E—-No. 2

60

FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO

following terms :—" I have tried this system at the suggestion of the Bishop at Taranaki. It gave me " considerable insight into the state of Native Tenure, but in endeavouring to carry it out I found it " took about 30 days to define the boundaries of the claims of 40 individuals over an ex"tent of 30 acres, and even then they regarded the arrangement as altogether imaginary, and it did "not appear to affect in the estimation of the Natives the general or tribal right. When I con- " sidered the title settled of some individuals on this basis, [ found the Natives quarrelled among , them- " selves about the boundaries, and prevented any definite arrangement being carried out until I after- " wards purchased the whole of the tribal claim in order to secure a clear title." This attempt was made with the Ngatipoutakataniwha, Ngatiurukinaki, and other subdivisions or families of the Ngamotu, which was itself a large hapu of the Ngatiawa. It was not found possible to separate the individual ownership from the tribal claim of each subdivision. But this tribal claim was not a general tribal claim of the whole Ngatiawa tribe, for the Ngamotu hapu would have resisted any interference with their land on the part of the other numerous hapus of the Ngatiawa residing in the country adjacent to them : and when the " clear title" was acquired, as stated by Mr. McLean, on "the purchase of the whole tribal claim," it was not the general tribal claim of the Ngatiawa which was purchased, but simply the tribal claim (in contradistinction to individual right) existing in these separate subdivisions of the Ngamotu hapus. The best evidence of the absence of any general tribal right was, that the payment was made to those subdivisions without any reference whatever to the tribe at large.

Note 50. " That declaration does not appear to have been conveyed." (P«g e 13.) It was publicly read to William King and a large assembly of Natives and Europeans on the 29th November, 1859. It is misleading to urge that it "could have no legal effect." No one ever pretended that it had. But what is absolutely certain is, that William King and all the Natives present knew perfectly well that its effect was to save their proprietary rights if any, while the Government absolutely repudiated their claim as land-leaguers to prevent the rightful owners from ceding their own proprietary rights to the Queen.

Note 51. " Yet neither Mr. McLean nor Mr. Parris instituted any investigation at Waikanae." " Whatever enquiry there might be elseiohere, there was none at Waikanae." {Page 13.) It cannot but be a matter of satisfaction to the Government that the accusations of not instituting a proper investigation, after all resolve themselves into the charge that no investigation was made at Waikanae. The reason for this is very obvious. Waikanae, of all places which at any time were in the occupation of any sections of the Ngatiawa, was the one place where no investigation was necessary. The Chief Commissioner made personal investigations among the Ngatiawa of Queen Charlotte Sound, because Ropoama Te One and the principal chiefs of the hapus concerned in the sale who had emigrated to the Sound, still resided there. Fie made personal investigations among the Ngatiawa of Port Nicholson, because Te Puni and other principal chiefs of Ngatiawa families still resided there. But he waa not called upon to make an investigation at Waikanae, because the principal men of that section of the Ngatiawa which formerly lived at Waikanae had returned to Taranaki, and the investigation into the title of the Waikanae claimants would properly take place, not at Waikanae where they did not live, but at Waitara where they did. The Waikanae Natives admit this completely when they say, " Still we felt no apprehension of losing our lands, because we were continually hearing of the strong declaration of Wiremu Kingi that he would keep our lands for us. For he is our Chief, a protecting shade for our lands there." Those Natives who were content to leave their interests in the hands of Wiremu Kingi cannot complain of the consequences of his refusal, either on their behalf or his own, to put in any claim except the claim to prohibit others, who were managing their own business on the spot, from selling their land. What the Government did, then, was to treat with the families at Queen Charlotte Sound and Wellington by going to the places where they still lived :to treat with the Chiefs who had formerly inhabited Waikanae but had returned, at Waitara where they were now settled. It may be looked upon as quite certain that if the Governor had held a formal investigation at Waikanae and come to the conclusion that there were no valid claims there, exactly the same outcry would have been made against him; and he would have been charged witli pretending to investigate the rights of the Waikanae section of the tribe in the absence of the chief men of that section. But in truth the accusation is without foundation. No one who has the slightest acquaintance with Maori customs can doubt thit the offer of Teira's land was known to every individual native of the Waikanae section as perfectly as it was to William King himself. Yet not one of them ever preferred a claim or an objection.

Note 52. " Last comes the letter of Wi Tako." " The Native ivord" {Page 14.) In a translation of Wi Tako's letter by Piri Kawau (who in 1854 accompanied Sir George Grey to England), who is a near relation of William King, aad though in the service of the Government