MR. FITZGERALD'S LETTER TO MR. ADDERLEY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2609, 28 November 1865, Page 5

MR. FITZGERALD'S LETTER TO MR. ADDERLEY.

t, ( i4, , n]i TnB following despatches from his "Excellency Sic George Groy, iu reply to certain charges preferred by Mr. Fitzderaia in a "letter 1 to Mr. Adderley, J published in the Times, and reprinted in the colony, will be read with interest. Mr. FitzGerald's subst" quent letters are appended: — Hl8 EXOELLENOV THE GOVERNOR TO! 'THB RlOHT Hon. the Skorstaby ©p State ron the COLONIKS. ■ > ". .. ,l Government House, Wellington, April 4, 1865. Sir,— My attention wai yesterday called to a statement made by Mr, FitzGerald in a letter to Mr. Adderley, dated the 14th of,November laxJvand by the latter gentleman inserted in the Times newspaper. 2. The statement is as follows: —That I obtained permission to erect on some land in the Waikato, be* longing to a man named To Wheoro, a school-room and a court-house; that I then had a plan made of a strong bullet-proof redoubt, capable of containing a strong body of troops ; that this was sent up into the' Waikato, but the moment it was commenced the natives saw what was meant and took alarmj that 'they pulled it down,' anil 1 threw the timber into the river ; and that the effect of such an act of treachery on tbo native miud oan well be imagined. , 3. I beg to state that this allegation as made is wholly and absolutely untrue ; and that both Mr. FitzGerald and Mr. Adderley have acted most improperly iu giving it currency in England as they have done. Mr. FitzGerald especially has acted most wrongly, as he is a member of the General Aieembly, which met in November, a few days after h* wrote his letter, when he could, if he really desired to elicit the truth, have brought the subjects alluded to in his letter forward, wnen they could have been fairly met and answered. 4. The enclosures to this despatch will prove as follows: —Upon the 30th of November, 1861, it was arranged with my responsible advisers, that the Colonial Ministers were to assume the same responsibility in native affairs as in all other mattery and that the Governor was in relation to native affairs to act under their advice. The arrangement continued iu force until August, 1862. During its continuance, my responsible advisers, in pursuance of a system eitablished under the authority of her Majesty's Government, and approved by the General Assembly of New Zealand, enrolled a police force on the Lower Wwkato river, in which body of men was included the chief Te Wheoro and some of his followers. 3. Upon the 30th of April, 1862, my responsible advisers, at the request of this chief Te Wheoro, determined to erect a court-house upon his laud. About the 20th of May, 1862, the so-called Maori King, who had been making a kind of progress through the Thames district, and had been thieateniug with penalties any person who might sell land to Europeans in that distriot, visited with his followers the place of the chief Te Wheoro, and forbade him to build a court-house on his own land, making veiy serious threats as to the course that would bepmsued if he persisted in his intention to do so. 6 I beg to explaiu that the refusal of the so-called Maori King and his adherents to allow the administration of law within a large portion of her Majesty's posiessions in New Zealand was about this time assuming a most formidable character, and must shortly have led to collisions. For instance, about three months after the occurrence now referred to, a young English girl, only thirteen years of age, was seized by a native on the high road, near the English town of Wanganui. The native attempted to ravish her. The girl's father heard her screams and came to her assistance, and the native escaped, but was shortly afterwards aireited on the charge of an assault with intent to ravish, when he was rescued by the adherents of the so c»Hed Maoii King, who stated they would not permit a native to be made amenable to the jurisdiction of our court* for auy offence whatever. 7. The real question at the time was this, was our jurisdictnu or that of the so-called Maori King to prevail even in th« vicinity of our own settlements ? 8. It was for this object that they forbade the erection of a courthouse at Te Wheoio's villaga, although that village lay at no great distance from ]»nd the property of Europeans. 9. On the 28th of June, 1862, I was advised, iu the manner then usual, that a barrack for the accommodation oE a uative police force should be added to the court-house which was about to be built. 10. Te Wh«oro had explained to mo the danger in which he was placed by haviug joined the Government, and having taken office under it. 11 I thought that ho ought to be allowed to protect himself from violence in his own village, and that preparations should be made to resist tho iebellion which I feared was about to break out, and I therefore acquiesced in the advice tendered to me. The timber necessary to construct a police barrack on Te Wheoro's land waa under these circumstances prepared, aud eventually taken there, with the as sistance of the chief and his tribe ; and to their great satisfastiou, when the adherents of tho so-called Maori King, who had declared they would punish him if he persisted in his design, assembled in great numbers and in spite of strenuous resistance on the part' of Te Wheoro and his people, rafted the timber down the river. 12. Te Wheoro and his tribe have remained our faithful friends to the present time, and have on repeated occasions rendered us the most active and energetic assistance. , 13. I beg to add that the other statements in Mr. FitzGerald's letter regarding my proceedings are quite as untrue as the unfounded charge which I have alluded to in this dospatch.—I have, fee, G. Gret. The Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, M.P.

His Excellency the Governor to thk Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Government House, ' Wellington, April 7, 1865. Sir, I hare thought it better in reference to my despatch No. 41, of the 4th instant, to give you the meant of at any time answering all the important statement* made in Mr. FitzGerald's letter to Mr. Adderley, of the 14th November, 1864. 2. Firstly, Mr. FitzGerald states, "I will now state one fact more, the most important I think of all:— ''After the taking of Rangiriri, the natives sent to sue for peace. Thb Governor replied that the General must go on uninterrupted to Ngarnawahia, the Maori King's palace;! and then he would treat with them. The natives replied that the General should go there, and then they would treat. They immediately withdrew aII their forces to tbe southward of Ngaruawahia, and our army went up and occupied it without opposition, passing, a de% .which might have been' readily defended so as to cause us great trouble and that the solemn faith of the Governor had been pledged that negotiations should be oneued for peace, no obmmmncation of any kind whatever wa« made to the natives. The army continued to advance, and tho native* to fight with the courage of despair. It » the opinion of many m this country, that just as favourable terms of peace could have been obtained after llangiriri as will even now ever be made after all the subsequent and, as we believe, unnec.isaty slaughter.' You will find the evidence of- these ,facts , in the sessional paper, pi 1868.— The lettsr of Pens P.uketyhau and the Governor's reply will be fonud in E, No. 5d, pp. °' 3.' Ih'ave already addressed you 6fc; thi« subject in my despatch No. 174, of the { 30th November last, but I wish, to add that every one of the J.raporUnt statements in this' A|m#,i,J Jt Wffl letter' is'wholl/ ancl '"absolutely udtrue. I wrote td T« Pukewhau fromAucldand, on^be 6th Deoemb*r, to lay thtt'the General mu ? t 'go on toNgaruawahia, the capital of the Maori King, and the Queen's file must.be HoiiWd there,^ofore>Ii treated- with the nativei. The General took 'possession of NgaraawkhU upon the 8tH of 'December. 5 ' Te -Pak«wh»u

Thenative* didnot.tharefore r reply, to. ine .'that* the Gen'eral shb'uldig'o to 1 NiaWablafa/d'elidi &Wm mediately v>itMv&wid)lhhUrJI6vayfi6^1iiMmhv/ar^ of thatplaoe in"oouseiiueno8 > of--my,Iei;ter 1 ; ior 'tHeyi knew nothing of it until <thp G.eii.eral-bad^akenFNga-i ruawahia. ' The fact is they were iujull retrqat before, the General whetf I wrote it.,'., ,',,-> *V, ~- s "V * ' 1 4j On the 16th;Deoemb'er,1 wrote ngain'*to,'the natives, 1 andTe PukewhaU^hfivihg died. biiforo^thit date, tlie letter wad' delivered<tohu(jbrother.V; In that; < letter I told the native*/ the General having renohed' Ngaruawahia, that I'jwonld reoeive'a deputation from them, and treat with them'.' .It 'is 'therefore not true thatnVvjomruttuioatidn of atay'kind whatever Was made to'ttie natives/at'Mr.'-'FitzGerald asserts. The papers enoloied in my despatch of the 30th" of November last will prove what I' have here alleged. 5/ Against Mr. FitzGerald »tatesa'/Sir George Grey repeatedly promised ( that the, affair, of >( the Waitara purchase should be inquired into, and justice should be done, yet for eighteen' lo'tfg m'ontlls he made no inquiry, *nd, took: no, steps Whaterer in the matter." I can only sayithat. this' is quite lUiitrue; from the moment of my arrival in the' colony,, I, did my best in every way to get the natives to r agreo to an inquiry into; the justice of the Waifcdvn' ease', but no persua«ion''on my part or that' of others 'could induce them to agree to suoh an inquiry. The writings of Mr. 'Gorst, and tho Bishop , of New Zealand, and of Mr. Fox, will be found to confirm what I say on this subject. '••••' 6. With rogard to Mr. FitzGerald's statements -as to my having taken possession of the Tataraimaka Blook,' 1 oau only say.it is truo I did thai;, and that I should do, tho same thing again. , Tho, Tataraimaka Blook had been by us fairly purchased from, the) natives many years before. The validity, of the' furohase has never been Galled in , question. t t was only twelve miles distant from the town of New Plymouth, was' only a few thousand acves in extent, had been nearly all in a high state of cultivation, had houses, a church, and places which had been the happy homes of families for years on it, Those people had all been driven away, their houses and qrops absolutely destroyed, and their sheep and cattle all carried off by the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes, to whom w? had never done any wrong, who had murdered some of the settlers, and who, 'as Mr. FitzGerald sayd, claimed to have conquered ib from the English. 7. To let them retain possession of a conquesb so made was, .1 founJ, to ■ encourage our enemies, ,to depress and alarm our native friends, and to set race against race. I therefore thought it my duty, as soon as I could, to go and again take possession of our own lawfnl property. And J feel quite certain my doing io had a most beneficial effect on both races throughout theie islands. Mr. FitzGerald does not understand the English character, when he thinks they will sit quietly down and see other people in possession of their horaei and lands, which these people, to use Mr. FitzGerald'* words, clai.ued because thoy had conquered, them from the English. 8. Nor does Mr. FitzGerald understand barbarous men. To have admitted that a choien spot, twelve miles from the town of New Plymouth, had been conquered from the English, woiild have terrified the wavering and prevented allies from risking their territories by helping a people that could not hold their own ; and would have oncouraged barbarians to attempt the conquest of new homesteads, the capture of more booty. — I have, &c, G. Gbey. The Right Hon. E. Card well, M.P., &o.

His Excellency the Governor to this Eight Hon. tiik Secretary of State for this Colonies. , Government House, Auckland, May 7, 1865. , Sir, — I have the honour to trunwnit for , your information a copy of a letter addressed to you by Mr. MUGerald on the 15th ultimo, in relation to my detpatolies, No. 41, of ,the 4th, and 46, of the 7th of April last, as also the copy of a letter wtych Mr. FitzGeuld has addressed to the Colonial Secretary on the same subject, expressing hit regret that he cannot timay or modify any of the statement! contained in a letter be addressed to Mr. Adderley. 2. I have nothing to add to the statement* made in the deipatches' to which Mr. FitzGerald f refer*.'. I am quito satisfied that the ease should now reit on its merits, and believe that ultimately Mr. FitzGerald will deeply regiet the course ho has in this instance pursued, evidently uiider the influence of prejudice; but I wish to correct a few additional mu-itatements he has made which might mislead you. ' 3. Mr. FitzGerald is wrong in laying that the letter f 10m the Waikato chief i whioh led to the murder of two officers and six men of our forces at Tataraimaka in no way emanated fiom the Lower Waikato people. It was signed in their behalf by Herewina, a Lower Waikato chief, who lived withiu a few miles of our'onb-sottlementa. 4. Mr. FitzGerald is wrong in saying I did not see fit to publish a letter of mine to the natives until a year after it was' written. I have nothing to do with the publication of my letters. This is done by my responsible advisers, in their own way and at their own time. It is a matter regarding which -1 have exercised no contiol whatever. 5. Mr. FitzGerald is wrong in stating that Mr, Domett was the Minister who advised me to erect a conrt-house and police-station at the Kohekohe. This advice was tendeied to me before Mr. Domett took office, and ho could have known no more o£ the subject than Mr. FitzGerald did. 6. Rogarding the size of the buildings to be erected at the Kohekohe, I know nothing. J believe that I never saw the design for those buildings until it was shown to mo the other day at Wellington, when 1 was writing my recent despatch ou this subject to you. 7. Mr. FitzGerald has also apparently forgotten that, when it was originally intended to erect a courthome at Kohekohe, the King natives of the Waikato ( district declared that they would not allow such a bnilding' to be erected, and that they stated this originally without any referonce to its size. 8. Mr. FitzGerold hns not quoted correctly Mr. Dillon Bell's letter to Mitutaeia. That letter does not state, as Mr. FitzGerald alleges, that the building was inteuded for a schoolroom. The words are — "a quantity of timber which had been sont up for a school and other buildings." It was shown in my previous despatch that the building wai oi iginally; designed for a courthouse ; that then, for the reasons I have stated, the Government added » police-station to it ; and how the Government finally deteimiued to add a schoolroom to every police-station, for the benefit of the natives it intruded to employ in the police force. 9. In transmitting Mr. Bell's letter to Matutaera in my despatch to the Secretary, of State of the 30th o£ March, 1863, I did not read that letter with a very critical eye ; nor did the idea ever enter into my mind that it would be possible to put such an interpretation on the, acts of the Government as it has now been attempted to be put upon them, or I should certainly have made a full explanation on the subject, instead of forwarding Mr. Bell's letter without comment-.— I have, &c, G. Grby. The Right Hon. Edward Card well, M.P.

(Enclosure No. 1.) J. E, FitzGerald, Esq., to the Eight Hon. E. Card\veix. Chriatchurcb, New Zealand, April 15, 1865. Sir,— I have this morning, a few hours before the departure of the English mail, which sails to-day 1 , received by command "of' his Excellency Sir George Grey a copy of two despatches, dated the 4th and' 7th instant respectively, which his Excellency has addressed to you, charging, me, with haying »tated what was nob true in a letter which I wrote to Mr. Adderley, dated 14th November, 1 ' 1864, and ! whioh was published in the Times new»paper.> • . '. I have the honour to enoloso a copy of. Mr. Weld|s letter to myself, by which you will perceive thst his Excellency calls on me to substantiate or withdraw the charges I have' made, and at the same time forbids me to publish his Excellency's' despatches without his express, sanction. , .- The only courie open to me, therefore, is at once, notwithstanding the shortness of the time allowed me, to' address yourself, in order that 1 may not remain, even for one month, under the imputation of haying mis-stated facts.' ' ' ■ < - - In the despatch of the '4th instant, his Excellency says ".that it is absolutely .untrue ,that, , after obtafuing permission to erect a school rooom or court house at Kohekohe, he cauied a plan to be 1 made of a redoubt for. the reception of troops." - ' I am prepared to eitablish upon oath, before any tribunal her Majesty's Government may ohoose, every, word of the statement I have made. ' ' ' '' / ' 1.. The intentiori 'to ereot a court-house is' admitted and. proved by *the several enclosures, in his, Excellency's despatch No. 41, of the 4th of April,.. 2.' That the building was also intended for a school is proved b*y ! ft> letter Jfrom the HoV P. Dilloni Bell to Matutaera, punted, on page 17, E. No. 1 8, ■eotion 1, of the appendix to the journals of the House of Representatives for' 1863/ \A« f tW- letter states that the building wa» intended for a suhool. room, at it was written by the Minwter for Native Affair*, Mid was onoloied by" bis 1 'Excellency to tb,e

'Colonial Minister in n/deip*toh|d»tedf_3OthiM»Foli| i^aria'li^ithebuildi^Wnilflill^rarWollo ,or a ichoolroom if, »uo »ubmiftJally4iroyed;by.hiS 1 ",fle «ay*^«t0n 1 th428tti'!iren<K W6S, r I fc waifadvisecl in th(T'.ininnef,tKeri;ii«iiif;tlia( i^W ,«felV#K thVao£omraqten% * nafcVefpolictforc^ {ihb\i}d;be' added to the courfc-house ■which. w»i'*iibpufc. .ito^bo built,; ');and'in the me^orandan}'4aWd*28bli,b£f June; 1862, the lasl euclosure in the' dognatoFunder notice, bis Excellency ■ayi~ < 1 flhink ifc?i«"bf!flii v '-utmost importance that every should be made" 'to 'obtain every; position we' can on 'the v Tv|aika^o"j river.'!, ultjnuwtibe/adniitted, ithat.'thistianguage, points'to Something. very differenfcfromia «bhool£or s oourt-house. "• ' >„,».«, 'j{-.a .*':v«'»i , 1 1 At to the view taken by the nativei, I beg to refer you to enclosure 6 to No. 11, p. 18, E. No. 2. seotion1, on the appendix before! qiidted. ? lt there aVpeaV tbfttjwhea lhakaaud Moho ro^d'pdsf arid'Vaw.th'e timber prepared for thV'building,' which'' 'they ik'd' thought "was to bea'smallbuildirigj'iihe'y laid/' 1 No/ 1 itisjdeathto the nation:" meaning thatitwas not timber for* oourt'house, but large heavy b"ulk for a formidable' military post. Ij,<u ' • ,_ > C.f i i . . < ,<] * I assert,'and am prepared tb t prove,vthafc'«uob. wur\t the character of the building attempted to 1 be erected* \ and that it was the magnitude of the timber aud the obvious and unexpected character of the, building which .ajarmed the .natives, and .induced them, to resist i|s erectioq. 'I .'therefore .Respectfully,) submit that' ray statements on , this ' head were, perfectly., accurate. " t '. ,,'•<'*"' "" '' . Hit Excellency is also pleated to 'complain that I did not bring' this' subject before the "Assembly in ,1864, whioh occurred after I h'kd ] written my letted ,to Mr. Adderley. I reply, that 'in the very firit speech which I made in the Home of Representatives in 1863, I did distinctly state the, whole, story, challenging its denial in the presence of Mr. Domett and, Mh 'Bell, the l advisers of > his Excellency when i the event O3ourred,arid in the' presence of 'the theu f Ministers who had just' taken office,' and that though ' it occasioned much talk out oE the House, it never received, either in or out of the House, any denial whatever. >t It was then not very likely Jl should, call,' i in 18G4,' for! an' inquiry v into a faotuwbiou 1 was allowed' to pass unchallenged byitho.two Ministries in 1863,— .especially, as the session 'of 1864iwasa very brief and exceptional one,' in which alLsubjeots of dispute were avoided, in order to enable his Excellency to extricate himself from the, embarrassment in which his collision with 1 Mr. Whitak'erV Government had involved himself and the colony. • '' ,' I now come to his Excellency's despatch 1 of the 7th of April, in which his "Excellency asserts that every one of the important statements itfray letter to Mr. Adderley, as to the breach of' faith' with the natives at Ngaimwahia, " are' wholly and absolutely untrue." - , '• rr f" ' l ' I will first assert, in reply to this, that I am prepared to prove, by native evidence, that the conduct of the Governor was considered to be a brtaoh of faith. , , ( It is exceedingly difficult for 1 mo, 'at an hour's notice, to make out from the large volumes of papers the published evidence on this point. • I particularly, however, beg to call attention to William Thompson's letter to Bishop Pompallier, published on page 88, ! E. No. 2, of the Appendix for 1864. • - .. ■ It is quite clear that after Eangiriri the natives were thoroughly broken, and prepared for submission and peace; and I have received' much information whioh leaves no doubt on my mind on this subject. As regards Sir G«orge Grey's assertion that he did write to Pene Pnkewhau after, the army had got to Ngaruawahia, I begto point out that the letter to which his Excellency refers was published for the first time in the -Appendix for some weeks after my letter. It was not included in the' papers for 1863, the ODly information open tb J tho public when I wrote to Mr. Adderley. My statements were based on the published documeuta in E. No. 5d, pages 5-8 ; and I tim sure you. will perceive that the inference I drew wa«j a fair and natural one., ,But I assert that Sir George Grey . did regard h,is letter of the 6th December, 1863, as involving an engagement^liomeet.the^ohiefsat Nga;^ ruawahia, for he was on the point of scarping for that place. The reasons why. he did pot % "go are stated in a note appended to No. 6, page 3, E. .2 M , Appendix for 1864. The broad fact remains, which I believe to be unquestionable, that the natives were fully prepared to come to terms at that time ; that a satisfactory peace might have been made, but that the ste,pi which would have.led to it.were abandoned owing to a miserable squabble between his Excel- < lency and his Ministers— to which, therefore, maybe attributed all the,lo»si)Mife and of' treasure since that time. Lastly, with regard to the promised inquiry into the Waitara question, Sir George Grey says that ho triad all he could to get the natives to n agree to that inquiry. , , r > 1 reply, he had promised to make that inquiry himself, and he did not make it for eighteen months. The moment he did make it, he found that further inquiry was unnecessary, and he gave up the Waitara at once. Had his Excollency made that inquiry eighteen months before, he would probably have taken the same' course. I entirely agree with • his Excellency that Englishmen will not sit quietly down and see other persons in possession of their homes ; and it may be that their compulsory acquiescence in that wrong, during eighteen montln, in which' they received no Bingle word of sympathy or sign of assistance from the Governor, may account for the deeply seated distrnst of his Excellency which characterises the Euiopean population of Taranaki. There is not the slightest doubt that had the Waitar* question been honestly grappled at once, the restitution of Tataraiinaka would have folldwed.and that in view of a Governor who had expressed such strong opinions as to the cruel wrongs done at Waitara, whose language, if it meant anything, fully justified the resistance of the native tribes to that act of aggression, the settlement of the Waitara; question , was the sine quft non of peaoe ; certain it is, that William Thompson and the chiefs of Waikato offered to go down to Taranaki,and effect the restitution of Tataraimaka by peaceful means, and the Governor deliberately refused their offer. But it is no part of my present object to intrude my own views on her Majesty's Government. I wrote to Mr. Adderley in order to disabuse the minds of the English of the idea that his Excellency Sir George Grey was stand-' < in* between the natives and the i rapacity 'of the cotonists. Amidst all that th« colonists have suffered, nothing U more galliug than to see a great and ill-deserved reputation for humanity erected at their expense. - , When the colonists are once lo£t with the power to act uuder their , Constitution, and are charged with the pecuniary liabilities of their own acts, it will be evident that the war has not been their policy, and that when it has seemed to be so it was only under the sore temptation offered by a struggle in which the acquisition of land and the extension of commerce were paid for by-the lives of English soldiers and the money of, English taxpayert j such has been the policy of ' the present Governor of New Zealand. — Ihave, &o.i ■ ; James Edwaed FttzGeraiiD. The Eight Hod, Edward Cardwell, M.P.

(Enclosure No. 2.) J. E. FitzGeram), Esq., to theHok. thb CocoHrAu Seorktaby. . Chmtohuroh, April 17, 1865., Sir,— I beg to acknowledge the receipt of , your, letter enclosing, by command ef hiji >t Excellency, a copy'oE two despatches with enclosures, wnioh his Excellency has addressed to the Secretory of State, in .order that I may have the opportunity of sub-' O stantiating or recalling certain statements 'made by me in * letter to"Mr. f Adderley,- whiohhis Excellenoy considers to be untrue. . • r ! < '" ■ ' l J 1, f ' I shall be obliged if you will oarry to his Excellenoy the Governor my grateful thanks for the opportunity he has afforded, me of seeing those despatches, and my< sincere regret that I arn unable to unsay or „ modify any of' the statements oontaiued in my letter _ ',, to. Mr. Adderley., ,, , , ,, ,, , , i A's"i6 whs clearly impossible for me 'to 'remain' ' under the imputation of having stated what was un«" ' true', ' I addreis d a letted to the, Secretary, of State, / ' a. copylof which I' enclose for his Excell6noy'« infp. \ Sir George Grey ' only does'me justice m saving ~ that he has no intention of. imputing to meanyiu;,, tentiori of piirpbsely pe'rve'rbing the truth. I have * , „ only stated facts as they appear to me from informa- ' tion on wljioh at present I rely, and it is a matter of extreme regret td me that, nothing .contained in the despatches of which copies.have been' forwarded td me appears to >eqnire me s to alter .the .view. I had forme'd J a» t'o th^ facts referred, to inmyjetter to Mr. ; The one statement' in* my letter,' that rio oommuni- J oation was made t6 the nattvWaf ter JRangiriri, which t was inaccurate/l cannot help, because hi« Excellehdy^ ' had not seen fit to publiih the" letter for a^y ear 'after it 1 ' Was writUn ; but as th'atle'tter was «uVstaut^ly-' # f noi, , communioiiUou' iu iU leuse m whlph IWw,|pwking, > \ . and^aaid regarded' by'the &Ur^^%fcMm«^, was substantially, though, not literally^ tifuel^^ Ihave, &O.V, 1 '* •» lt "' T ' 1^ _ , ., >J^, a*'-