THE MISSION PROPERTY AT MOTUROA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3032, 23 January 1879, Page 2

THE MISSION PROPERTY AT MOTUROA.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — Having 1 previously admitted into your columns a considerable correspondence on the subject of our Mission property, I would ask yon to now grant insertion to tb© accompanyingimportant documents, which will speak for themselves. It will bo seen thafc our previous statements are, with trifling 1 exceptions, fully .substantiated by Mr. Creed's letter and enclosure. The purchase said by Ry- r . Sfcannard to 'have b'^on mnde by tho Superintendent of Missions was in all probability the payment of the balance of purchase money of which tho agreement makes mention. It was doubtless this agreement that satislied the New Zealand Land Company, aud induced them to respect oar boundaries,- and that influenced Governor ITitzroy to exempt the property from fh's reconveyance of land to liio natives, :uid-alao determined., l\lr. Commissioner Spain's award. Nothing could be clearer than., that our statement pronounced* " an extraordinary one" by Mr. King 1 , was essenfcialiy true when we asserted that "the property belonged to the ' Mission iti virtue of engagements entered into with the natives before those Companies (the Plymouth and Now Sealand Companies) were in existence." Apologising- for troubling- you, and with kind remembrances to", the New Plymouth friends, — Yoars, &c.j, i " ' F. WHIT/MORE IsiTT. Auckland. January '20, 1879. ■ fcoFX" J 23, Arundel Terrace, Glebs, y.vduey, Dec. 28, 1878. My dear Ms. C'uddlb, — Youivfavpur citme duly to hand, but I have been suffering so much of late that I have not smswereii it at au earlier date. * * * * * * * * * Iv reference to the kind at Molucca, Mr. Isitt hiis also written' to me mid enclosed a newspaper correspoudo'ico or. tho subject. I have had iti m3 r po-s- s j<m i'^v matiy years, au original document, 1 now enclose to you. How it cume into niy hands Ido not remember. 1 would ijavy s-Jisfc ifc to you as - cljnirnian of tiiu district or,; to arty minister who wauteil int'orraation on' tho 'shhjecfc,- if I had been applied io, or had hiiown of auy dispute about theism. . I tnav. hero remark — 1. That when I'wvufc io Tar;tna!u in IS4I, the natives put mv. iv pf>.-si.\-*so:j oi the block of laud thou known as .Minion property, and oa which was ereeUM a Us!<:r.> wlmre i'or our reception. 2. I held possession oS the land during my term oi: office, tbrce years, at Taraunki, as a Wcaleyaa Missionary. '- 3. I do not reruem ;> .'jr v.ny dispute arising about our rightful cossessiou of the land: 4. The New Zo:»iaii'i ("'o»npany,s stall of surveyors arrived after tho Mission was iv active, operation. Sgs. The Ooinpaay did not, duriug my residence at Moturoa dlsnuto onr right, bufc respected the boundaries, as far as my knowledge Kxtenils". 6. What was done subsequently, by Mr. "\Vliitel\ r or others, to carry out tho idea expressed" ia the sentence " tniho fita etahi atu utu" my removal to WtiikowniLi prevented me knowing. 7. I had come to the conclusion that Mr. Commissioner Spain's decision was final, fully satisfying every reasonable and rkcht-inindcd man. Will 3-011 give Mr. Isilfc nocess to this letter and the Rcoonipinyincj document, as ie feoma unnecessur}' to st-nii him a duplicate of its contents. Yours ever affectionately; C. Creed. Rev. -Mr. Buddie. ? Cony of original document in the handwriliug of the late Uev. John "Whitoley, received from Rev. Char!*-.-; Creed, and translated by Rev. T. Bud Jk-, J ( ni:ri.ry.9Hi, IS7£). ''Memo, of Agreem'.-r.tfor trioS.vle of Moluroa. Mot u roa, Tsiranaki, New Zvalnud. Jan. 13,' 1810. Wo, the owners ot; this land, agree to give v up this same land to Edward [Edward

Meurant] for the Wesleyan Missionary Society of i^ng'and. and for their agents or heirs :tud assigns forevc-r. i.e. the land situated at {he foot of Taranaki townrds the (=ea, and to the north of Ngaiiiotu. The names of the s»ml piaces we ajzreo to give up are these : Otnka, Taiapatan, Waitapu, Taikoknko, Tnvinjramango, with the smaller places adjacent. Tho boundaries of these lands aiv,beginning atT.-iikokako, rnnnintf Fouth along the phore of the pea as far as Olaka, then inlaud from Otaka (S. by E.) toTaiapatauthen by aline from Taiapatau to Tavinganiango, returniug from thence (W*. by N.) to Taikokako. including in the boundaries all these places. The amount of payment now received for these lauds, and hereby acknowledged is as follows! ***** *, * The rest of the purchase money to be paid hereafter. Therefore to give up or let go t hese our lands and. all they contain to Edward for bho Missioutrier. of the Wesleyan Missionary Society aud their heirs and assiguees henceforth fcir ever. In witness whereof we sign our aames this thirteenth day of January of the ?ear,one thousand eight hundred and forty. (Signed) Edward x his mark Paarama x his mark Edward Aleuvaut •j- The value of merchandise paid on deposit is, iv an endosrsement by Mr. Whitele)', estimated at £2 2a.