F.—No. 6

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON NATIVE LANDS BILL.

4. That immediately after the adjustment of the said boundaries, I applied to have the certificate dated back to the date of the hearing of the case, and the Chief Judge said that it would be done. 5. That I then applied to have my application put on the notes, and was informed by the Chief Judge that it was unnecessary, as the then present sitting was not a Sitting of the Court, but merely a Sitting in Chambers for the adjustment of boundaries, and as a matter of course the certificate would issue as from the hearing. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act of tho General Assembly of New Zealand, intituled " The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866." William Macgeegoe Hat. Declared at Auckland aforesaid, this twenty-second day of July, 1869, before me, Laueence D. Nathan, A Justice of the Peace in and for the Colony of New Zealand.

Appendix C. I, Daniel Joseph O'Keefe, of Shortland, in the Province of Auckland, and Colony of New Zealand auctioneer, do solemnly and sincerely declare, — 1. That I was present at Shortland on the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, when a Sitting in Chambers of the Native Lands Court was being held. 2. That part of the business transacted at the said sitting was the adjustment of the boundary line between allotment E., number five, and allotment number twenty-three, Kauaeranga. 3. That immediately after the final adjustment of the same, William Macgregor Hay, of Auckland, solicitor, applied to have the certificate under the Native Lands Act for allotment number twenty-three issued as from the date of the hearing, and was informed by the Chief Judge that as a matter of course that would be done. 4. That the said William Macgregor Hay then requested that a minute of his application should be put on the notes, and was assured that it was not necessary, and that the certificate must issue from the date of the hearing of the case at Shortland. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, intituled " The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866." D. J. O'Keeee. Declared at this twenty-second day of July, 1869, before me, Laueence D. Nathan, A Justice of the Peace in and for the Colony of New Zealand.

Appendix D. I, William Bridson, of Auckland, in the Province of Auckland, in New Zealand, clerk, do solemnly and sincerely declare, — That I am a clerk in the Native Lands Court Office at Auckland, and that my duty is to prepare the various certificates of title for Native lands for which orders have been made by the Native Lands Court, That on the twenty-third day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, an order was made that a certificate of title should issue for lot twenty-three, Kauaeranga; but on examination the plan was found not to agree with the plan of the adjoining lots, and the case was accordingly brought before the Chief Judge in chambers on the first day of October following, and duly passed. That the report of the Chief Judge of the Court as to the restrictions to be placed on the said allotment was drawn up and dated the first day of October, 1868. That when I proceeded to prepare the draft of the certificate of title for the said allotment, all the papers relating to it, except the said report, had been forwarded to Wellington ; and that I inserted in the heading of the said certificate the first day of October, 1868, as the date of the order for the certificate. That I inserted the said date in the heading of the said certificate, instead of the twenty-third day •of June, 1868, because the report bore that date and as I considered that if it were wrong the Chief Judge would correct it. That the draft and other papers were placed before the Chief Judge for approval, and shortly afterwards, finding them again on my table, I thought they had been passed by him as correct, and I accordingly engrossed the certificate, which was signed by the Chief Judge and forwarded to "Wellington in the usual course of business. That, according to the general practice of the Native Lands Court Office, the certificate of title bears the same date as the order for the certificate. That in the case above referred to the twenty-third day of June, 1868, is in strictness the proper date of the order for the certificate of title, and that the certificate should bear the same date. That the foregoing declaration is made only to the best of my recollection, as all the papers relating to the proceeding are at present in Wellington. And I, the said William Bridson, do make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of " The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866." William Bkidson. Declared at Auckland, this twenty-first day of August, 1869, before me, John White, J.P.

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