There has been much written on your letters page about the treaty and the moneys being paid out in settlement.
History is all about land being taken as the spoils of war, from the Romans to the Vikings to the Maori.
The formula always involves a bit of biffo, then a lot of how's-your-father as the two warring factions intermarry to become one nation.
The story of New Zealand appears to run something like this - perhaps there were the freckle-faced red-haired people here very early on, then the Moriori and the Maori, then the colonists.
If they existed, then those redheads were certainly dealt with fairly swiftly, and sadly the peaceful Moriori got more of the biffo than they deserved from the war-like Maori.
I would like to ask the very eloquent Peter Dey two questions about his letter stating that the Treaty settlement is only 1% of the total crown expense of 2011.
I want to verify that I have no problem at all about payment made for land that was stolen!
Question 1 :- is that 1% every year and for how many years has that 1% been paid out and for how many years to come?
Question 2 :- I remember hearing somewhere that John Key is planning that the whole treaty business is to be wound up by 2014 - will that be full and final payments over and done with and will that definitely be the end of it?
Hopefully we will then finally be able to get along with living in New Zealand as one people with two cultures and without this constant refrain in the background!

Robin Bishop, Pyes Pa.