KEMP'S PURCHASE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1170, 2 May 1874, Page 21

KEMP'S PURCHASE.

In the Legislative Council last session, the Hon. Captain Fraser, in a speech containing perhaps, more sentiment than fact, drew an affecting portrait of the illtreated Ngaitahu ; told the Council that the Hon. Mr Mantell, failing to obtain redress for them in this Colony, carried the complaint of the Maoris to the Colonial Office in England, and failing there, threw up a valuable appointment, so that he would no longer serve under a faithless Government ; gave a dissertation on Maori morality, and the wish of the Ngaitahu to preserve their children from contamination by coming into contact with those of European origin ; and concluded by recommending that a block of 50,000 acres in the Forks of the Hawea and Wanaka should be given them for our "unfullJled promises." He was seconded ably by Mr Mantell. It is not at all improbable that in another year or two, " tenths " will also be claimed in this purchase. Taiaroa the elder, in his instructions, states :—": — " Mr Kemp said to us that we should give up all the land, and he would take charge of it ; this £2000 was an advance on the land. Mr Kemp said, after that Government would make payment and return some land to us. We said, ' What about our settlements, cultivations, sacred places, fishing grounds, and so forth V Mr Kemp's answer was, ' The Government will agree to all these requests : your cultivations will not be taken from you.' Mr Kemp also said to us, 'If you do not give up your land, soldiers will be sent to take possession of it ;' and on that we gave our final consent to the sale." Prior to the despatch of Mr Kemp to purchase this land, the actual terms of the purchase had been arranged by Sir George Grey with the chiefs of the Ngaitahu. In a despatch to Earl Grey, the Governor says : — "I found upon conversing with the chiefs of the Middle Island, that they all acquiesced in the propriety of an immediate settlement of their claims to land upon the fol- , lowing basis : that the requisite reserves for their present and reasonable future wants should be set apart for themselves and their descendants, and should be registered as reserves for such purposes. The purchase-money to be £2000." " This arrangement took place several months previous to Mr Kemp's negotiation. In the deed of ceaaion, the following passage occurs in reference to the reserves spoken of by the Governor : " Our places of residence and our cultivations are to be reserved for us and our children after us ; and it shall be for the Governor hereafter to set apart some portion for us when the land is surveyed ; but the greater part is given up to the Europeans for ever." Writing to W. Gisborne, Esq., from Wellington, June 20, 1848, Mr H. T. Kemp remarks :—": — " In obedience to the Lieutenant-Governor's instructions, their pahs and cultivations have been guaranteed to them as expressed in the deed of sale. They are, generally speaking, of small extent. Beyond these I have not felt myself authorised in making any guarantee, and with the consent of the people, have thought it better to leave the subject to be considered and decided on between the Governor and the Company." "The Natives clearly admit to have sold the whole of Banks Peninsula, to the French Company. " About September, 1848, Mr Mantell appears on the scene to complete the arrangements left unaccomplished by Mr Kemp, which he succeeded in doing by the end of January following. On the sth of September he clears the ground before the enquiry. Speaking of some Natives at Akaroa, who washed to repudiate the sale and resist the surveys, he says :—"I: — "I feel that a survey by force, even against one man, or concession to intimidation, -would bo inconsistent with my duty to Her Majesty's Government." Proceeding to Kaiapoi to mark out the reswves^ he writes :—": — " I have with their almost universal approbation, reserved for their use a block containing about 500 aores of buah and 2140 acres of open land, old Kumara gardens, and swamps enclosing all their cultivations." " I have further guaranteed that tho site of tho ancient pah, Kaiapoi, shall be reserved to Her Majesty's Government, to be held saored from both Europeans and Natives." "I also reserved an ancient pah, 5 acres in extent, on the north bank of the Wairaakariri."

"I have in each of these cases left plans with the resident Natives, all the Natives present agreeing to tho limits as I described them/ At Te Tamatu, where he was met by Taiaroa and Maopa, be laid out reserves containing 80 acres ; at Arowhenua, 376 acres ; at Te Umukalsa, 187 aores ;at Waitemate, 17 acres ; at Timaru, 20 acres ; and on the north bank of the Waitaki, 889 aores, Before crowing; the Canterbury boun*

dary, we will note how he was guided by the principle he laid down of giving 10 acres to each soul. Ho reserved 3714 acres of land for the use of 372 Natives. His custom was to take the census before making the surveys. At Kakanui, he gave to 12 souls, 75 acres ; at Moeraki, 500 acres to 87 Natives ; at Waikouaiti, 1800 acres to 121 souls ; and at Puraukanui, to 45 Natives, 270 acres. The average acreage per soul in this allotment will be found to be the same as across the Waitaki. The only difficulty he experienced was at Waikouaiti, where a dispute arose as to the boundaries of the reserve. The block of 1800 acres then marked off was afterwards increased to 2394 acres— the difference having been referred to His Excellency for decision. Mr Mantell had however, promised some Natives who lived 30 miles inland up the Waitaki, " that a reserve should be hereafter made them," which promise was subsequently carried into effect by 138 acres being surveyed for that purpose. Thus, when these two claims were settled, the Native title over the whole of the purchase, excepting Banks Peninsula, was supposed to be extinguished. Including these two reserves, the Natives retained 7090 acres.

Col. Godfrey had awarded 30,000 acres of land on Banks Peninsula to the Nanto Bordelaise Company, which the Govern ment willed should be taken in the neighborhood of Akaroa. The N gaitahu claimed that they had £5000 still to receive from the Company, but as the occupat on by the French was subsequent to Sir George Gibbs's proclamation of sovereignty, early in 1840, over New Zealand, the claim of the Company was declared null ; and Ports Cooper and Levy, being needed for the Canterbury Settlement, were sold, with the adjoining lands, to the New Zealand Company for £500 in 1849 : the Natives reserving for their own use 859 acres at Port Cooper, and 13G1 acres at Port Levy. The New Zealand Company having purchased the claims of the Nanto Bordelaise, and the title of the aboriginal owners not having been declared to be extinct, they sold for £150— but were paid jE2OO— ' { the remainder of their lands in Banks Peninsula," making further reaerves of 1298 acres. Then the question of "unfulfilled promises" cropped up from the ambiguous wording of the deed of purchase, and " for the tinal extinction of their claims" in the Province of Canterbury they -were awarded in 1868, by the Native Lands Court and the Provincial Government, 2844 acres— or, in another form, the Natives in the Province of Canterbury possess 10,076 acres of land to a population of about 400 souls, or at the rate of 25 acres per inhabitant. In Otaso the reserves given by Mr Mantell amounted to 3377 acres in Kemp's purchase, which was supplemented by the Native Lands Court in 1868 granting further reserves amounting to 2094 acres. Including the small remnant of the Ngatimamoe that still survive, with the tribe of which Taiaioa appears to be the recognised head, we find, excluding the few members that live north of the Hurunui among the Ngatiawa, that tho Ngaitahu tribe -the total population of which most probably does not exceed 1400 souls —in Westland, Canterbury, Otago, Stewart's Island, and Ruapuke, own 42,250 acres of land, averaging about 30 acres per man, woman, and child ; and that they have received in payment for the lands they have sold at different timesexcluding the Princes street Reserve— the sum of £17,100.

The bald outline of facts we have presented to our readers on this subject will enable them to form their own conclusions as to the justness of the claim H. K. Taiaroa yearly brings before the House of Representatives, and the Hon. Wi Tako N»atata before the Legislative Council. Very few, even of our leading politicians, have an intimate knowledge of the details we have been at some considerable trouble to collect ; while members, who, during the session have to sit at three or four Committees during the morning, have neither leisure nor inclination to wade through the mass of printed evidence, that would alone enable them to form a correct opinion as to the justice or injustice of the claims for compensation,

Historical I—Vide "Jurors' Reports and Awards, New Zealand Exhibition." Jurors : J. A. Ewen, J. Butterwortb, T. C. Skinner. "So 'far as tho Colony is concerned, the dyeing of materials is almost entireh confined to the re-dyeing of Articles of Dress and Upholstery, a most useful art, for there are many kinds of material that lose their colour before the texture is half worn. Or. HntHCK, of Dunedin (Dunedjn Dye W™'«. George street, opposite Royal George i| ote /)> exhibits a case of specimens of dyei Wools, Silks, and Feathers, and dyed Sheepskins, The colours on the whole are very fair, and relleot considerable credit on the Exhibitor, to whom t??9 Jurors recommended an Honorary Certificate should be awarded." li<no r»ry Certificate, ,639: Omt^v Hirsoh, Duncdm, for Spooia^R ot Pyca»g W bilfa, Feathers, &c