Hokianga March 4.72. My Dear Sir, The native Land Court and Marsh Brown Kawhiti are fairly at issue - he is determined to make the Native Land Court a mere instrument to be used or abused as he choses and I am determined he he is the most utterly spoiled, and thoroughly conseited, and most dangerous savage in New Zealand, perhaps. If you leave us alone to battle it out I shall get him under in time I dare say, certes he shall not get the Court under his feet, that I shall warrant, but he seems half stupid with surprise at, after having ruled all courts and magistrates so long, and bullied all and sundry the contemptible Pakeha race to find a wretched Kai whakawa who will not be his humble servitor. I would not be at all he surprised, indeed I think it quite likely, that he will shoot some one as a clear proof that he is in the right, that would be however of no consequence except perhaps that he might then bind the Court to have more friends that he would well manage he is the only chief in the north now who thinks himself able to play with the decisions of the Court, and he must be taught that he cannot do so, I shall never for my part consent to a rehearing, or at least reccommend one, and am quite willing to take Mr. Kawhiti in hand, if we are both just let alone to see who will have the best of the matter I shall astonish him I believe. He is altogether insolent and the cool belief he has in his own dignity, majesty, and unlimited mana is really ludicrous from one point of view but a great nuisance in fact, I cannot allow the Court be brought into contempt by any spoiled native and although the executive power is simply nothing here with respect to such overgrown bullies as Marsh Brown, yet the Court has a power, though something of a bis inertia, which will in time if judiciously used will pull even him down. I am half murdered with continual writing and so you must excuse haste. I hope you will have a nice trip to the lakes I have the rheumatism very badly but have not time to got to the hot springs which are only half a days journey from here at ohaeamai they are the best in N. Zealand by far for pains and aches it is a pity some one does not buy them and set up baths. Yours truly, F.E. Maning. P.S. A fine leader in last weeks paper about the settlement of the Manawatu trouble but not one word of the part the Court had in it without which the affair would not have been settled now. F.E.M.