THE NATIVE LAND CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13095, 7 February 1906, Page 6

THE NATIVE LAND CASE.

VIEWS OF MR, JUSTICE EDWARDS. ' ' : V-1 HIS ADVICE TO THE DEFENDANT^. > v ______ . ' '•■j.Vfji: SUGGESTED GOVERNMENT ACTION; ' ."' Tub Galatea Maoris, who were committed "£ for trial upon a charge of forcible detention of land, but against whom the grand jury returned no bill, were brought up before Dig ''' Honor Mr. Justice Edwards at the Supreme "' Court yesterday morning for their discharge '*$ The natives, consisting of six men (one of '•$ whom had evidently seen more than three v'{score years and ten) and one woman, More 111 lined up alongside tne jury box at Hi* Honor's direction, and one of them J&Vtin To Taivhao, a tine, intelligent-looking Maori, was chosen to act as .fl}>p.J. f Sthn__P The Court at the time was ii-t\\<i{' e< d by _ large number of interested spectators;, vft Earl appeared for the natives. |& His Holioi, in addressing the Main*, through Mr. Brown, the native interpreter informed them that 'the grand jury had thrown out the bill against them, which meant that the proceedings against them in ' that Court at tne present time were at an }J*& end. The grand jury in so acting did so upon his advice, but they (the .Maoris) were ■Iff not to misunderstand what had been done. It did not give them the right to remain: upon the land, of which they were in % occupation. They were discharged upon the present occasion because it was not an offence to remain passive on land. it was an otfence to remain there under such circumstances as would give rise to a reasonable belief that they intended to resist removal by force. The evidence of all the • witnesses in the action against them showed that there was no such reasonable ground up to the time of their committal, It ap- .■"': peared that they had remained passive on the ground, and used neither threats of violence nor force. The judgment of -the Court, however, was that they must give up possession of the. land. No doubt they had been informed that he had publicly stated lie gave that judgment with very (Teat reluctance, but tne law must be obeyed, and their sole hope now was that some relief might be afforded to litem by the . ' » Government of the colony. With a full sense of his responsibility, he had no hesitation in saying that their case, in his opinion, was one which ought to be re--lieved. But they could not advance their case by remaining further on the land. They had done all that was necessary to call publie, attention to the wrongs under which they suffered, and to induce the Government to consider their case very seriously. They had the advantage, if it was an advantage, of a public declaration -by a judge of, the Supreme Court that they had suffered grievous wrong at the hands of the Native Land \ Court, which it was the duty of the colony i to rectify. To remain upon the land in defiance of the law could not advance their cause, but, on the contrary, might prejudice pM it, and if they remained upon the land mi- ■; dor such circumstances as might lead to a ' reasonable inference that they intended to : ::. resist by force, it might be his painful duty ■'■''■ to send them to prison. * j v|| Take my advice, therefore," continued His Honor, " and give up possession of this ' land peaceably, i have no doubt that your counsel will have no difficulty in arranging with the sheriff to give you reasonable time : : to take away your belongings. Your proper course, in mj opinion, speaking as your '?, friend, is to do as J have said, and present! .;' your case to the Government, with such ad- :■ vantage that it might have by such public . ';* declaration as I have thought if my right , \ and duty to make. You must remember <: that it is the right of the sheriff to take as , \ many men as he may think, lit to put you ; ; off should you resist. If you should resist, ||i or even if you should make it necessary for him to take a small army of Europeans to || turn you oil', it would involve you in very largo expense, and it would also involve ; you as 1 have already told you in making . ' yourselves liable to criminal prosecution in ... ; this Court. If such prosecution should be ;t ; necessitated by voui conduct in the future, j I should be compelled, after the "warning <§& von have had, and the advice given to-day, - to send yon to prison. Now, you are nod criminals. Do not' make yourselves so. ~, (Jo away and arrange with the- sheriff as • I have told von. We must all obey the ||| law " His "Honor .then went on ,to say v; that, believing that their case was one forgfag relief, he would (so far as he thought it right and proper tor him to do so), if the matter was referred to him for "an -.f expression of opinion, give it :> : un- .n hesitatingly' and forcibly. Meantime, , what was said in that Court was public • property, and beyond all doubt it would, ;. becorao' known to* those in authority,: who . might' assist them. , "Go, then," said Hts | Honor, in conclusion, "continue your good M behaviour, and) act upon my .. advice, and ||| nothing will give me greater pleasure than . to learn that something has been done to ;;, redress your wrongs." S'/Ol SPEECH BY A NATIVE. The natives were' visibly • affected, an* ' : ; their spokesman delivered a speech which was translated/its follows by Mr. Brown: — ;.;•; "Health to the. Court, under the.direction | of our Lord, and under the powers which | have been bestowed upon yon; therefore, | I say long life to the Court. As to any | ; reply that may be made to Your Honors ;•, semnrks; that'is a matter for the Minister\s, and for Mr. Earl. That is all." r - ' ' • His Honor, addressing Mr. Earl, said he ||] hoped that he would be able to: get the. ; .;:;J| natives off the hind. So far as they had - ; gone, he thought they were justified in . ,: calling public attention to the matter in the ,|| most effectual manner. \ He sincerely hoped *gg that the Government would find some means to redress their wrongs. For his..',/; own part, lie thought that the Government should buy the land, but ' perhaps he had J no right "to say so. He also considered •■' that Mrs. Beale should be moderate in her demands, seeing that she bought the land, : knowing the natives were living on it, ana : that it was their ancestral home, and that \-V; she should also be very well satisfied to get ' j her money back with interest. He hoped. *V < even more sincerely, that the natives ■would ijsM not bring themselves within reach of the , criminal law. , . i .■- . '■•'-,-' ■ -p's&\ Mr. Earl, in thanking His Honor for the . advice tendered, said he felt quite sure v that- the natives would act upon it. Iho matter, he might say, hud been brought ,y before the Government by way of petition, and the Government were thoroughly wc 'l -li';', alive to the necessity for doing something. The Government, however, moved slowly, y and this case formed i.u particular exec;;tion to the rule, but he had,' great hopes : that something would be done to enablo the natives to regain their land, and that at- ; the same time Mrs. Beale would lose nothing by it. V '; .;'; i His Honor said lie hoped so. The Maoris their left the Court.

It appears that'in 1889 a certificate of .. title under the Land Transfer Act, 1886, , , • was issued to Margaret Burt, in iesj>ect'to : ., the land hi question, consisting of 3000 acres in the Galatea distiict. A number - < of the native owners, who had not beer, • present when the certificate of title was , granted', applied to Mr. McDonald, chief judge of the Native Laud Court, for a rehearing, upon the ground that they had nob v; been consulted, but this, it seems, was dis- V missed by the chief judge without inquiry.; /■.?•*£ except from the judge of the Native Land Court who presided ait the proceedings, and . without hearing the applicants. Mr. Jus- , ,;, tice Edwards, in giving judgment in June ' v last, in the case of Margaret Emma Beale v. Tihema To Hau and others and the. .. Attorney-General, for possession of the land . ;- in question, said that "it was much to . ;■ be regretted that the chief judge of tne Native Land Court did not deal regularly : — ; with the applications for a rehearing of the ■ proceedings upon petition. If the cluei judge, in"this case, bad done so, and had ~,..; made a patient investigation of the matter, the wrong which the native defendants nflO undoubtedly suffered must have been est at); lished ami rectified, as it should have been, v ..: . Mrs. Burt, on getting her certificate o ■■ title, mortgaged her property to -Mr. Jonn .. < Probert for £1000. and when Mr. Probe* .;, died,,in 1891. he bequeath the property .; to the Woslevur. trust.-.-. 'I'ir {iv "';: i f] ~V-''v foreclosed, and obtained an ;."» ill- ? '•••'■- ■ V s : from the Cimvn. The trustees held in« _ ; property uuii! 1904. when it «•»» bo\xgm ,:■>;; for £1100 by Mrs. I!?:-!... M.s. Ho>• °» assuming possession, yiiivr li" >•'•'•A" ',V notice lo (|tiit. and as !he n'■ , * '•■• -"V'"'„ 'M® do so. she lock <■<> i-'w.c.. yoaseiaioa • I j ■ v •"-: ' • -. ' ; ■-"■,■'■ ' *:' \f £ ■ , - ■ :■:;.■■-•:■: • . .1 &<