5

E—No. 2

IN REPLY TO SIR W. MARTIN, D.C.L.

* exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate, "at such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective Proprietors and persons appointed by " Her Majesty to treat with them in that behalf." 15. Sir William Martin's rendering (p. 10) of the phrase tino rangatiratanga as full chiefship gives an apparent countenance to the doctrine that the Chiefs have some special territorial right, which is not justified by the context of the Treaty. The right expressed by this phrase tino rangatiratanga is reserved to the Chiefs, hapus, and to all the men of New Zealand. In such a connection rangatiratanga can mean no more than ownership, II. —THE WAITARA PURCHASE. 16. The account given by Sir William Martin of the Waikato conquest of Taranaki, does not clearly bring out the complete mastery over the territory which the Invaders had obtained. The following extract from the evidence of Mr. Commissioner McLean before the House of Representatives, better describes the true state of the case:— " The Waikato title to Taranaki was universally admitted by the Natives at the time of the " conquest; many acts of ownership over the soithad been exercised by them. The land was divided " among the conquering Chiefs, the usual custom of putting up flags and posts to mark the " boundaries of the portions claimed by each Chief had been gone through. Any occupation of the " land by the Ngatiawa at that period was entirely out of the question, but those Natives who were " released from slavery from time to time were permitted by Waikato to occupy: but those who had " fled to the South were not allowed to return, and they were distinctly warned that if a return were " attempted it would be the cause for fresh war against Ngatiawa. The Waikato right was thus *' established as a right of conquest, and was fully admitted by the Ngatiawa themselves: who, on each " occasion when they sold a portion of land at Taranaki, sent a part of the payment to Waikato " as an acknowledgment of conquest or of the right of mana possessed by the Waikato Chiefs as their " conqueror's. In this view of the question it is quite evident that the Ngatiawa title had been " superseded by the right of the conquerors (1)-" < 17. After citing this evidence, His Excellency the Governor, in his Despatch of the 4th December, 1860, already referred to, proceeds as follows:— " Another important proof of the validity of the Waikato title is afforded by the fact that when " Wiremu Kingi finally decided to return to Waitara in 1848, he did so by the express permission of ■" Te Whero Whero ; thus recognizing the right of the latter to the district as conqueror, and illus- " trating a practice not infrequent among the New-Zealanders as a means of reconciling feuds and " securing quiet occupation of land about which the Tribes concerned might have been at war (2).' " And I beg to add to this the further testimony, given to myself by the Waikato Chiefs Tamati " Ngapora (half brother to Potatau) and Te Katipa, who absolutely maintain to this day the right of " Waikato to sell Taranaki to Governor Hobson: and the evidence of the Rev. Mr, Buddie and Rev. " Mr. Whiteley, Missionaries who have resided at Taranaki and have been twenty years in the Colony, " which has just reached me (3).'' ( " But the most conclusive evidence is furnished by the Waikato Chiefs themselves, so long ago "as 1844. When Mr. Protector Forsaith was sent down to Tarauaki by Governor Fitzßoy, he had " interviews on his way with the Waikato and Ngatimaniapoto Chiefs, who expressly asserted their " title, and desired him to warn the Ngatiawas of it. ' You are now going to Taranaki; listen to our " parting , words. That land is ours. We claim it by right of conquest, and some part of it by possession. "We hold the late Governor's permission to locate any of the lands at Taranaki, provided we do not "go south of Urenui. Go and tell th-e Ngatiawas that the Waikato Chiefs remind lliem that the land ''■ is theirs, and advise them to settle their dispute with the Europeans, or the Waikalos will settle it "for them.' (4)." < 18. It thus sufficiently appears that the return of the Ngatiawa to Taranaki was impossible except by the sufferance of the conquerors, and of the British Government to whom the title of the conquerors had been transferred (5.) ' 19. Sir William Martin declares it to be "quite certain" that the intention of the Waikatos (o occupy the vacant territory was never carried out. "The Waikato invaders," he says, (p. 11} "did not occupy or cultivate the Waitara valley." And he further states (p. 12) that in 1842 Te Pakaru, a Chief of the Ngatimaniapoto branch of the Waikatos, relinquished his intention of taking possession in consequence of a warning message from Wiremu Kingi. These statements are directly contradicted by the Rev. T. Buddie and the Rev. J. Whiteley. The latter gentleman, who was on the spot at the time, declares that " certainly the Ngatimaniapoto came to Waitara, and had a kainga (village) " and cultivations there." (6). I 20. Mr. Commissioner Spain's award of the New Plymouth Block (including Waitara) to the New Zealand Company, and the various transactions connected with that award, are touched upon in the pamphlet with a light hand, The title of the Company depended upon a Conveyance from the resident Natives, and upon another deed known as the " Queen Charlotte's Sound Deed," purporting , to convey an immense territory, over part of which the Ngatiawa had claims. The latter deed was signed by Wiremu Kingi. After a protracted and very careful investigation, conducted with all the •solemnities of a Court of Justice, Wiremu Kingi himself being present during a part of the time, Mr. Spain decided that the New Zealand Company was "fairly and justly entitled to the whole Block of '•' 60,000 acres of land." Extracts from Mr. Spain's first Report and final Award are given in tha Appendix (7).

NATIVE AFFAIKS.

(t) McLean, Evidence. App.: p. 35.

(2) McLean, Speech. App.: p. 33.

(3) Buddie, WMteky. App.: p. 55.

(4) Forsaith, Report. App.: p. 21.

(5) Extract from Deed. App.: p. 15.

(6) Buddie, Whiteley. App.: p. 55.

(7) Spain* Award. App.: p. Iβ.