CONFISCATED LANDS.

19

C— No. 4,

those views should an estimate be formed of the difficulties I had to encounter, and of the wisdom of the course I pursued in dealing with them. I have, &c, GrEOEQE B. WOEQAM".

No. 9. Mr. Gr. B. Woegan to the Assistant Native Seceetaey. Sie, — Wellington, 2nd August, 1872. I have the honor to place before the Government the enclosed report of the position of Native claims in the district lying between Waitotara and Waingongoro Eivers, on the West Coast of the North Island. I have confine'd myself strictly to statistics, and such explanation of the nature and condition of these claims as the subject needs for the sake of clearness. I have, &c, Geo. B. Wobsah".

Enclosure in No. 9. JJepoet on the Condition of the Confiscated Territory on the Western Coast of the North Island, being a portion of the Ngatiruanui Coast Block, lying between the Waitotara and Waingongoro Rivers. This district—a part of the rebel territory confiscated by Proclamation, on the 17th December, 1864 —was brought under the operation of " The JNew Zealand Settlements Act, 1863," by an Order in Council, dated Wellington, 2nd September, 1865, which order was gazetted in the New Zealand Gazette of the sth of September, 1805. The same Gazette contained a proclamation of peace, and declared that, " Out of the lands which have been confiscated in the Waikato, and at Taranaki and Ngatiruanui, the Governor will at once restore considerable quantities to those of the Natives who wish to settle down upon their lands, to hold them under Crown grants, and to live under the protection of the law. For this purpose, Commissioners will be sent forthwith into the Waikato and the country about Taranaki, and between that place and Whanganui, who will put the Natives who may desire it upon lands at once, and will mark out the boundaries of the blocks which they are to occupy." In fulfilment of the promises made in the two Proclamations referred to, and in compliance with a notice published in the New Zealand Gazette on the 6th July, 1866, a sitting of the Compensation Court was held at Whanganui, before Thomas Henry Smith, Esq., Judge, on the 12th December, 1866, and following days, to hear and determine claims to land taken under " The New Zealand Settlements Act, 1803," being part of the Ngatiruanui Coast Block. A very careful and painstaking investigation took place, and an elaborate judgment was given, awarding to 119 applicants for compensation in land an aggregate amount of 17,261< acres. Sixty-eight claims, containing the names of 630 applicants, were gone into and disposed of. The claims, however, were made over a larger stretch of country than is included within the boundaries of the district the subject of this report, and purported to relate to land between Kaupokonui and Waitotara, the estimated area of which was computed at 428,000 acres, of which 131,720 acres are described as open land .and available bush, leaving 296,280 acres as unavailable. The concluding sentence of the judgment given declared that the lands awarded should be selected by the claimants themselves and the Crown Agents, in conformity with the 9fch clause of the .Rules and Regulations for the Practice and Procedure of the Compensation Courts, made by an Order in Council dated 16th June, 1866, and that the land should be selected in blocks of such extent and in such localities available for the purpose as may be desired by the claimants, with the view of locating together members of the same tribe, and of including, when practicable, lands which they have previously occupied and cultivated, such selection being subject to the final award of the Court. Mr. Parris, C.C., acting as Native Agent, in conjunction with Mr. W. Atkinson, acting as Crown Agent, with the consent of the claimants, made selections in the terms of the award of three several blocks —viz., one of 8,352 acres, to forty-two claimants, on the north-west bank of the Waitotara River; one of 912 acres, to nine claimants, on the north-west bank of the Whenuakura River; and one of 600 acres, to five claimants, near the site of the proposed township at Kakaramea—which selections were laid down on the maps with as great regard to accuracy as the incomplete condition of the surveys admitted of. Thus a definition was so far given to 56 claims out of the 119 requiring allotment. The tribes to whom the land comprised within the boundaries of that portion of Ngatiruanui Coast Block which- underwent investigation by the Compensation Court were the Ngaruahine, Tangahoe, Pakakohi, and Ngarauru Tribes, with other similar tribes more or less connected with these. It is noticeable that the Court, in giving judgment in favour of the 119 admitted claimants, speak of them only as persons whose claims have been heard ; and, further, " that some of the claimants have failed to appear before the Court either personally or by agent, and their claims have not been heard;" from which it may be drawn inferentially that there were other claims besides those dealt with by the Court, as subs-sequent events prove to have been the case. It is also noticeable that, from political considerations, no allocations of these awards were made by the Crown or Native Agents north of the Waingongoro River. The district, therefore, between the Waingongoro and Waitotara Rivers becomes burdened with the whole liability to make good the gross amount of 17,264 acres awarded by the Court the further claims which the Court did not deal with, and the reserves made from time to time for Native purposes, which 1 class under the head of Special Reserves, amounting in the aggregate to say 23,210 acres. The rebellion under Titokowaru broke out in April, 1868 ; and during its continuance,