THE CADMAN-REES LIBEL CASE.

Bush Advocate, Volume IX, Issue 794, 20 June 1893, Page 2

THE CADMAN-REES LIBEL CASE.

♦ , The hearing of this case-iwas resumed at Napier on Saturday. Sir R. Stout and Mr Sainsbnry for plaintiff, Mi- liees appearing in person. ; R. T. Walker, editor of the H.B. Herald, gave evidence as :to, a conversation he had with. Mr ,W. C. Smith, on a proposal which- had been made to transfer the Native pprtfoljo from Mr Cadman to- Mr Reeves, in which Mr Smith gave him to understand that ho was opposed- .to the change. Witness said that when the Danevirke Road District . racing roll came out' the Umutaoroa block appeared to him to be very much under-valued,' sr else the neighboring properties of Tahoraite, " OWataroa, and Kaitoke were over-valued. There was a very . remarkable discrepancy between the valuations. Edwin' Bamford, Land Registrar, gave evidence as to the , transfers of interests. ' James Irvine, a former partner with Messrs Cadman and Smith, gave brief evidence. At yesterday's hearing the first witness was Walter Hallett, surveyor, whose evidence related, chiefly to land values. F. C. W. Bierre, clerk to the Danevirke Road Board, gave the following evidence, which we take from the Telegraph :— He produced the map of the district. The Umutaojoa block fronted the township for about two miles, and ran past bhe township, fronting the settled .lands for.;about four or five miles. He produced the valuation roll for 1892, signed by Mr Crombie. The entry opposite Umutaoroa block showed B. L. Knight as an occupier for the Thmaki Sawmill Company ; the owners as Hawke's Bay Timber Company, and the natives ; the description shows the land as a native . reserve, valued at JJC3I6. He had a knowledge^ of the values of land in Danevirke district, and knew the prices at which land sold there. In his opinion the unimproved valuy of Umutaorpa block some time back was at least £ 3 an acre. It was now a great deal more valuable. The value of the land fronting the township he considered worth £8 per acre. The. farm sections had been selling at £& per acre, and the smaller sections at <£10 to £15 per acre. . ' ' si Is there any Government land to be obtained near Danevirke' fc— No. There might be some. in.the t ßuahines, which no one will take up. Can you say what prices tha^ land outside the township, fronting the Umutaoroa block, has fetched ?— Yes, about £5 10s. '-- Can you say what the character of Umutaoroa is ?— Yes very good grass land. Is there any demand for.land round Danevirke t — Yes, but there are not many people who care to sell.