CORRESPONDENCE

Southland Times, Issue 19492, 5 March 1925, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

Letters must be written In ink and on one ■lde of the paper. Unless a signature, not necessarily for publication, accompanies a letter as a guarantee of good faith it will not be considered. An asterisk attached to the signature to a published letter denotes that some portion has been deleted by the Editor, a right which is exercised in questions of public policy, libel, good taste and fair play.

NGAITAHU CLAIM.

To the Editor. Sir, —Tn Tuesday’s issue of the Timos is a statement by Mr A. Wixon who claims the title of secretary of the Ngaitahu Claims Committee. I may say that the title claimed is foreign to me. However, Sir, I claim the remarks made refer to a statement' made by me to your reporter and appearing in your issue of Thursday, February 26. The statements made by me are absolutely correct in every detail and if Mr Wixon will read the report again he will find that it is simply ignorance of facts which leads him to endeavour to belittle my remarks, which I am prepared to substantiate in a practical way, if he cares to take up my challenge. Referring to the concluding paragraph of my report, I may state that the chief mentioned, and the other chiefs whose names are recorded in Volume 2, Folio 126, South Island Native Affairs, are noted chiefs of high rank according to Maori custom as the records show, making allowances for the omission of others whom they objected to have recorded as being of no consequence. Mr Wixon says that my statements were liable to give the impression that all who signed Kemp’s deed were entitled to have their claims admitted. According to the Judge’s ruling it must be assumed that the position is as stated until very strong evidence is forthcoming to the contrary. The Court took into consideration the fact that these chiefs being alive, living on the land and signing the famous deed in the year 1848 was sufficient proof that their ancestral rights and rights of occupation were amply proved. Hence the admittance by the Court of their successors into this historical claim without question. If Mr Wixon has any doubts as to the correstness of my assertions I simply refer him to the volume previously mentioned for confirmation of the statements made herein. —I am, etc., GEORGE SKERRETT. Awarua Plains.