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No. 13. Dr. Nesbitt, K.M., G-isborne, to the Under Secbetaky, Native Department. Sic, — Eesident Magistrate's Office, Q-isborne, 11th May, 1875. I have the honor to report that if there is any change in the condition of the Natives in this district since last report, it is for the better, inasmuch as the land question, which has been so long agitating the Native mind, has, through the instrumentality of the Native Land Court, been for the most part satisfactorily settled. Thus the owners have been enabled to deal with a large portion of their lands, and are at present in receipt of a considerable income from rents, probably as much as £5,000 a year in this district. The admission however of so many claimants by the Court into each block presents a great obstacle to the completion of leases, much complained of by intending lessees, and now regretted, I think, by the Natives themselves. I regret to report that Native schools in this district have proved a failure. The Turanganui school is closed, the pupils having ceased to attend. I attribute this failure in a great measure to the nomadic habits of the Natives, and the consequent difficulty of inducing them to cultivate continuously in one place, and also the carelessness of the parents, who do not at present appear to appreciate the value of education. I think the English school established under the Board of Education might be made available for such Natives as choose to send their children. I believe such a proposal has been suggested to the Hon. Sir D. McLean, but has not yet been carried into effect. I think the general disposition of the Native population tends to peace, and they seem inclined to live on good terms with their European neighbours. They also invariably appeal to the law in their disputes, whether amongst themselves or with Europeans. The sanitary condition of the Native population has been in a satisfactory state during the last year; there have been no serious epidemics. I do not think habits of drunkenness are increasing, if one may judge from the quiet and orderly manner which characterized the large assembly of Natives during the sitting of the Native Land Court. On the whole I think the Government are justified in considering the general feeling and condition of the Natives in this district highly satisfactory. I have, &c, W. K. Nesbitt, The "Under Secretary, Native Department. Resident Magistrate.

No. 14. Mr. S. Locke, E.M., Napier, to the Hon. the Native Minister. Sic — Napier, 29th May, 1875. I have the honor to forward the usual annual report on the general state of Native matters in the East Coast and Taupo Districts. Hawke's Say. I can add but little in reference to this part of the district to what I stated in my report last year, further than that the Maoris are more settled down, after the years of excitement they have gone through from different causes, since about two years after the introduction of the first Native Lands Act into the district. The fever with regard to land questions has however, greatly subsided, although there are matters still pending, to be tried before the Supreme Court, with regard to the validity of certain sales made under those Acts. Two of the points of litigation probably frequently to arise, unless met at the outstart, are the questions of minority and feme covert. Sooner or later these matters will have to come before the Legislature. Amongst a people like the Maoris, who have no regulations in relation to the registration of births, &c, and but the most crude knowledge of dates, it is impossible to ascertain correctly the age of any individual. It is therefore imperative to have means established by law for facilitating the completion of bond fide transactions in property, and for doing away with doubts that now often exist re^ardinc the age of individuals named in Crown grants, such doubts being at times likely to lead the parties, in the hopes of gain, to acts of repudiation, and as equally liable to lead them into lawsuits and disappointments, and loss of property. It should be remembered that in England registration was not made law until the year 1836. In "The General Inclosures Act, 1845" (England), clause 20 (see Cooke on Inclosures and Eights of Common), under head of "Incapacitated Persons," it is stated, "And be it enacted that whenever any person interested in lands as aforesaid shall be an infant (minor), lunatic, idiot, feme covert, or under any other legal disability, or beyond the seas, the guardian, trustee, committee of the estate, husband, orattorney respectively, or in default thereof such person as may be nominated for that purpose by the Commissioners, and whom they are hereby empowered to nominate under their hands and seal, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be substituted in the place of such person so interested." Some provision, such as the above, in the Native Lands Act, might tend to meet the difficulties likely to arise in the future, but provision is also required to meet cases that may crop up daily out of past adjudications. The Omahu and Pakowhai schools have not done so well during the past year as could be wished. Like all steps of the kind initiated amongst a people at the stage of civilization reached by the Maori, time and great perseverance are required to attain success, but of the final result of the school scheme, so far as this part of the country is concerned, no doubt can exist. It is intended to apprentice, shortly, some of the boys to useful trades. The Omahu School Estate, of 36,000 acres, situate at Ohaoko, Patea, has been surveyed, and leased by public auction for a term of twenty-one years, at a a rental of £700 a year. The Maoris highly appreciate the system of leasing by public auction trust lands.