Summary: Native policy not only engaged the minds of the New Zealanders, especially the North Islanders, during 1858, but it was also an important topic in the 1858 Session of Parliament. To gain a true idea of the importance of native policy in the Session, one must know something of native affairs and how native problems had been dealt with previously. One must also know something of the characters and personalities of men dealing with this question, and what the public thought. There was considerable tension and conflict between the Governor and his ministers in native affairs, and it is interesting to speculate whether or not matters would have been improved had the Ministers been responsible for Native policy as they were in everything else; also, whether it was possible to avert the conflict between the Pakeha and native, or whether it was the inevitable result of two races with conflicting interests living in the same country. I have not attempted to deal at all with other matters which occupied the minds both of the settlers and the General Assembly, although some of these were of primary importance - for instance, a very fierce controversy was being waged between extreme Provincialism and extreme centralism. There was also the question of where the seat of Government should be, and other matters such as the Steam Ship Service. Also, each province was naturally interested in its own local matters - the "Nelson Examinerquot; was full of the gold fields, and the quot;Wellington Independentquot; was full of party strife. Naturally, the South Island was not very concerned with the native problem, although the different newspapers consistently reported on affairs in Taranaki and the Waikato. They were also content to let the North Island take the lead in the General Assembly in matters of native policy.