MR MACKAY AND LAND PURCHASES.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1894, 14 November 1874, Page 3

MR MACKAY AND LAND PURCHASES.

To the Editor of the Thames Advertiser. Sir,—Having seen in your paper a report of a meeting of natives held at Shortland on Monday last, which purports to have been furnished to you by a person delegated by the meeting, I beg you to be so kind as to publish tho following remarks for the information of your native friends and other readers. As regards the right of the Government to make a proclamation preventing the natives from selling their lauds to private persons, and the statement that doing so is an act of injustice, I would inform them that by the treaty of YVaitangi tho Crown acquired a pre-emptive right to purchase all lands which the natives were willing to sell. Tho ouly condition to be performed by the Urowu was, to protect the natives in possession of their property. The Government have adhered strictly to that treaty, and all persons who have acknowledged the Queen's sovereignty and been peaceful subjects have received tho same protection from tho law as the European settlers. The Government do not say you shall sell the land to us, but they say, if you wish to dispose of your lands we will - purchase from you at such price as may bo agreed ou between you and our agents. If the price offered d6es not meet the views of tho seller he is not obliged to take it. Private persons miy occasionally give a higher price per acre for a amall au<l valuable piece of land than, tho Government, but tho [mvuto piMtt d.Q(ft 8$ tlw>, uplift

and bad pieces, which the Government acquire as well as the good; and I find from the books of the Trust Commissioner at Auckland that the average price given by private persons, as shown by the deeds passed through his office, does not excead the average rate given by the ■ Government. The Government have, as before stated, a : perfect right to exercise tho i power of pre-emption conferred on them by the Treaty of Waitangi, and to carry out the protection of the European and native race, which they guaranteed to do . in that treaty. I would point out, as a i result of private persons acquiring lands, | the case of the Maungat-autari, Pukekura, and Puahue Blocks, at Waikato, > whero a man named Sullivan was mur- > dered. Had the dealing with those lands 1 been left in the hands of tho Government , blood would not have been shed. In the * same way, where there are difficult ques--1 tions like those connected with the Onine--3 muri and Aroha blocks, it i* better for the i Government, who are answerable for the B peace of the country, to negotiate for these lands than for private persons who e are not responsible lor it. In addition to this, there is not a block e of land within the boundaries described in If the proclamation which has not formed ,t, the subject, of dealings with the Crown or s its agents. I recollect an old document, e signed by Taraia and many other chiefs

ol Huuraki, which acknowledged the receipt of one hundred pounds as a deposit on all the lands at Wailiou and Pialco. This has never been brought forward by the Government, nor has that claim been pressed by them. Major Drumraond Hay paid large amounts as deposits on lands at Piako, Waitoa, and Waibou, Subsequently Mr Puckey has made further payments: and L have made payments in money or goods to natives interested in the various blocks within the external boundaries described in the proclamation. This brings me to the question of raihuna (meaning orders for goods, taken from the word license; or from orders for rations, raihana, during the war). I have never asked any native to take orders for goods in payment for his land in lieu of cash. I have, although a Land Purchase Agent, very seldom asked a native to sell land to me, The difficulty I have to contend with is of a very different class. It is, to withstand the innumerable applications made to me for money and goods, and to fiud out which of the persons asking for payment or preliminary deposit is entitled to the land, The result of giving orders for goods is not at all satisfactory to me as seen from a pecuniary point of view. I have to pay the storekeeper whether I get the land or not; and I frequently lose money by mistakes in accounts, and by natives repudiating the receipt of articles which they have applied tor on behalf of their friends and relatives. I gain no advantage by giving 5 orders for goods, as I claim neither profit t on them or interest ou the money, which \ I frequently pay to storekeepers long j before it can be charged directly against s the land, and be refunded by the Govern- ( ment. I have heretofore given these 1 orders to oblige the natives, and to ( enable me to obtain lands which they { would not sell for mouey down. R must I not, however, be assumed that I have . paid for land with goods only. Many i blocks have been purchased for cash, and i nothing else; in all other cases the pay- : ment has been in money and goods. : JSow as regards the goods given, the : articles for which the natives have been charged are blankets, coats, trousers, waistcoats, shawls, pieces of print, flan- i nel, calico, boots, hats, and other articles ; of clothing; all of which could be ap- i proved of by the Trust Commissioner, i All he would require would be to know I the amounts paid for goods. This does ; hot trouble or afflict me, as my books : show the exact amounts I paid to the i I storekeepers, and no more. No profit or interest has been charged on the transac- i

tion, and not one penny of commission or discount has been received by me, directly or indirectly, from any person supplying stores on ray orders. West conies the question of things eatable and drinkable. I have charged for tons of flour, sugar, rice, biscuit, and potatoes (for food and seed) supplied to meetings or food in bad seasons. Now as -to waipiro: the only fermented or spirituous liquors ever supplied through my agency and charged for were at two celebrated uhungas which took place in 1872. I have given many a native a glass of beer, wine, or spirits, or even a bottle, at his earnest solicitation, or through friendship, but I never put these down in his account against his land, but paid for them out of toy own pocket, and have witnessed the same thing done by Europeans of all classes; from the highest to the lowest. I fear nothing from the Trust Commissioners in that respect. I would remind the members of the Ngatimaru tribe who held the meeting, that irrespective of the amounts charged against their lands and which have been accounted I'or by them and repaid to me by the Government, that they owe to me personally large sums for other advances, and 1 call on them to attend at my office atShortland on the Ist December next and arrange the accounts either by specially carrying out the arrangements they have entered intD with me for the sale of land to the Crown, or by paying me in cash for the money and goods advanced to them, bailing this, I shall try the effect' of a writ in the Supreme Court, or a summons in the District bi .Resident Magistrate's Court. I have foi a long time sat down patiently and taken little notice of the statements which have from time to time been made by natives and others about raihana, but will now take the necessary steps to assert my position and vindicate my character. Ngatimaru can now take the alternative of arranging the question honourably and houestly, or if they profer fighting me they can do it. lam prepared to enter the lists with them, and defend my rights "manu forti," and my motto (Wkkatauki) is "God defend the right 1" I will close this long letter by referring to a statement made that I am making a wrongful survey of the lauds of Ngatimaru, on the west bank of the Piako. This I deny in the most absolute manner. At Wbakatiwa, I entered into an agreement with the tribe Ngatipaoa to purchase tho whole of their lands (exclusive of uecessary reserves) in the Piako district adjacent to the rivers Piako, Waitoa, Waitalcaruru, and Waihou. Jt was pointed out that Ngatimaru had two pieces within the external boundaries described in the agreement, namely, a piece at < )rua, and a pieee at the mouth of the Piako extending from Te Awa-keri-a-paka to Tuherarahi. On returning from Whakatiwai I informed Wirope Hoterene Taipari that the Governmont was sending a surveyor to traverse the rivers Piako and VVaitoa; that Iliad given him directions k>. note'all boundaries pointed out by natives, and put; in pegs to mark' tHenx, bn,t iiot 19 cut. tlw division, ljn.es,

- . . linn uiinnr^itfl on the ground. As soon as the'rivers and other prominent features of the ' country had been fixed, tho surveyor would make a map showing these and the boundaries pointed out. I would then call a meeting of all the persons interested, go on the ground with the map, and arrange any disputes which arose about boundaries. I also asked W. H. Taipari particularly to accompany me to fix the boundaries of the Orua block-in which I know he was interested. " He , assenled. At the time of the death of • Haora 'i ipa I went On my return I again saw 'W. tt. Taipari, and he said lie had seen " Tipane, the Ngali-" maru man living on the land, and he was sntisfied about the boundaries of the Oroa , block." I also saw Te Moterere Taipari, and told him about the survey. ■'■Hare Pikikuri, a Ngatimaru native interested , in the land near the mouth of tho-river,. Piako, also came to me about it, and Ttold him of the contemplated survey. Te Moananui, chief of Ngatitamatera, also •' heard of the sale by jN and the contemplated survey of Piako, and wrote me a letter about ' a piece lie owns near "Te Aw a keri'a paka." I gave' him information similar to that preI viously furnished by me to . Wirope | Hoterene Taipari, and sai.l I would ask Ngatipaoa about it. He said he claimed through his ancestor Te Hihi. I asked the JN'patipaoa if his claim was good ? Thoy said, " Yes, if lie comes as Ngateliihi."

I am therefore at a loss to understand f.lic meaning of the statement made by your informant that " I am surveying or causing to be surveyed, surreptitiously, the lands of Ngatimaru, on the western side of Piako." If W. H. Taipari was at the meeting in question it was hisduty, as a paid ollicer of the Government, to have explaine i about the survey, instead of allowing a false statement to be made and published in the newspapers. I have a very good fdea of the quatfer from which opposition'to me arisesand I would remind them of the Hauraki proverb— 1 " Mam kohao rau" (Maru of the hundred holes or subterfuges), and ask them to beware of digging pits for others lest they fall into thenj themselves. They had better face their difficulties manfully, in daylight, as the other tribes are doing, then strike treacherous blows behind my back, which will recoil on tho authors and their counsellors. I have written this long letter in a manner in which it can be easily interpreted to the natives, and if time permitted mo would have sent it in Maori.-?-I am, &c., James Maciuy, jun., . Land Purchase Agent for Few .Zealand Government.