THE ROYAL COMMISSION

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 29, 21 July 1880, Page 3

THE ROYAL COMMISSION

SECOND REPORT.

In the New Zealand Times of Thursday last the following summary of the second report of the Royal Commission was lished:—The second report of the Commission was laid on the table of the House on Wednesday evening. It is a bulky document, numbering thirty-eight pages, in which the Commissioners trace the history of European relations to the native race, and the circumstances under which the settlers became involved in hostilities with tribes on the West Coast. It also traces, find submits in succint form the motives which from time to time have actuated successive Ministries to apparently

inconsistent action. This has been done

Toy reference, first, to well known histori- , cal facts, and,' secondly, by close and pro- • traoted scrutiny of a vast mass of official documents, a great part of which had never been published, or had been lost to Bight in the recesses of the Mative Office, and in volumes of Parliamentary papers, from which they had to be exhumed. The historical events are traced from the •regular colonization of the Islands in 1839-40 ; a statement of the causes of the ■ first rupture of friendly relations with the natives, and subsequent more serious complications, culminating in the fighting out of the Waikato war in 1868-64 ; the complete defeat of the King party, and the ultimate suppression of the insurrection. Part 11. shows the aspect of affairs after the rebellion, the narrative being based on .records of official minutes, reports, and resolutions of the Native Board. Part 111. relates to the return of the Ngatiruanui insurgents, who, dispossessed of their lands, were yet allowed to come back and re-occupy confiscated territory. The Commissioners show that to attempt at such a time the policy of treating these men" as rebels, and driving them once more away, was to risk all that had been gained during two years of peace. There were but three courses open to Sir Donald McLean, to drive them off by force, to insist upon - their- return upon defined reserves, or to yield tacit consent to their re-occupation, and bide his. time. He,

# chose the last. Part IV. refers to the iri- * structions of 1872, whereunder " South of the Waingongoro the lands awarded to the native tribes wera to . be defined and surveyed, and such of- them as the owners were willing to sell were to be bought by the Government. North of Waingongoro the land along the whole coast as far as Stoney River, although nominally confiscated," was declared (except Opunake Township) to be " available for settlement until arrangements should be made with the. natives for land sufficient for their own requirements," and the native owners were to be " compensated for all lands they might relinquish, at rates not exceeding ss. per acre." The Commissioners show, by reference to the records at their command, that the instructions could not be earned out as easily as at first anticipated, on account of legal difficulties. Divided counsels also evidently stayed decisive action. The natives - gained an idea that their confiscated land .-would be restored, and hastened to return to their old settlements. Parliament and . rival Ministries let slip the opportunities for a st adfast policy, and no sooner was One step taken than it had to be retraced. ' Meanwnile the re-occupation of the Waimate Plains by the natives was going steadily on. Part V. explains the arrangements of 1873, which led up to the initiation of a new system of making the acquisition of blocks of land, simply by the payment of sums of money as gratuities.

This was the foundation of the system now called " takoha," but the change of term, as explained by the Commissioners, was wholly ineffectual to change the opinion of the natives as to what was really meant by the payment of money in that way. Sir Donald McLean gave instructions to extend the rate of compensation from ss. to 7s. Gd. . per acre for country north of Waingongoro, on account of the extravagant views of its value entertained by the natives, and the fact that they had failed to recognise the reality ot the confiscation. The system, we are told, was initiated with a high hand, the natives told that the survey of their lands, to which they objected, was carried on as •a matter of right which the Government possessed, to do what they pleased with the confiscated boundaries. In 1877 the opinion was entertained by the authorities that the natives were gradually improving in tlieir feeling of submission, and bad accepted the confiscation of land between Patea and Wam#ongoro without demur. Part VI. gives the history of the survey of the Waimate Plains, as preparatory to their disposd of and settlement, the causes leading to unfriendly demonstrations by the natives, the interruption of the survey, and the unlucky alienation of Titokowaru's friendly influence by the cutting of a road line through one of his cherished pastures, an act perpetrated for engineering reasons which appear to the Commissioners to be very inadequate. It is shown that a far more wide-spread cause of dissatisfaction influencing the whole body of natives interested in the Waimate Plains, was the omission of the Government to make proper reserves for them, and to show any intention of fulfilling the promises made them that their burial places, cultivations, and fishing places should be respected, and that in addition they would receive money as takoha from the Government to assist them in fencing their reserves, and otherwise promoting their soc'al improvement. The Commissioners show " that it is true, both in letter and spirit, that no reserves were made either previous to the commencement or during the progress of the surveys, and that none were ever marked off pn the ground, nor or any plan " (e'xeept one marked by instructions from the then Native Minister, Mr. Sheehan, and the existence of which plan was only known to the Survey Office, Major Brown, and the Government). Part VII. deals with the proposed sale of the plains, and the ultimate postponement of action. Part VIII. narrates the incident of the ploughing of the settlers' lands by recalcitrant natives, and their arrest and imprisonment. Part IX. details certain incidental causes which impeded the Government, among which the want of any effective restraint upon the supply of intoxicating liquors to the natives is adduced as a glaring evil. Part X. details awards ot the Compensation Court. Part XI. the Government awards. Part XI. gives particulars of formal abandonment of certain confiscated land and of informal restitutions, none of which abandonments, in the opinion of the Commissioners, were effectual to take the title out of the Crown and put it back in the native. Part XIII. is devoted to a description of the system of " takoha," which the Commissioners describe as simply make-believe, so far as applied' to the extinguishment of native claims, a system demoralising the natives, giving vast personal power to 1 the Commisioner, and ending, as at the Waimate Plains, in pure waste. They show how such power was abused, and money squandered, by reference to evidence of expenditure of large sums in the veriest superfluities and extravagances, varying from tinned meats and three star brandy, French ribbons, silks and chemises, to special reserved seats at the pantomimes, and a " representation at the Imperial Theatre ordered by the Hon. the Native Minister."

Referring to £1000 spent in pleasure at a Waitara meeting, and another £1000 for which chiefs had signed, but which, as alleged, has never yet reached their hands, the following extract is quoted without curtailment: — The Under-Secre-tary of the Land 'Purchase Department left us in no doubt as to what would have been the fate of such accounts if they had ever come before the audit. " After what has transpired," we asked him, " what do you think was the character of the vouchers originally sent in to discharge the imprestee from this i>2ooo? — I think they did not disclose the whole transaction : if they had, the Auditor- General would never have passed them." " Would there have been any means of tracing this expenditure if it had not been for the accident of your attention being called to it by this Commission ? — I do not think the exp nditure would ever have been shown unless my attention had been so directed to it." " Are we, then, to understand that a sum of .£2OOO, charged to the acquisition of the Waimate Plains as having been paid to certain natives, turns out through an accidental investigation not to have been so paid at all ; that nearly all the money passed into the hands of persons other than those who signed the vouchers ; and that it was paid aw y for purposes which were not disclosed to the audit? — I am sorry to say that it is so." " Have you any reason to think that the sub-vouchers you • have now produced were ever brought under Mr. Sheehan's notice before payment by the Civil Commissioner? — Among the telegrams is one dated 10th June, 1878, addressed to the Hon. J. Sheehan by Major Brown : • Recommend that Waitara natives be hosts at Waitara meeting, and that the cost be charged to confiscated lands, against margin within which I am keeping payments.' The Native Minister replied, under date 10th June : ' Suggestion re Waitara meeting approved.' " " Then it would seem that the Government were cognisant of the intention to spend money for the purpose of the Waitara meeting, which was to be charged, not to the expenses of that meeting, but to the acquisition of confiscated land ? — I think from these telegrams that the Native Minister must have been aware of it." There is no evidence that the accounts themselves which had been concealed from the audit were known to the Government. But the vouchers signed by the chiefs for the £2000 were submitted for the "special approval" of the Minister, and it was given. Major Brown's own explanations will be found annexed to the evidence.

11 Here, we stayed our hand. Your Excellency's Commission imposed the duty on us of tracing how these spurious vouchers and pretended payments had Come to be "charged to the cost of the Waimate Plains. But here our own

functions ended. It is for others to say if this charge is to be transferred, and what is to be its place '.in the Public Accounts."

In conclusion, the Commissioners say : " The story speaks for itself. We entirely believe the moving cause of all our difficulties to have been ever the same, that the tribes .we had encouraged to return to the Waimate Plains ha\e never known what lands they might really call their own ; and if any of us are tempted, as an easy way of escaping from reproach, to say that the fault is all Te Whitfs, we ought not to forget how our own records show he never took up arms against us," but did his best in all that time to restrain from violence his' unruly and turbulent tribe. If the story ■we have told has not made this clear, we have told it to your Excellency in vain. It still remains' for us, however, to say what we think should be done in addition to the measures we advised in our first report, in oi-der that the Crown, may fulfil its pvomises and heal every real grievance on the coast. One thing is certain, that nothing can be done without new legislation, as every power which formerly existed has been repealed. In this report, long as it is, we have only been able to speak of the past ; and we ask your Excellency's permission to offer to you, in a few days hence, our suggestions as to what such legislation should do for the future."

[From the appendices to the report since issued, we find that the total cost of the Native Commission was only £1472. —Ed. Star.]