THE TIME OE SIR G. E. BOWEN'S ARRIVAL.

A.—No. 4.

15

trouble, are nevertheless, difficulties which time and patience will overcome, and will be found by the Maoris to be as nothing compared with the advantages they derive from security of tenure. But " The Execution of Judgments against Real Estate Act 1867" will, I fear, be productive of effects which could hardly have been apparent to the Legislature at the time the measure was passed. By it judgments, not of the Supreme Court alone, but of any District Court or Resident Magistrate's Court with extended jurisdiction, can be enforced by the seizure and sale of any land belonging to the judgment debtor, or of any interest he may possess in any land. As soon as the Maoris find this out (and it is intended to bring it into action against them very shortly in this Province) they will at once say that they have been deceived, and that the Native Lands Acts, instead of conferring benefits, are a delusion and a snare. A man will naturally argue thus : —" I have been invited to pass my land through the Court, which I have done under the impression that the Crown Grant was to bind it firmly to me for ever. I have paid enormously for this —first the survey and expenses of the survej'or attending the Court — then Court fees—then the new charge for inspecting surveys —the duty to the Government on my lease to the Pakeha, fees on the grant. All these imposts I have consented to pay that my land might be secure, and I have hardly got possession of the grant when down comes the sheriff and seizes and sells my land to pay a storekeeper, who made me take a lot of things which I do not want, at extravagant prices." The conclusion this man naturally arrives at must be, that all our protestations of a desire to elevate and help on the Maori race are false, and that the real end of all we do is to get hold of his land. Another evil likely to arise from the operation of this Act in reference to Maori lands is this: — Let us suppose the case of a Maori being co-grantee with nine others of an extensive block of land, and having judgment given against him for a small amount in a Resident Magistrate's Court. His interest as co-grantee when put up to auction by the sheriff is not likely to be worth much to any Pakeha, and the result is that a tenth share in an estate worth £10,000 may be sold to satisfy a judgment of £25, thus sacrificing the interest not only of the one co-grantee who owed the money, but of many other owners of the land whose interests his name was inserted to represent. Again, it has the appearance of uneven legislation to enact ("Resident Magistrates' Act 1867," section 113), that a Resident Magistrate may delay execution against the personal goods and chattels of a Maori so longas he deems it expedient to do so, while by the Act above alluded to he has no such power in the matter of real estate. If the difficulties likely to arise from this Act can in any way be averted, and the cost of taking lands through the Native Lands Court mitigated, the legislation affecting Maori lands will have in my opinion a very beneficial effect upon the Native population. I can give no opinion as to the effect of the new Maori Schools Act upon this district, as the Natives do not appear at all disposed to act upon it. When conversing with them upon the subject I have more than once been met by a quiet reference to Te Aute, which puts a stop to further discussion. lam afraid that in this district the Maoris are not fully alive to the advantages of education. The Representation Act does not appear to occupy so much of their attention as 1 should have expected, and until the first members shall have been elected and served for a session, it will be difficult to foretell what its effects may be. I trust the practical difficulties arising from two different languages being spoken in the same House may turn out to be less formidable than at first sight one is disposed to anticipate. In conclusion, I beg to be allowed once more to apologize for the many shortcomings which -abound in the foregoing pages, and to hope that the freedom with which I have discussed and given my opinion on important matters will be pardoned in consideration of the magnitude of the subject. Hoping that this report may be intelligible to His Excellency, and may to some extent serve the purpose for which it was required. G. S. Coopee, Napier, Ist April, 1868. Resident Magistrate.

c 7. 8. Cooper, Esq. continued.

No. 9. WAI A PIT. Repobt from J. H. Campbell, Esq., Resident Magistrate, Waiapu. It would be impossible to condense in a report like this a full history of the past few years, which must necessarily comprise all the events of the war, the causes which led to it, the rise and growth of fanaticism and its consequences, the various places through which discontent, sometimes leading to open rebellion, has passed, and the consequent result of all these changes to the Native race. I shall, therefore, confine myself to the subjects suggested in your letter for my guidance and give the most faithful picture I can of the present state of the Natives in this district. As accurately as I have been able to ascertain the present Native population, extending from Turanga (inclusive) to Matakawa, is four thousand two hundred and seventy. There can be no doubt that they are rapidly decreasing, from my own observation as well as from the best information I have been able to obtain. Some settlements on the coast, which a few years ago numbered from eight hundred to one thousand inhabitants, do not at present count half that number. The causes of this decrease are various, chiefly, the crowded state in which they live in their pas, bad ventilation, unwholesome food, filth, uncertain diet, irregular mode of clothing, immoral habits, causing scrofulous and pulmonary diseases, &c. Their state of feeling towards Europeans is actuated much by the character of those Europeans with whom they are brought in contact. When Europeans conduct themselves in such a manner as to command their respect they seldom fail to accord them every kindness and assistance, but much evil has often been done by the example and teaching of worthless and unprincipled adventurers, whose sole object in living amongst them has been to corrupt and mislead them.

J. 71. Campbell, Esq.