THE HOROWHENUA COMMISSION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1250, 13 February 1896, Page 38

THE HOROWHENUA COMMISSION.

APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS

Tlio Horowhenua Commission was signed by His Excellency the (Governor at Dunedin on , February 4, and will be gazetted shortly. The Commissioners selected are : Mr James Crosby Martin, Stipendiary Magistrate at Wellington ; Mr Hubert Smelt Bush, Stipendiary Magistrate tor the counties of Mauakau, Hobson, Rodney, Whaugarei and Waite mata; and Mr James Craig McKerrow, of Morrison’s Hun, Greytown, Wairarapa. The Commission is to make its report not later than the 30th of April next. SUBJECTS OF REFERENCE. The following are the matters that the Horowhenua Commission has been set up to enquire into and report upon : (1.) As to the existence and nature of any trust or equitable obligation or undertaking, express or implied, affecting the said block, or any part thereof, or the proceeds thereof, in the hands of Keepa to Rangihiwinui and VVarena to Hakeko (hereinafter called “ the nominal owners ”), or either of them ; (?..) What alienations prior to or subsequent to the division of the said block have been made by the nominal owners, or by either of them, and what moneys have come to their hands, or to the hands of either of them, by virtue

thereof or by virtue of any other dealing with the said block, or any portion thereof ; (3.) What moneys (if any) are legally or equitably due or owing by the nominal owners, or either of them, to the registered owners, or to any other persons who shall be found by the Court to be entitled, and in what proportions, in respect of any dealing or other matter as aforesaid; (4.) What moneys (if any) are legally or equitably due or owing by, or should be refunded by, the nominal owners, or either of them, to Her Majesty on account of any dealing or transaction with Her Majesty in relation to the said block, or any portion thereof;

(5.) What moneys (if any) are legally or equitably due or owing by either of the nominal owners to the other of them by reason of any dealing or other matter as aforesaid;

(6.) Who are the persons for whose benefit it was arranged between the said Keepa te Kaugibiwinui and the late Sir Donald McLean, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventj’-four, that one thousand two hundred acres of the said block now represented by division number nine should be set apart ; (7.) On the division by the Native Land Court as aforesaid, was division number fourteen of the said block in the first instance vested in the said Keepa te Kangihiwinui for the purpose of carrying out the said arrangement between himsqlf and the late Sir Donald McLean, and, if so, should the said Keepa te Kangihiwinui have returned it to the registered owners when, at the request of the persons claiming to be interested under the said arrangement, division number nine was set apart in lieu of division number fourteen ;

(S.) Whether at the time of any dealings with any portion of the said block by any person other than Her Majesty, or any officer or servant of the Government of the Colony acting on her behalf, the land so dealt with was Subject to any duly published and then subsisting notice under the provisions of the Government Native Land Purchases Act, 1877, or any other Act relating to the acquisition of land from Natives by the Crown; (9.) As to the bona Jicles , on the part of the purchaser, lessee, mortgagor, or mortgagee of any portion of the said block in respect whereof a trust or equitable obligation or undertaking as aforesaid shall be found to exist : And whether any person who has acquired any estate or interest in such land from the nominal owners, or either of them, acquired the same fraudulently, or with knowledge of any such trust or equitable obligation or undertaking ; (10.) And generally to make enquiry into any matter or thing arising' out of or connected with the several subjects of enquiry hereinbefore mentioned, or which, in your opinion, may be of assistance in fully ascertaining, explaining, or assisting at arriving at a fair and just conclusion in respect of the subjects of enquiry, or any of them, or any part thereof or in relation thereto, and also to determine —

(11.) On what lands the costs and expenses of this Commission should be charged, as directed by the Horowhenua Block Act, 1895.