LIGHTS ON MOKAU.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14854, 4 December 1911, Page 9

LIGHTS ON MOKAU.

•A DRAMA IN MANY ACTS. ■ POINTS FOR THE PEOPLE. (Br " Scrutineer.") "I am not going to prophesy, but ere two years have elapsed you will hear peals of thunder. Thunder will strike ana lightning will flash, and then you will know that something: has happened . owing to this Bill." • So spoke the Hon. Wiremu Pere in the Legislative Council on December 21, 1909, •. referring to the Native Land Act , Amendment Bill. It is not quite two years since that Bill was passed, but the thunder has pealed. The reverberations of Mokau have rumbled over the two Islands, and the lightning has flashed, revealing a Government vainly trying to condone conduct by which Maoris are to suffer an injustice, ' and prospective settlers of a huge block are to be loaded with speculators' profits. "To be. weak is miserable, doing or suffering," wrote Milton, and according to this philosophy the Government ' should be very unhappy, much oppressed with the weight of guilt and shame. By parrot cries Ministerialists have absurdly tried to convince New Zealanders that "There is nothing in the Mokau case," but one might as well say that . when a houso is blazing there is no flame, or that when murder has been done there is no death. | • On the land by the Mokau river a drama has been acted in . many scenes and tho curtain is not yet. It is a drama which appeals to all New Zealanders for its audience. It is a drama in which private interest has triumphed over public principle, and the Government, vaunting itself as the friends of the Maori and the small settlor, assisted.in that victory by the issue of an Order-in-Council. The authority for that order was got under a new clause of . the Native Land Act Amendment of 1909, clause 203 : ''The Governor may, by Order-in-Council, in any case in which he deems it expedient in the public interest so to do, authorise any acquisition, alienation, or disposition of native land, or of any interest therein, notwithstanding any of the provisions of this part of this Act." This was the amendment Act which formed the basis of Wiremu Pere's prophecy remarkably fulfilled. The origin of that new clause is peculiarly involved in the history of the Mokau case, as this writer will prove beyond the power of any quibbler to deny. But these things will come in their.proper place in the drama. , It is as well to explain that where the terms leasehold and freehold are used in this article they refer to the same ground, the block of 53,000 acres.

" Mokau" Jones. Principal actor, Joshua Jones, in a "star" part without a "star's" fame or emolument, is an old man now, a wanderer on the face of the earth, urged to he satisfied with the dry crumbs of legality instead of the loaf of fair play which he sought. When he was last in England he was advised to go to New Zealand, and when he returned to New Zealand he was told that he had better go back to England Ho has been buffeted, but not broken in spirit. His bushy eyebrows, iron-grey, bristle with fight in a cause which he does not; yet regard as lost. He has the fortitude of the old ".Roman, "the glory of going on and not dying," and so • his aged eyes, undimmed by any mist of self pity or the sympathy cf friends.' look far across the sea, to England, in. the hope that Joshua Jones, " Mokatt" by nick-name, will yet be Mokau in fact. Vain hope for the bravo old man. Not for him the wealth of the forest, field and mine. He has fought and lost irretrievably, but the conquerors have no glory from their victory. 'He was one against many, and the many have prevailed. ■ Even Horatins had help at the bridge, and Leonidas • did not fight alone at. Thermopylae. Rather was the Mokau warrior like . Darius, " deserted at his utmost need." .-.'.... \ -,-■;■':

Brief History of the Leases. Mr. Jones got the lease of the Mokau i Block, 53,000 acres, from the native owners • in July, 1882, for a term of 56 years, at a • rental of £190 . per annum for the first 28 i years, and £422 for the next 28 years. ; The natives were to have 10 per cent, of the profit on minerals, and 'Mr. Jones was > to spend £3000 per year in improvements. ; He was < relieved from this annual £3,000 • obligation by agreeing to pay a higher ' rental, but it is doubtful, whether this ' arrangement was strictly legal. ." ' ■! : By misfortune, not his own fault, Mr. Jones got himself into legal difficulties in relation to the leases, and eventually gave a mortgage to one Ralph Wickham Flower for £14,000, with an extension to a date in 1907. In the meantime. Mr. Jones was continuing his efforts in England to float ,a, company to work the Mokau minerals, and he was offered £100,000 toe late. When giving evidence at the recent inquiry, he put in a cable message, dated April 9, 1910, addressed to "Jones, care of Stafford, Treadwell." It reads:—"Returned ; Madrid associated with company willing purchase Mokau £100,000, twothirds cash. Proposing construct harbour works in accordance with your views." Provided option given for next six months will remit by telegraph immediately £100.— John Carr, Allison Smith." Before the mortgage fell due,: in 1907, Mr.- Flower ■ died. • The New Zealand re- . presentatives of .the executors of decoased'3 estate were Messrs. 'f ravers, Campbell, and Peacocke, and here ''occurs one of the many oddities of the Mokau affair. The late Mr. Flower was a trustee for Mr. Jones as well as a : mortgagee. Mr. Jones naturally thought that he would have first option to buy in 5 the leases, but the sale look place at New* Plymouth, on August 10, 1907, without his knowledge. Representing (he Fower .executors as mortgagees, Messrs. Travers, Campbell, arid Peacock bought in the leases, and gave Mr. Herman Lewis an. option on them for £17,000 (the amount of the original mortgage plus accrued interest, £5000). Page 124 of the report of the Native Affairs Committee last session gives the j following interesting questions' and ! answers': ... Mr. Hemes: Who were your solicitors when you purchased the leases ? ; " Mr. . Lewis: I bought the property through Mr. Campbell, of Travers, Campbell, and Peacock. Mr. Herries: He was. acting as your solicitor as wall ae solicitor for the sellers ? Mr.- Lewis : At that time. In fact I purchased the property on his recommendation. ■ • The Mokau case presents a number of examples of interesting "dual capacity," as this chronicle will show. Mr. Jones appealed against this sale, and asked for an. inquiry. He got sympathy from Sir Joseph Wardand has it still, no doubt. Mr. Jones, who was willing to pay the £17,000 at tho time of the; I sale, had not been able to disprove that it cold formal legality, but complains that it I was inequitable. ! Mr. Lewis bought technically, but he i conveniently remortgagod , the property to the vendors, Messrs. Travers, Campbell and Peacock. Thus the "sale" amounted to. a transfer of the mortgage, from Mr. Jones to Mr. Lewis. On May 18, ISOB., Mr. Lewis, who still owed the "purchase money" to the mortgagees, entered into an agreement to sell the leases to •-■ Sir Francis Price, Mr. Thomas Mason Clumbers, and Mr. R. D. D. McLean, all of Hawke's Bay, for. , £25,000, and oneeighth interest in the block (practically a total of £28.000). Mr. Lewis received £700 in cash, and the prospective purchasers lodged £4300 with a firm of Wellington solicitors, .to-be, paid to Messrs. Travers, Campbell and Peacock, when Mr. j Lewis was placed on the register as owner of the ", leases. . ;The purchasers obviously wished to be satisfied about the validity of : the leases. : '.'./'V : .-* •'•. .'■ - ~ , "Findlay and Dalziell." Here enters Mr. Frederick George Dal-' ■ ziell, solicitor, practising in Wellington in partnership with Sir John Findlay. , Reading his evidence one is impressed by his

prescience, his omniscience, his intense activity, his übiquity. He is here, ; there, and everywhere, as if he had the magic carpet of the Arabian fairy tale. His clear vision! as revealed in the evidence, seemed to read the Government's mind as a book, and before he was through with, one page, he seemed to know what would be in; the next. Well, one bright day— day for Mr. Lewis—the 3rd of August, 1908, the leasehold successor of Mr. Jones found Mr. Dalziell. Mr. 'Lewis' professed to be troubled by, his position in relation to the mortgagees and the Hawke's Bay trio, but care was Boon smoothed away from his brow. '.': ; ;,:' : '. : ''-' ■'~-. '''■ '.'... .■".;'■ % ' In one part of his evidence, given, of course,- some time after the Mokau pro-, fit, by sale, had given him a good conceit of himself. Mr. Lewis said :— :N othing is impossible. Mother Nature has given to me good, fair, clean brains." A full knowledge of the case give's the reader a firm belief that the brains were chiefly possessed by Mr. Lewis's solicitors, the firm of Findlay and Dalziell. Mr. Lewis was led along a rosy path to a golden garden, and it was not the, hand of Mr. Lewis that held the compass. He had the brains to see Mr. Dalziell, and Mr. Dalziell saw to the rest, as his own evidence demonstrates: • ■ : _ "That was the situation in which Mr. Lewis found himself when he. came to consult me, and he wanted me to advise him as to the best means by which he t could escape from these difficulties," stated Mr. Dalziell. "I came to the conclusion, I after looking into the matter, that although Mr. Lewis's title to the leases might be good, there could be no doubt it was not such a title as could be forced on an unwilling purchaser." The Sale Looms Up. Mr. Dalziell believed that the solution of the problem would He in "getting the lessees and Maoris to combine and sell the property." Mr. Dalziell knew, of j course, that the limitation provisions in I tho Native Land Act, would debar any I single purchaser, such as Mr.' Herman Lewis, from acquiring the freehold of 53,000 acres. He was aware that this could not happen . without - an alteration of the law, Mr. Dalziell "approached" Mr. P. S. - McLean, , solicitor for the Hawke's Bay trio, and the reply of Mr. McLean indicates that a possibilitv of " special legislation" was suggested to him at this stage. Here is '-Mr. McLean's letter, dated September 22, 1908 :— "F. G. Dalziell, Esq., Messrs. Findlay, Dalziell and Co., solicitors, Wellington, Dear Sir, — Mokau :—I havo seen Mr. Chambers and the others as to the proposal that they should enter into an agreement with Mr. Lewis and Mr. Campbell with a view to special legislation, and they have asked me .-'to say that, while they appreciate your efforts towards a profitable settlement, '• they would prefer to retire from the adventure with their own money and interest as provided in the agreement with Mr. Lewis, leaving the others to take the full benefit of any such legislation." • '■--■ Mr. Dalziell " Gets Busy." In a letter to Sir James Carroll on September, 25, 1908, Mr. Dalziell suggested the form of a clause dealing with the Mokau block, "so that (in the final issue) it would be left ■to ' the Governor-in-Council on the recommendation ■". of the Native Commission to permit any part of the block to be sold." ,

On December 17, 1908, Mr. ; Dalziel], in -the interests of - his firm's client, . Mr. Lewis, wrote to Messrs. Travers, f Campbell arid Peacock, and the '■ letter signed c 4 Yours, truly,!, Findlay, Dalziel I and Company.," etates inter alia:—"The Government proposes to introduce : a . short Bill | early in next session, extending the Native Commission's powers for | the purpose of, the Act. ,The Act will,. of course, be general, and will not specifically refer to the Mokau matter. We may-say. that the Government is prepared to facilitate the arrangements we have rsuggested,' because it is ' anxious to do what iit can in the way of effecting settlement of .the Mokau land. . . . , Jones, of course, will, do his best to interfere, but- we, have not much fear > that he will succeed in doing anv harm." The event i proved that Mr. : Jones did . ■ not ; " eucceed in doing any. harm."•. ■• ( ~.,.:., - ' '*.--:,,,- ■ The Order-In-Ootmcll is Safe. Page by page . one : can trace Hie gradual arrival... of clause 203 of the Amended Native Land Act of 1909. ' Towards; the close of this part of the drama, three dav s before the ; Bill was passed by the Legislative <■ Council; Mr. , Treadwell, who had been acting! as solicitor for Mr. Jones, .wrote thus, on. December 18, to Mr. Daiziell':—-"It is evidently desirable -we should get )■: legislation in any event this ' year.'*, By this time Mr. Jones had an unenjoyable lease of 'a "• land slip." In August or September, 1908, the Order-in-Council to , ; permit ' the sale of the land. was a dim vision on the legislative horizon. In December;! 1909, the machine- for the makintt of that Order was ready, for the work. That order came along with 1 the surety *of sunshine— matter of \ time. • Mokau hung fire with Mr Jones, possibly » not so ... blessed by Mother Nature; it! tflazed ' with . Mr. ■ Lewis. ''■: : --(■''.; ".'..'/. .*•■'. *;'v"': : '-.':- - \'c,, : .- ; :/.V-:

The Sale— and the Profits. . • The year 1910 was; packed ;.; with ; incidents, in which the- Government, Sir John Findlay, ' Mr. Dalziell, ..;, the ■ Maori Land Board, , Mr. Skerrett, Mr. i."; Bell, Mr. Jones, 5 and.other dramatis personse filled various ; roles, to be noticed in • a > subsequent article. ,The Government agreed ' on December sb, 1910, to issue * the Order-in- Council. On September 22 a notice was gazetted convening a meeting of, native owners to discusr. the purchase proposals. .The first meeting' of these owners , was on January 6 and tho third and final meeting, at which a resolution to sell' was adopted, was on March 22. On March 24 the Maori Land Board confirmed the alienation before the president, Mr. Bowler,- knew, except from the statement of Mr. Dalziell that an Order-in-Council would be signed.,- On March 28 the order was signed, and it was cazetted on March 30. Under agreement with the Land Board,, Mr. Lewis bought the natives' < interest in the freehold of the 53 000 acres for £25,000 (comprising £22,500 cash and £2500 worth of shares in the subsequent Mokau Company). Mr. Lewis's total outlay was: £18,000 for .the purchase of the leases (including £1000 law costs), £25 000 for the heohtftd, general expenses £1200; total, £55,000. ■ • 1 Air Lewi' told to Mr. Mason Chambers thus:—Leases, £46,000; freehold of 46,000 acres £25,000: consideration for an extension 'of an option to Mr. Chambers, £4000 (in shares); total, £71,000. Mr. Lewis mado a profit of £16,000 in cash, £4000 in Bharos and 7000 acres to '.; boot, valued at £2 an'aero. Thus Mr. Lewis's surplus may be set down' as £34,000. : -■; ■■,'-.,. Tho role of Mr. MaconChambers is perplexing. Ever, the well-informed Mr. Dalziell purports to bo bewildered. Mr. Chambers originally had an option to buy; the lenses from Mr. Lewis for £28,000, L and an advance of £700,' was" actually made to Mr. Lewis and a sum was lodged in Wellington, as the early part; off this ; article indicated. Somehow Mr. Chambers did not elect to exercise that-Ifirst option, but before December, ; 1910, ihe 'offered £46.000 for tho leases, and* got a second option on; that basis. ."'■ Here is an "extract from Mr. Dalziell's evidence;— . ,"'..* ; -.-'■( Mr.-.Henries: Was that second option in lieu of the old option? ;, * ■ '• •> Mr. Dalziell: ' No. ':% That is one of the most mysterious things about 5 this transaction. * The old agreement had never been rescinded. I put it to them that the parties should remain as they wore, and that was never altered till the transaction wae completed.'' ' '■■'''-'--• ■[.'■'^ •■:'. J ' ! . '"' ' ": < Mr. Chambers had Sir Francis Price and Mr. R. D. ■- D.' McLean with him ' for the first option. Mr. Chambers was alone for the second. However, Mr. Chambers made a profit, of '£10,000. He sold out, totally, j to the Mokau Coal and Estate Company for £85,000,' in which the leases figured!| at j £56,000. Thus while freehold interest j remained stationary at. £25,000, the lease- | hold jumped from'£l7,ooo on; August 10, I 1807 When the mortgagees bought:them in (for subsequent transfer'in June, 1908, at ' the- same price to' Mr. Lewis), to .£56,000 ! ' in 1911. Evidently the minerals were highly ! assessed. : . ,: .:/'.■ :'■„ . ! ' Still another mystery. . Mr.;." E. D. D. I McLean, one of the trio who wove in tho j agreement to purchase ?:" the leases at. £28,000, was finally a,.member.of the company which paid £56,000 for the leiset. I : -i