E.—No. 2B.

I append a Memorandum on the subject, recently addressed to me by Mr. Buller, also copies of letters addressed to me at various times by the Natives having the greatest interest in the block. 1 have, &c, I. E. Featiierston, The Hon J. C. Richmond, Superintendent. Colonial Secretary. Enclosure to No. 1. MEMORANDUM by Walter Buller, R.M., on the Rangitikei Land Dispute. The origin of this dispute is of remote date, and is involved in some obscurity. Formerly it might have been comparatively easy to settle the matter by a reference to Maori law and usage ; but the events of the last seventeen years have so complicated the question of title, and have imported so many new elements into the case, that to adjust it by any such reference now is simply impossible. The Report which I sent in to the General Government on the 31st of August, 1863, explains to some extent the position of the question when the Rangitikei purchase was effected by Mr. Commissioner McLean in 1848, and the manner in which the dispute afterwards developed itself. In the winter of 1863 the question was brought to an open issue, and the three tribes concerned — the Ngatiraukawa and Rangitane on one side, and the Ngatiapu on the other—no longer contented themselves with merely asserting their conflicting claims, but took active and vigorous measures to enforce them, by building pas and preparing for an intertribal war. At this time Mr. Fox (the Colonial Secretary) was residing at Rangitikei, and I had the great advantage of his co-operation in the steps which, by direction of His Excellency's Government, I took to prevent an immediate outbreak. In reporting on this subject (August 31, 1863), I forwarded to the Government an able Memorandum by Mr. Fox, in which he expressed very grave alarm and apprehension at the threatening aspect of affairs at Rangitikei. For some time I held out to the Government a hope that the several parties concerned would consent to an adjustment of their differences by reference to a Court of Arbitration, after the manner adopted in the case of " Tiraru v. Matiu" (Kaipara District). I used every possible effort to induce the leading men to adopt this course. At first the Ngatiraukawa and Rangitane consented unconditionally, while the Ngatiapa (from a determination to oppose the former) refused to entertain any proposal of the kind; and when, after several weeks of harrassing negotiations, the Ngatiapa were brought to acquiesce, the Ngatiraukawa withdrew from their promise and absolutely refused to submit their case to arbitration without a guarantee beforehand of all their principal claims. It was evident, in fact, that neither side would meet arbitrators in a spirit of submission, and that an arbitration attempted under such circumstances would be a mere sham. Conciliatory measures having thus failed, I obtained the authority of the Government to hold out to the contending tribes a definite threat of armed interference in the event of open hostilities. The firm attitude taken by the Government produced the desired effect. The Ngatiraukawa and Rangitane, who were exercising on the disputed land acts of ownership of a kind calculated to exasperate the Ngatiapa and to provoke a collision, now retired to their pa, and professed their willingness to submit the case to any court of arbitration the Governor might appoint, and stipulating that the evidence of Mr. McLean and of the Rev. Samuel Williams (who were supposed to be conversant with all the facts of the Ngatiapa cession in 1848) should be taken on the disputed points of the case, and especially as to an alleged compromise in regard to the land south of the Rangitikei River (see my letter to Native Minister, 31st August, 1863). I reported these facts to the Native Minister (22nd October, 1863), and urged immediate action. I pointed out that although there was no longer any danger of an immediate rupture, the presence of two armed parties maintaining a hostile attitude towards each other and asserting conflicting claims, was fraught with danger to the peace of the district, and was a constant source of anxiety to the settlers. But, owing probably to the critical state of Native Affairs at the North, several months elapsed without anything being done. Impatient of the delay, the Natives were at length settling down into a spirit of sullen discontent with the Government. At this point in the history of the quarrel, the Superintendent of Wellington, foreseeing the probable consequences of continued delay, offered to meet the tribes, and to attempt himself an investigation of the whole question. The proposal was received with great satisfaction by all the Natives concerned, and (on 14th January, 1864) I reported as follows to the Colonial Secretary:—" I have therefore arranged with the tribes on both sides to meet with Dr. Featherston —the Ngatiraukawa and Rangitane at Tawhirihoe, and the Ngatiapa at Parewanui —in order that his Honor may confer with them separately and, with their mutual consent, fix the time and place for a general meeting. " I have placed my interpreter at his Honor's disposal for the occasion, and shall bo ready to assist him in every possible way. " Considering Dr. Featherston's personal influence with these Natives—their evident anxiety to bring the matter to an final issue, and the frequent ' talk ' among them of late in favor of selling the disputed land —I am inclined to hope that his Honor will not only succeed in settling a difficult and vexed question of land title, but will also be enabled to acquire for European settlement the finest and richest block of Native land in this Province." My own opinion of the course adopted by his Honor at the outset is sufficiently indicated in my report to the Colonial Secretary, (26th April, 1864), on the Pakapakatea Bush affair. The following is an extract: —"Finding that the wholesale disposal of Totara timber by the Ngatiraukawa from land claimed by the Ngatiapa was likely to produce fresh irritation between those tribes, I ordered off the Europeans who were cutting at Pakapakatea, threatening them with prosecution under the Native Land Purchase Ordinance if they should persist. "This was unquestionably the proper course under the circumstances, and I feel assured that it will receive your approval."

5

THE MANAWATU BLOCK.