WESTERN MAORI SEAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18348, 14 March 1923, Page 11

WESTERN MAORI SEAT.

.FURTHER ALLEGATIONS.

INCIDENTS AT PUKEKOHE.

MOTOR-CARS AND FOOD.

EVIDENCE AT AUCKLAND

The hearing of the. petition lodged by | PanaP u Haerehuka in connection with I'ie election in the Western Maori constituency as continued at the Auckland Supreme four; yesterday before Mr. Jus- . ve Hosking and Mr. Justice Stringer, j fl'l •> proceedings were commenced at Tau.,iga on Wednesday, March 7, when evi- ( tfence in relation to the charges affecting the district was taken. The petition allege* that to procure his .return Sir Maui Pomare or his agents committed the offences of bribery and treAting »fid that there were irregularities - .] ie poll. The allegations cover events ,t Tauranga. Thames, Pukekohe, Papa- j kiira, and Manaia. and the petitioner asks that the election be declared void and the ■ member incapacitated from serving in the present Parliament. Mr. C. P. Skcrrett, K.C., and Mr. P. I ] evi, both of Wellington, appeared for the j petitioner, while Mr M. Myers, K.C., and Mr. H. O'Leary, both of Wellington, re- j presented the respondent. Kepa Ehau, of js o torua, acted as interpreter ; \ larfe number of Maoris watched the j crocwdings throughout the day, followers j t patana being conspicuous by reason of | the red, white and blue rosette., which I they wore. Mr. Skerrett dealt in detail with the i ipecific contentions of petitioner, and out- I lined the evidence that would bo adduced. I Referring to tho use of motor-cars, conn- I id said they hoped to show that they j were provided for out of money furnished ' tv Sir Mam or some other person. ! Mr. Justice Ko>king: The motor-cars i are not charged as an illegal payment ? \ Mr. Skerrett said they might perhaps : »sk for leave to amend the petition. ; Question of Secrecy of Bal.ot. \ Dealing with the election, counsel said I mental instruction had been issued , that the counterfoil of the ballot paper! was not to be detached from the ballot paper. That would apply to all Maori elections, and they would contend it was , not an election conducted under the prin- j ciple of the ballot, and once that was established the election would be void, j It was true there was a certain exception ' in the question of secrecy in the case of, Maori elections, but it would be- made i clear that the ballot ought to have been a secret ballot, except as authorised for Maoris. In this instance there was no ; secrecy; the man who counted the votes could'see how the electors had voted. It j was not a vote by ballot at all. As to i the question of secrecy in a Maori elec- j tion, there could be no question that was contemplated under lie Act. The scrutineer was able to see how each man had i voted. It would be perfectly ludi.rouj to say that the statute did not contem- i plate'the detachment of the counterfoil from the ballot paper, because It contem- | plated that the ballot paper should he | used separately from the counterfoil. st thev knew that a specific direction was given in the semi-official memorandum i sent to the returning officer that on no j account was the counterfoil to be detached from the ballot paper. Alleged Arrangements. Renata Aratrta. farmer, of Pukekohe, said that prior to the election he received a telegram from Sir Maui Pom .ire and two or three, days later he went to \V«ahi, "here he saw respondent. He asr.ed >etpondenl what arrangements tie had made far motorcars, and respondent said he had already arranged that with Mr. Motion. Witness returned to Pukekohe and Mir Mr. Motion, who denied receiving any directions from respondent. He then saw Mr. F. Perkins, who asked him who was i the mouthpiece for Pomare. and he replied j that he (witness) should have been. Witness asked Mr. Perkins about motor-cars j and Perkins asked which were the best. j Food v.as then discussed, and Perkins said that he had supplies of food for the people. Witness was then satisfied that his people had been provided for in the matter of motor-cars and food. Witness said he was appointed associate at the Pukekohe booth for the election, but was unable i > serve and had To Mehana ap pointed in his stead. Witness, however, was in the polling booth nearly all day in company with the returning officer and Mehana. In response to a message by his sister, witness went to see Perkins. A number of Maoris were outside the store and he asked Perkins why the fdod had not been handed out. Perkins said. "Did the natives vote for Pomare?" arid on his replying '-Yes." Perkins said "All right; I 'will give out the. food." After the closing of the poll witness visited Perkins, who asked him how many voted, and he replied, as far as he could remember. 104 voted. Of that number Sir Maui Pomare received 97. Angry at Reference to Money. Witness said he received a letter from respondent. There v.as some reference in the letter to money, at which he became angry at Perkins. ' This reference was a mention of £28 which was to meet the expenses for motor-cars and food. This money had been .sent to Perkins. When asked by whom the money was sent witness .-.aid it was "sent by him." Witness said he was told that the 'motor-car bill was between T! and £8. He told Perkins that the account for the food was £2 10s, and Perkins said there were also expenses at Papakura. Witness, however, claimed that they had nothing to do with Papakura. Witness then said to Perkins, "What about my expenses?" and Perkins replied, "What about my expenses?" Witness said Cat he then became \evy angry and wrote to Pomare, telling him of the expenses. Witness also told Perkins he had information of money having been sent by Pomare to Perkins. This was denied by Perkins.. To Mr. Myers: Si.' Maui Pomare had done nothing against him that he should want to harm him. Mr. Myers: When did you commence to side with Ratana? —All 1 know is that I was subpoenal to tome to Court to give evidence. " 1 did not know for which side 1 was to give evidence. "Considered I was in his Employ." Asked a.= to the work which he did on behalf of Pom are, witness said the Maoris looked to him to see that cars and other matters w re arranged. He was occupied for a week on this work, and he thought he should he, paid by Pornare. Mr. Justice lioskn.g. Was he asked to work for him ': Mr. Myers: And l.v whom ? Witness: I concluded from respondent's ttaterr.ent that 1 was to go and see Mr. Motion. I concluded from that that I was to work for him. that 1 v.as in his employ. Mr. Mvers: Did not Sir Maui Pomare tell you Mr. Motion was a friend of his and had always assisted him by carrying people to the poll ?—Yes. I know that "Mr Motion is a man of standing Why, therefore, should he carry people to the poll ' In reply to a further question, witness said he spent a week looking for Mr. Perkins to get his assurance that all arrangements had been made for the election and trie conveyance of the people to tho poll. Counsel produced a letter which had been sent to witness by Pomare, and asked whether it was not made plain in that letter that respondent had already made his arrangements and that witness' services would not be required. Witness replied, "That is correct." Mr. Myers: I put it. to you that you were put up by somebody to write that letter ?No (emphatically). Witness having said that the letter was written by him in an effort to help Pomare, he was asked how he explained his present attitude, and as to how and when his letters came into the possession of thos« connected with the petition. "Witness re-

plied that all his evidence was true, but said that his evidence had been reduced to a statement on Saturday last. What business of yours whs it who paid for the motorcars awl how much? Witness could not give a reply winch answered the question. Mr. Justice Stringer: Why did you not tell the natives that you had nothing to do with (he provision of motor-cars and advise, them to go to Motion?— did tell them, but they were persistent. "They are Maoris," added witness. Mr. Myers: I suggest that the reason for a portion of your evidence is that nothing has been paid to you ?Since I wrote that letter I have never given the question of expenses a thought. Mr. Myers: I put it to you that the only letter you actually sent to Pomare was that of November 15?— I know of | sending another letter. Where did you address the second letter to?- Mr. [.awry knew where to address ! it. The first letter got there, so surely J the second got there. I That is the only one that Sir M.' Pomare ever received. " Services Not Required.'' • Counsel : You have said you understood Pomare's letter of December 1 to mean that you need not trouble yourself any ; further?— Yes. ! Up to the date of polling you had sent I Pornare only one letter?— And you "still tell the Court that after I receiving the first letter, saying you need | not trouble any further, in effect, Pomare | again wrote to you and told you he had ! sent £28 for Perkins?—Yes, I replied to ! that Mr. Justice Stringer: Did you expect I to lie paid for these services? —Probably I compassion would bo shown to mc. Hinga Paru, a native woman from I Pukekohe. said she joined a number of i Maoris on election day at the rear of ' Perkins' store Bread, butter, tea and 1 biscuits were provided, and about 40 per I sons shared the food. Mr. Justice Hoskitig : Did they all have ! enough' was satisfied. I can only j speak for myself. Continuing, witness said the food "was . given on a vacant section outside the 1 store, and hot water was obtained from , the baker's shop. I Mr. O'Leary: Did you bring any chil- , dren with you when you came to vote?— i Thev brought themselves in. They came | on their feet. ! The witness admitted that she had i voted before she knew food was availI able. j .Mr. Justice Hosking: How did you ! know you could get food?— That was a i Maori gathering. I saw a Maori come : from the store with food. Many people ! then told me I could get food. Mr. Justice Hosking: Have the Maoris ' a custom whereby the. men eat before the j women?—l do not know anything about j that. All I was concerned in is that when i a spread of food is placed before me I j rush and help myself. Mr Justice Hosking: Tien it was a. ' case of first come, first served. i Witness added that no one specially in- • vited her, but she saw the food and helped ; herself. ; Mr Justice Hosking: You made your ', usual rush?— Yes, it was good.

" Came as Pleasant Surprise." I Te Whakawhiti Waaka said that after I voting he bad a meal at the back of Per- ; kins' store. There was bread, butter. I biscuits, tea and cheese. Witness did not | pay for the food. There were several I j eating when he got there; others had j partalceu and gone. Cross-examined: The food came to him las a pleasant surprise. He saw the food | there, so he went. He was feel,tig- ! hungry. At times he dealt with Perkins. ; He did not have any cheese, because when ' he got there others had eaten it. Mr. Justice Hoskin : Did you notice any rind'' Witness said there might have been rind placed before others, but none was placed before him. Mr. Myers: Perhaps the cheese had run away before you got there? Witness: I think so—perhaps so. County Rate 3in Arrears. Valentine Henry Hobday, clerk to the , Waimale West County Council, said that in October, 1922. some 30 or 40 native owners of land were ov - £1200 in ar rears of their rates. This represented three years' rates. Witness' chairman re- | ceived a letter from Pomare, in which the latter said he would like to discuss ! the matter. Sir Maui Pomare came to 1 Manaia on November 5, and on the following day witness saw him. Sir Maui 1 wanted to" get a reduction of the rates. ' ' He asked if thev could not write off two ! years' arrears if they paid the balance. ' i The chairman offered to recommend the. ; J council to write off one year's arrears ' j provided the balance was paid by February ' |ruary 28. At a meeting of the' council . held"on November 14 it was resolved that > ! if the rates were paid by February 28 one ! i year's rate? would be written off. The ' "Maoris did not want to pay, and said they would have a meeting and discuss the • matter. No part of the rates had been : ' I paid. 5 Thomas McPhilipps, chairman of th* 1 Waimate West County Council, gave cor- ' roborative evidence. He felt that the " collection of moneys from the natives was ; i difficult, and it was a compromise. For a " j number of years they had got no rates • ! irom Maoris. It was a business proposi- '. ! tion. He took it from Sir Maui Pornare that he was looking at it from a business e point of view. There was a great stir among the Maoris when they got a copy of the lien notice. They were frightened 1 of the land beintr sold. 1 ' Mua Can - , of Okaiawa, said he saw the, „ ' notice as to the lien on the land. The , I Maoris were much concerned. He at' a } tended a meeting at Waiokura at which I j Sir Maui Pomare was present. Pomare , ! spoke at the meeting, and in regard to . J the rates. It was a meeting where he was , , furthering his candidature. lj Mr. Justice Hosking: He was preach- - , ing his gospel? The Interpreter: The gospel of elec- ' tioneering. I The Hiring of Cars. Herbert Wild, car proprietor of PukeI kohe, said that two cars were, hired by j Mr. Perkins personally. Their instruc- ' tions were that they were to use one car " for Pukekohe and one car for Waiuku, i and to go out into the highways and by- , j ways to bring in the Maoris.' They I leceived £14 in payment, Mr. Perkins j j paying in' cash. No receipt was given, as"i*. was not customary to give receipts I | in Pukekohe. unless asked for. ' To Mr Myers: They picked up any 1 j Maori on the road who wished to vote. I Frank Perkins, storekeeper, of Pukei ! kohe, said he hired Wild's cars and four 'I or five other cars. Three cars were hired ', bv the day. The others were used for 5 I casual trips'. Witness paid for the use of these cars. Mr. Skerrett: On whose instructions i j did you order these cars?My own 9 Do you say no one communicated with r you in respect of getting the Maoris to 1 the polling booth?— No. t Who paid for the cars?—l did. Did anyone recompense you?— Yes, 1 j received a cheque for £25 from Mr. Lisle, of Wellington, who, I understand, is the secretary and organiser of the Res form Party. All Supporters of Pomare. 8 Witness agreed that be bad incurred e these expenses on behalf of the Reform 8 ! organisation in Pukekohe, of which he P j was chairman. Witness said he had ascerI tained that all tho natives around Puke- ,. ' kohe were Pomare supporters, and that I decided him in ordering the cars. He s i did not remember Renata Arateta asking -. ! him about the provision of motor-cars for •- ' the Maoris, and denied that Renata spoke ;. Ito him about food for the people. On e ! the day of the election some women and I children came to his store, and said they d i were hungry. He told one of his assistd j ants to give them some bread and butter, n These people were also given some tea y ■ and a bucket, and told to go to the s" ! baker's shop for boiling water. He did is ! not see more than 20 persons on the section outside, and most of these were u young women and children. He did not it "remember his assistant saying the goods supplied to tho natives came to £2 10s. is The food he sent out to the natives would 3- not amount to half that, is To Mr. Myers: Ho bad never discussed in election matters with Sir Maui, » At this stage the hearing was adjourned s- until' 9.30 a.m. to-day.