NATIVE RESERVES, NELSON AND GREYMOUTH. (REPORTS FROM MR. A. MACKAY, WITH STATEMENTS OF RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURE.)

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1875 Session I, G-05d

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1875. NEW ZEALAND.

NATIVE RESERVES, NELSON AND GREYMOUTH. (REPORTS FROM MR. A. MACKAY, WITH STATEMENTS OF RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURE.)

Presented to loth Souses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Mr. A. Mackat to the Under-Secretary, Native Department, Wellington. Sie, — Native Reserves Office, Nelson, 26th July, 1875. I have the honor to forward herewith the annual returns of the receipts and expenditure of the Nelson and Greymouth Native Reserve Funds, for the financial year ended 30th June, 1875 ; also detailed return for the purposes of audit. The total sum received on account of the Nelson fund during th6 past year, added to the balance on hand on the Ist July, 1874, amounts to £2,620 17s. Id.; and the expenditure for the same period was £2,446 os. 4d., leaving a balance of £174 16s. 9d. to the credit of the fund. Of the sum expended, £1,610 16s. Id. has been spent for the behalf of the Natives, £335 4s. 3d. for various purposes in connection with the administration of the estate, and £500 for salaries. Out of the sum expended on account of the Natives, a school has been built at Wakapuaka for the Native children at a cost of £163, and a master employed at a salary of £100 per annum; a further sum of £16 4s. 3d. was expended for furniture and other requisites for the master's house, and £3 6s. 6d. has been spent on providing the school with books and slates. The school was opened on the 2nd September, with 14 children. Since then two have left for the Motueka school, one has returned home, and one is absent at present through illness. This has reduced the number in regular attendance to 10, and the maximum number at any time will probably not exceed 15. No aid has been received from the Government; it is submitted, however, that as the conditions of clause 14 of " The Native Schools Act, 1867," have been complied with, a proportion of the master's salary should be defrayed out of the vote for Native schools. The Wairau Native school has cost the fund during the past year £236 15s. 9d. for additions and improvements. The formation of the road through the Native land at Wakapuaka, sanctioned in October 1872, has been completed during the current year, at a total cost to the fund of £477 19s. Id. The formation of a special settlement at the Karamea will probably lead to the occupation of the reserves in that locality ; at present, however, there is no demand for the reserves situated on the west coast of the Nelson Province, owing to the absence of population in the districts in which these lands are situated. The income collected on account of the Greymouth fund during the period comprised in this report amounts to £3,294 15s. 5d.; this added to £3,410 9s. sd. balance to the credit of the fund from last year, and £235 realized from land sold at Totara Flat, amounts to £6,940 4s. lOd. Of the sum of £1,200 advanced to the County Government of Westland in 1870 to cover the cost of surveying the Native reserves on the West Coast, £1,138 16s. has now been recovered from the sale of the 2,000-acre block, formerly set apart to be sold for the purpose of defraying the cost of these surveys. This leaves a balance of £61 4s. yet to be met, and 1,395 acres of the land unsold. The whole of this will yet be needed for sale, to cover the cost incurred for subdividing the reserves into allotments for occupation, the total expense of which amounts to £1,254 Is. 6d. The expenditure during the past year amounts to £4,277 Bs. 10d., leaving a balance of £2,662 16s. to the credit of the fund. Out of the expenditure, £2,845 ss. Id. has been spent for the benefit of the Natives; £1,075 18s. 9d., inclusive of the sum of £707 paid to the Borough Council in aid of rates, for purposes in connection with the estate; and £356 ss. for salaries. During the year the school premises at Arahura have been enlarged at a cost of £82 10s., and a master has been appointed at a salary of £150 per annum, £75 of which is paid by the Government.

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Two additional breakwaters have been erected at Arahura for the protection of the property, at a cost of £115, and a further expenditure will yet be necessary for this purpose, as parts of the main road through the property between the upper and lower bridges are in very bad repair, mainly owing to the want of river-bank protection, as any repairs are rendered useless by each successive flood destroying the bank. The Superintendent of Westland has offered to make the necessary repairs to the road if the trust would bear the expense of constructing the necessary protective works. Upon inquiry it was found that the length of the river-bank protection requisite to be done between the two bridges is 25 chains, the cost of which would amount to £572. The protective works alluded to in my report of last July have not been carried out, and the changes which have taken place since make it necessary to substitute bank protection for wing dams. The construction of the bank protection of 15 chains, out of the 24 chains noted above, includes the reconstruction of the road at the same time, as the one cannot be done without the other. As it is highly important in the interests of the property that an outlay should be made for the conservation of the river bank, with a view to prevent, if possible, a large portion of the land on the south bank from being converted into a river-bed, I would beg to recommend, if the Provincial Government will consent to contribute £200 towards the work, that the other portion of the estimated cost might be borne by the Greymouth fund. The work to be done under the supervision of the District Engineer. The correspondence forwarded under cover of my letter of the 17th instant will have apprised you that a difficulty exists with regard to the selection of ten acres in the township of Arawata, recently laid off in connection with the special settlement formed by the Provincial Government at Jackson's Bay. The moot point which the Government are contesting is that the ten acres in question is described in the schedule to the deed of sale as situate at the River Arawata, consequently no right can exist to select land in a township three miles distant, although it is clearly proved by documentary evidence recorded subsequent to the date of the deed that the ten acres was to be selected in the township when laid off. The omission of the words at " site of town," in describing the situation of the land in the schedule to the deed, unfortunately leaves the question open to dispute, but there is not the least doubt as to the intention, and although the legal right may be barred by the omission, the moral right still exists. The chief reason why the Provincial Government is repelling this claim is that it is opposed to giving the Natives ten acres of town land now valued at £48 per acre if it can manage to compel them to take ten acres of suburban land at the River Arawata, notwithstanding that this would be an infringement of the original understanding that the land was to be town and not suburban. The Natives interested in the matter urge that if they are debarred from selecting the land in the township as originally intended, they purpose claiming £500 as compensation for a breach of faith with them. I have, &c, Alexander Mackat, The Under Secretary, Native Department, Wellington. Commissioner.

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STATEMENT of the Receipts and Expenditure of the Nelson Native Reserve Fund, from the 1st July, 1874, to the 30th June, 1875.

Date. Receipts. Amounts. Totals. 1874. July 1 ... To Balance to credit of Fund Rents collected and paid to Public Account, as under, — Nelson ... Motueka and Moutere Westport Pelorus ... Queen Charlotte Sound Takaka ... Aorere ... £ s. d. 715 5 0 875 15 11 152 10 0 62 0 0 12 10 0 12 11 0 3 10 0 £ s. d. 37 11 0 1,834 1 11 Interest on Mortgages ... Miners'Rights Fees ... ... ... Refund of Loans Repayment of amount on Mortgage 46 10 8 53 0 0 49 13 6 600 0 0 749 4 2 Total receipts ... ... \.. £2,620 17 1 Date. Expenditure. Amounts. Totals. 4 1874. By Amounts expended on behalf of the Natives, — Rations and clothing supplied to sick and indigent... Agricultural implements and harness Funeral expenses Buildings and materials for schools, &c. ... Passages of Natives ... Medical aid ... Loans Allowance for rent Fuel and potatoes £ s. d. £ s. d. 365 13 8 71 4 6 30 14 6 550 7 9 210 13 0 24 4 6 29 0 0 273 6 7 55 11 7 1,610 16 1 Printing and advertising Stationery Water rate Commission, collecting rents Clerical assistance Salaries Legal expenses Plans Sundries Road contracts Travelling expenses 15 14 0 11 16 6 2 14 0 56 19 6 17 9 4 100 0 0 3 6 8 16 7 6 41 14 9 48 0 0 21 2 0 335 4 3 Total expended out of Imprests ... 1,946 0 4 Supplementary charges paid direct from the Treasury,— Proportion of the Commissioner's salary charged against the Fund (12 months) ... "... Secretary's salary (12 months) Interpreter's salary (12 months) . Medical Officer, Nelson, salary (12 months) „ „ Motueka, salary (9 months) ... „ „ Wairau, salary (12 months) ... „ „ Takaka, salary (12 months) „ „ Queen Charlotte Sound, salary (3 months) 200 0 0 50 0 0 40 0 0 50 0 0 37 10 0 50 0 0 60 0 0 12 10 0 500 0 0 Total expenditure Balance to credit of Fund 2,446 0 4 174 16 9 £2,620 17 1

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ABSTRACT of the Receipts and Expenditure of the Greymouth Native Reserve Fund, from the 1st July, 1874, to the 30th June, 1875.

Date. Receipts. Amounts. Totals. 1874. July 1 ... £ s. d. 4,910 9 5 1,500 0 0 £ s. d. To Balance to credit of Fund Minus amount advanced in aid of Greymouth Protective Works ... 3,410 9 5 Rents collected and paid to Public Account, as under, — Greymouth Kaiata and Arnold Ahaura Teremakau Arahura Hokitika Okarito 3,049 6 5 26 5 0 3 18 9 2 6 5 123 1 4 86 17 6 3 0 0 3,294 15 5 235 0 0 Amount realized from sale of land at Totara Flat ... Total receipts... £6,940 4 10 Date. Expenditure. Amounts. Totals. 1874. By Amounts expended on behalf of the Natives, — Allowance for rent Loans Implements and harness Passages Buildings and materials Road rate, Arahura Miscellaneous expenses Protective works, Arahura £ s. d. £ b. d. 1,878 10 0 75 0 0 96 13 6 79 15 0 411 1 6 18 15 0 170 10 1 115 0 0 2,845 5 1 Borough rate Surveys and plans Clerical assistance Sundries Commission on collecting rents ... Printing and advertising 707 0 0 35 3 6 35 0 0 25 0 0 255 0 3 18 15 0 1,075 18 9 Total expended out of Imprests ... 3,921 3 10 Supplementary charges paid direct from the Treasury,— Proportion of the Commissioner's salary charged against the Fund (12 months) ... Interpreter's salary (18 months) Assistant Commissioner (6 months) ... Schoolmaster, Arahura, proportion of salary (9 months)... 200 0 0 75 0 0 25 0 0 56 5 0 356 5 0 Total expenditure Balance to credit of Fund 4,277 8 10 2,662 16 0 £6,940 4 10 By Authority: Geokge DlDSBr/BY, Government Printer, Wellington.—1S76. Price 3d.']