37

G.—l

The Natives generally are pursuing their usual avocations; their general conduct has been good, and there is no case of crime to record. The rate of mortality during the past two years is high in comparison to the births —the total number of deaths recorded during the period being 66, and the births 46. Of the former, 14 were caused by a type of low fever that prevailed amongst the residents of Queen Charlotte Sound and the Pelorus in December last. The population at Motueka and Golden Bay has been diminished during the last two years by the removal to Taranaki and Waikato of a number of Natives, enticed there at the request of their friends to obtain a share of their patrimonial lands. It is expected that many of these people will eventually return in course of time to resume possession of their property in the localities where they formerly resided. The Natives of Motueka have commenced hop-growing on a small scale, and will no doubt extend the cultivation should success attend their efforts, as the soil and district are exceedingly well adapted for the purpose. In the matter of education, no very great progress has been made. The Eev. Mr. Stack has recently examined the schools in Marlborough and Nelson, and will report to you on the subject. At the Wairau, a good deal of indifference is manifested by the parents. The only person who takes a real interest in the matter is Eore Pukekohatu, who deserves great praise for the efforts he has made, both by precept and example, to induce the parents to send their children regularly ; in fact, if it were not for his exertions to promote the cause, the school there would be poorly attended. The action of Hemi Matenga at Wakapuaka, and Hohaia Eangiaura at Motueka, in promoting education, is alike meritorious. The establishment of a school at Waikawa, Queen Charlotte Sound, which you informed me had been approved, has been postponed, owing to the want of funds. It is very desirable that a school should be opened there, as there are a large number of children in that locality for whom provision should be made; and I venture to express a hope that the school vote for the ensuing financial year will be augumented by a sufficient sum for the construction of a suitable building. In a memorandum forwarded to the Eev. Mr. Stack on the subject of the present condition of the Arahura school, I have suggested that the management should be placed under the control of the Board of Education for the Province of Westland, the number of children attending, or likely to attend, being too few to warrant the school being maintained as a separate institution at the present annual expenditure. If the Board concur with the proposition, the Native children would obtain admission to the school on the same terms as the Europeans. As matters are at present, the parents are required to pay the rate levied by the Act as well as contribute towards the master's salary for their own school. When in Canterbury in January last, I visited the Native settlement at Little Eiver, at the request of the residents, to devise measures for the establishment of a school there. At a meeting held for the purpose of discussing the subject, the Natives offered to give a site for the necessary buildings adjacent to their church, but they would not consent to the land being made over as required by the Act. At the date of the meeting there were 26 children of school age, and 13 others growing up. I have recently been informed by the Eev. Mr. Stack, that owing to the closing of the school at Kaiapoi, through the death and illness of the scholars, he has opened a school temporarily at Wairewa with 13 children. It is to be hoped that the commencement now made will prove the forerunner of a permanent school being established there, now that the Natives, after many years of opposition, have consented to have their children educated. The most feasible and expeditious mode of overcoming the difficulty respecting the site for a Native school at Wairewa would be to accept the piece of land offered for the purpose by his Honor the Superintendent. The landing of the Australian cable on the Native land at Wakapuaka has necessitated the acquisition from the Natives of ten acres of land there for office and other purposes. Many objections were raised to the project in the first place by the owners, attributable in a great measure to their not understanding the objects of the telegraph, and to their unwillingness to have Europeans stationed amongst them ; but in the end they consented to dispose of the quantity required, and all that now remains to be done is to obtain a surrender of the land to the Crown. It would be advisable on moral grounds, if for no other reason, that the practice of recognizing marriages according to Maori custom should be discountenanced, and the people required, as far as possible, to conform to our laws. It is very desirable, also, that steps should be taken to register births and deaths amongst the Natives, and for that purpose clause 50 of " The Eegistration of Births and Deaths Act, 1875," might be brought into operation in the South and Stewart's Island. Some difficulty would probably occur at the outset in getting the Natives to conform to the law, but the information needed might be obtained by the Eegistrars through the intervention of the officer of the district. It would be necessary, however, before the Act was brought into operation, to have it printed in Maori and circulated amongst the Natives. A system of registration would be of great assistance in compiling a correct census of the Native population, and afford a means of determining whether the race are declining in numbers. As matters are now, it is quite impossible to calculate the average mortality, as a great many births and deaths are unrecorded. It would also be of great advantage in time to come, in cases where the proprietorship of land is concerned. Should it be considered inexpedient to bring the system into operation in its entirety, a modification of the plan might be introduced in the first place, somewhat on the same principle that prevailed in England before the introduction of the Eegistration Act of 1836 ; but in place of the minister of the parish, the Native Assessors should be required to register births and deaths free of charge, and furnish periodical returns to the European officials. This mode, although an imperfect one for statistical purposes, would, if adopted, be a step in the right direction. I drew attention in my letter of the 6th instant to the apparent necessity of passing a short Act to deal with succession cases, where individual grantees of the Native race are concerned. Under clauses 56 and 57 of " The Native Land Act, 1873," the jurisdiction of the Court is confined to cases of