TIMBER RIGHTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 15 March 1939, Page 9

TIMBER RIGHTS

CLAIMS BY MAORIS ROYAL COMMISSION REQUESTED ! DEPUTATION TO PRIME MINISTER I Ill'll Mrrw A —.ri ll I . I WELLINGTON. 14th March, j A request that the whole of the Ngati-Tuwaretoa timber claims against! the Government should be investigated! by a Royal Commission of one or more! Supreme Court judges, and that the Treaty of Waitangi should be written ; into the Statute Books at the coming! session of Parliament, or. alternatively j that the judicial rights of Maoris under! the Treaty of Waitangi be defined by \ the Court of Appeal, was made to the: Prime Minister. Mr Savage, by representatives of the Maori people on Mon- j day last. On 22nd October. 1938. the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought! by Tc Heu Hcu Tukino. on behalf of the Ngati-Tuwharetoa Maoris, from a judgment of Mr Justice Smith, in an! action against the Aotea District Maori) Land Board, in respect of timbercutting and other rights over part of i the land belonging to the tribe. Subsequently Tukino obtained leave to appeal to the Privy Council, a condition! being that security of £SOO be found, within three months. Yesterday in the j Court of Appeal Mr M. H. Hampson.i Rotorua, counsel for Tukino. said that I security had not been found, and as the! time limit Yy 1 expired it seemed to him the present form of appeal could not be continued. However, in view ! of the great importance of the matters I involved, he wished to explain the position to the Court. Following the obtaining of leave to appeal, said Mr Hampson, a meeting of representatives of all the Native tribes of New Zealand had been belt!, and it had been resolv o'’ 0 '’ ‘hat before considering the question finding security and the expense .in appeal to the Privy Council, the Prime Minister should be interviewed and certain matters put to him. CONFERENCE WITH MINISTER A conference was held in February With the Minister of Native Affairs. Mr Langstone. and the Minister indicated his willingness to extend the time for finding security for a further two months. However, it was pointed out to him that he had no power to do that, and he was then asked that the Tuwaretoa Trust Board should find the security. To that he was unwilling I to consent. On Monday, counsel continued, the representatives of the Maori people met! the Prime Minister and placed before I lorn resolutions of the utmost import-! ai.ee to the Maoris, and. indeed, to! everybody in New Zealand. If the l Minister’s reply was satisfactory from I the Maoris’ point of view, it would be! unnecessary to continue with Tukino s appeal: but if it proved unsatisfactory,! it was intended to ask the Privy Co n-| cd tor special leave to appeal, which ! would get over the difficulty which ! arose through the non-finding of the! security ordered by the Court of Appeal Mr R. E. Tope, for the Aotea Dis- i tr'Ct Maori Land Board. said the* hoard wished to make it clear that it! did not oppose the bringing of an appeal and that it would have consented I to an appeal being taken to the Privy | Council, but it felt compelled to take | the viewpoint that the present appeal I v. as now out of time and that the f>urt of Appeal had no further juris-! d'etiori in the matter. The Coi.it of Appeal consisted of the^

Chief Justice 'Sir Michael Myers), Mi Just cc Ostler, Mr Justice Smith, and Mr Fair.