A.—No. 8.
PAPERS RELATIVE TO NATIVE
4
No. 2. Copy of a Letter from Mr. J. Booth to the Hon. J. C. Bichmond. (No. 35-2.) Besident Magistrate's Office, Sic— Carlyle, 13th April, 1868. I have the honor to enclose herewith copy of a letter received last evening from Inspector Hunter, A.C., together with my reply thereto. I have, &c, James Boom, The Hon. the Native Minister, Besident Magistrate, Wellington. Carlyle, Batea.
Enclosure 1 in No. 2. (No. 258-1.) Copy of a Letter from Mr. Hunter to Mr. Booth. Sic,— Patea, 12th April, 186 S. I have the honor to request you will inform me whether you consider tho services of the Volunteer Militia any longer necessary, as I have been instructed by the Government to disband them at once, should you not think they are required for the protection of settlors iv this district. I have, Ac, J. Booth, Esq., Besident Magistrate, W. Huntee, Inspector A.C. Batea. Commanding Patea District.
Enclosure 2 in No. 2. Copy of a Letter from Mr. Booth to Mr. Huntee. (No. 32-2.) Besident Magistrate's Court, Sic,— Carlyle, 13th April, 1868. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, number and date as per margin, and in reply to state that I consider the services of the Volunteer Militia, at the present time stationed at Mokoia, to be absolutely necessary for the protection of settlers who have in vain attempted to occupy their land situated at the edge of the bush not far from Whakamara. Two men named Henderson and Luxford were turned back no less than three times by the Whakamara Natives. The last occasion was on Eriday last, when the Natives came out as far as the village at Mokoia,. waylaid the two men above mentioned, pulled them about a good deal, and forced them back. I have, &c, Inspector Hunter, No. 3 Division, James BooTn, Armed Constabulary, Patea. Besident Magistrate, Carlyle, Patea.
No. 258, 12th April, 1868.
No. 3. Copy of a Letter from Mr. J. Booth to tho Hon. J. C. Biciimond. Resident Magistrate's Office, Sic,— Carlyle, Bth April, 1868. I have the honor to report that the Natives in this district are at present all quiet, the only exceptions being first in the case of a Mr. E. Bayloy, who wrote a letter complaining that the Natives had ejected him from his land at Kakaramea, and second, in the case of several petty thefts which have been committed in the district by individual Natives. I have the honor to enclose letters showing the steps taken by me with reference to the affair with Bayley. I have further to state that orders came here for the removal of tho Armed Constabulary on the same day that I had written the enclosed letter to Major Hunter, that since that time a number of men (about forty) have volunteered to serve as militiamen, and that I have sent a message to Mr. Bayley, who has gone to Taranaki, to advise him on his return to go on to his land and recommence his work there, and that a number of militiamen, with two or three mounted constables, will be sent to protect him. I have also given orders, through the Inspector, that the constables are to apprehend any Natives who may be found destroying property belonging to settlers, or who are determined to oppose settlers in the occupation of their land. Yesterday, at Waihi, Katene, the late guide to the Colonial Eorce, was convicted of having stolen property from the whare of two men, named Butherford and Pope, of the value of £14; I sentenced him to six months imprisonment with hard labour. He has not returned any of the property. Yesterday I went with a man, named Hiscock, who has been robbed inland of Ketemarae, to try and identify the thieves, but he failed to do so. The Natives were perfectly civil and obliging everywhere, and the settlors, one and all, speak very highly of the kind treatment they receive personally from their Maori neighbours, with tho single exception of Mr. Bayley. I have, &c, The Hon. tho Native Minister, James Booth, Wellington. Resident Magistrate.
Enclosure 1 in No. 8. Copy of a Letter from Mr. J. Booth to Mr. Htjntee. Sib,— Batea, 29th March, 1868. Complaints haying been made to me by Mr. E. Bayley, of Kakaramea, that Natives have forcibly ejected him from his land, and also from Mr. Winchcomb and others near the township of Wairoa, that the Natives in that district are stealing all their moveable property :