has been chosen as the beginning of the thesis in part because of the scarcity of evidence before this date. Although the arms regulations then in place had been enacted some years previously there is only very limited evidence extant for the arms regulations 5 prior to 1854. This was in part because of the nature of decision-making process prior to the establishment of the settler Parliament and partly because of the lack of incidents that would have generated a paper trail for the subject. The outbreak of fighting in Taranaki focused the attention of the authorities onto the perceived need to control the supply of arms and ammunition to Māori. It therefore generated correspondence and documents on the subject. The second chapter of the thesis covers the period 1857-1859 and looks at the partial relaxation of the restrictions in 1857. This section examines the decision to partially relax the restrictions upon the sale of ammunition and the decision to allow the sale of a limited number of sporting firearms to Māori, subject to certain conditions. The reasoning behind these decisions will be examined, as will the effects of the partial relaxation. The settler and Māori reaction to the partial relaxation will also be discussed. The relaxation of the restrictions eventually provoked vocal opposition from some quarters. By 1860 there was a widespread concern that it had opened the door to the large scale Māori purchasing of gunpowder and other tools of war. From 1859 the regulations governing the sale and importation of arms and ammunition became increasingly restrictive. Chapter three examines the period from 1860 to 1861, which saw the introduction of the 1860 Arms Bill, the subsequent amendments to the Bill, which were made when the Bill was referred to Select Committee and the passing of the amended Bill into law. This section will also investigate how the Arms Act 1860 was brought into operation. Chapter four examines the issue of arms control as a part of “Native Policy”. This is an examination of some of the general themes which were evident throughout the period. Chapter four will discuss why the settlers wanted to restrict the sale of arms to Māori, at a time when other policy measures were used to try to increase the settlers access to, and familiarity with, arms. It will examine why the policy intentions for Māori were so different to that intended for the settlers. 6 The laws governing the sale of arms and ammunition were historically important, because arms and ammunition were the tools of the wars which dominated the 1860s and to a large extent determined the shape of the subsequent race relations in this country. This thesis is not an examination of the New Zealand wars, as the bulk of the fighting between Māori and settlers