A.—No. 16.

No. 1. Copy of a Letter from Mr. Preece to Sir G. P. Bowen. Crescent Chambers, Shortland Street. Sir,— Auckland, 27th March, 1868. I have the honor to enclose you herewith an address and petition from some of the Natives of Poverty Bay which they have entrusted to my care, in reference to their lands, together with a translation of the same by myself, and beg to make some few remarks explanatory of the matter. Your Excellency will no doubt excuse the roughness of the document, as it is purely of Maori production, and I might state that it was written hurriedly, in order that I might bring it up with me, otherwise there would have been a good number more names attached to it. In reference to the signatures I would say that in many cases the individuals' did not sign their own names, but they were written by one or two, in the presence and with the consent of the parties concerned, which is generally the custom with Maoris in documents of this description. Your Excellency will perceive by referring to the petition that there was a disturbance in the Poverty Bay District some three years ago, and that that disturbance was speedily put down, and that there were no atrocities committed: that on the cessation of hostilities the Government did not confiscate the land ; on the contrary, the petitioners assert that Sir George Grey promised them that none should be taken, and that Mr. Donald McLean, who was then the representative of the Government in the district, told them that if there should be any future disturbance the land would be taken. There has been no disturbance since, and the Government took no steps to confiscate any land in the district until some time after the Natives had made application to have their titles investigated in the Native Lands Court, an institution in which the Natives throughout the country have always placed the most implicit confidence. The object of their making these applications was to enable them to hold their lands under grants from the Crown, instead of by the uncertain title of their former tenure. At about the same time that the Natives sent in some of these claims to the Court, the then Superintendent of Auckland endeavoured to obtain by purchase some lands in Poverty Bay, failing which the General Government were induced to stay the proceedings of the Court by refusing to insert the notice of sitting by the Chief Judge in the Gazette. A sitting of the Court was again notified by the Chief Judge, and again proceedings were stayed. By this time the Government, in order to strengthen their hands in the acquisition of these lands, induced the Legislature, in a thin house a few days before the close of the Session, to pass "The East Coast Land Titles Investigation Act, 1866," an Act by which the very Court to which the Natives had in their innocence appealed to give them titles to their land was made an instrument of confiscation to the Government. I would inform your Excellency that before the passing of this Act Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies had written to His Excellency Sir George Grey, to say that Her Majesty's Government viewed with great alarm the large tracts of land which were being continually confiscated, and prohibited any further confiscation; that by that despatch to Sir George Grey "The New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863," the only Act by wdiich the Government of New Zealand could confiscate land, was virtually repealed as far as further confiscation was concerned, for it will be remembered that when the Act (New Zealand Settlements) was sent home to Her Majesty for her approval, its provisions were so startling that the royal assent was not given, but the Act was left to its operation, and that only on account of the very strong recommendations it received from Sir George Grey as a temporary measure. Thus I would strongly impress this fact on your Excellency's mind, that there are now two Acts on the Statute Book of New Zealand which are repugnant to the most explicit and repeated instructions of our most gracious Sovereign; that those Acts affect the private property of individuals ; and that further the said Acts have never been referred to Her Majesty for the royal assent. The titles of those Acts are " The East Coast Land Titles Investigation Act, 1866," and " The East Coast Land Titles Investigation Act Amendment Act, 1867." 1 would further call your Excellency's attention to the fact that since the passing of the first of those last-named Acts in 1866, the Government have been employing agents to endeavour to get the Natives to come to some compromise in the matter, and cede a block to them, knowing, I imagine, that their title to such lands would be doubtful if obtained by these Acts ; and further, that a member of the Ministry went himself to the district and made demands on the Natives for land, threatening them with confiscation if they would not come to terms, and that nothing would satisfy them but to get the whole of the level land in the district, —a block well worth having, but not by such means ; that the Natives would not accede to such demands, firstly because they were promised that no land in the district should be confiscated, and secondly because, even if any ought to be taken, a large portion of the best of the block which the Government wanted belonged to persons who had never in any way engaged in the war. I would further state, that for the last twelve months the Natives in that district have been threatened with the New Zealand Settlements Act, and other proceedings, if they would not agree to give up the land wanted; they have been importuned and tormented in every possible way to come to terms, and agree to cede a particular block of land to the Government. Land Courts have been advertised, they have been allowed to assemble, and no sooner do they believe that they are going to obtain their rights than they are told they may go home again,—that there will be no Court held until they come to terms about ceding the land. 2

PETITIONS FROM EAST COAST NATIVES.