Hawke's Bay Herald THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1877.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3931, 21 June 1877, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1877.

Of the fifty-two objections to the claims of natives to vote for members of the House of Representatives, heard at Waipawa on Tuesday, fourteen were sustained. A good many more would, probably, have been sustained, if the matter had been put into Mr Sainsbury'B hands earlier, and if he had had an opportunity of instituting preliminary enquiries. He only received his instructions on Friday last. Several of the objections were based on technical misstatements of qualifications Avhich were got over by being amended by tlie Court. The question was raised as to whether a native grantee, in any case, could have a valid claim to vote in respect of his interest in a Crown grant. The grantees being tenants in common, that is to say, possessing unequal but altogether undefined shares, it was urged with much force that it would be impossible for any grantee to prove that the value of his was up to the requisite amount, £50. The Revising Officer, however, declined to strike out the names of claimants on that ground, and Mr Sainsbury did not think it would be worth while to make it the basis of an appeal. The question, we understand, was brought up in the House last session, when an alteration in the law, with the view of clearing away the ambiguity, was suggested. Mr Whitaker's opinion, we hear, was then given, to the effect that the claims of grantees were valid in spite of the objection. There is this much to be said, therefore, that if the objection was found to hold good before the higher Court, the law on the subject would probably be altered next session.