NATIVE LANDS COURT, CAMBRIDGE. Tuesday.—(Before His Honor Judge Symonds and the Native Assessor.)

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1356, 10 March 1881, Page 2

NATIVE LANDS COURT, CAMBRIDGE. Tuesday. — (Before His Honor Judge Symonds and the Native Assessor.)

On the application of Mr Sheehan, "Formal orders were! granted by th.c Court in favour of the Crown .for the blbclo adjuditjated upon the previous day. Hopia Tamamutu applied to ,haye,the hearing uf the Wljakaraaru . block adjourned for hearing at the sitting of the Court to be held at Taupo. He said the natives he represented were most anxious to get away back to Taupo, so as to prepare for the sitting of, the Court fixed to take place there. He also adduced, as a further plea for adjournment, that the land had not been surveyed. The application was, $trongly opposed by Mr Sheehan, who stated that he represented at least three-fourths of the real owners, and the adjournment would be a great inconvenience to his clients. The application was allowed to stand over. „ , i , On the Whaiti Kuramiri block being mentioned, Mr Sheehan applied for an adjournmenti untjl to-morrow, so as to enable the , various agents employed to meet together ' and arrange 'prelfminaries. - - ' "- s .- ,"> * / In reply to the Court, Messrs Mackay, Pucky and Grace,, said they were instructed to appear in connection Witji thia block. Major Mair, said that he also appeared as agent for the Government,' and, as such, he was instructed to apply that certain reserves should be made on behalf of the native owners. It -was ah onfe time thought that about half the area 'should be reserved for that purpose, Ibut upon more recent calculations being made, it was found that one'-tfourth or the area would be sufficient 1 He had been told it was the intention of the natives to apply on their own behalf that ample reserves be made. If that was done, well and good ; if not, he would have to ask the Coutt to set aside at least op§ quarter of the area, for each hapu, and make the Land unalienable, except io 'GoVernment. He had also 'been instructed to ask for a reserve; of 2000 1 acre* on the banks of the Waimakariri , rjver£ likewise made unalienable except to .Government. | i•' i Mr Sheehan characterised the application as a most extraordinary (fafe, and one the Government had no right; td make The question bf reserves SUoal^ be left entirely to the Court, and Government had no right whatever to interfere. Major Mair replied, that this was the largest area that iiad eve,r conic before the Court in one block, and Government considered it was their'duty to have the native owners protected by causing the reserves asked for 1 to be made. The application was not at all an extraordin* ary one. ' ' ' / MrSheehan : THe Act distinctly saya that it is the duty of the Court to ascertain for itself wiie'tiie'r 6r net the ownera have sufficient reserves., ,The Crown has no locus standi anymore' than the Europeans concernedf - r! , Adjournment granted.' \