19

c.—c,

James Wathen Preece: I have no recollection whatever of Tiopira asking me if Parore had consented to the price, i.e. Is. Id. per acre. I have no recollection of his asking me any question as to what Parore was to get. I state positively that I never told him that Parore had agreed to any terms : had I told him that Parore had agreed to any terms, I must have told him a falsehood, as Parore had not then come to any terms whatever; nor did Mr. Kemp, in my hearing, and he was within two yards from me, make any such statement as described by Mr. Nelson. I did tell Tiopira that I would not agree to more than the Is. Id. per acre when he asked me for Is. 6d., but this had no relation whatever to Parore, nor was he then mentioned. These land-purchase transactions were entirely my own ; Mr. Kemp was in no way responsible, though he did render me very valuable assistance. Declared to before me—E. C. Barstow, E.M. J. W. Preece. Henry Tacy Kemp: lam Civil Commissioner at Auckland. I have had knowledge for very many years of the nature of the several land claims at Kaipara and the North. I was a Land Purchase Commissioner for more than twenty years. I became aware of the reckless manner in which Mr. Brissenden, assisted by Mr. Nelson, paid money by way of advance to Natives having small or no interest in lands. I accompanied Mr. Preece, as lam District Officer, and had special instructions from Government to attend the sitting of the Lands Court at Kaihu in January last. lam thoroughly cognizant of all Mr. Preece's transactions in payment of money for land at that time ; all were sanctioned by me, though I was not the active agent. I was present when Tiopira signed the deeds for Maunganui and Waipoua, and received the money therefor. He declined to sign unless he got the £100 for Waimata. Mr. Preece agreed to pay it on behalf of Parore. No inducement to sign these deeds was held out by any promise that Parore should receive no larger payment than himself, by myself or by any person in my hearing. I took a prominent part in arranging with Parore, and suggested to Mr. Preece that as Tiopira had received 12,000 acres of reserve in lieu of 6,000, as agreed, that the sum of £500 beyond the amount paid to Tiopira might be paid to Parore, so as to equalize the consideration each received ; and it was with some difficulty that we could persuade Parore to agree to this, when it is borne in mind that Waipoua itself was for very many years the favourite residence of Parore, and the difference in the price given to him, as with the value of the reserve, was very much in Tiopira's favour. Declared to before me —E. C. Barstow, E.M. H. T. Kemp.

No. 14 Memorandum re Mr. J. A, Tole's Complaint as to the Purchase of Maunganui and Waipoua Blocks. Mr. Tole, after making certain statements, sums up by saying that " Tiopira's grievance therefore is, that though the original purchase money was understood to be £2,000 for each block, yet, since it has been thought necessary to increase that amount to the extent already stated (£500), he asserts that he is justly entitled to his proportion of it, and not that it should be all paid to a co-grantee." The answer to this is that the original purchase money was never understood to be £2,000 for each block, but was Is. Id. per acre, which amounted to less than £2,000 for Tiopira's share, but that at the signing of the deeds I conceded the extra amount, making it come to £2,000, for all his right, title, and interest in both blocks; aud as a proof of that being the case, it will be found that the voucher he signed for the balance of the money stated such to be the case —that is, the voucher acknowledges the receipt of one thousand three hundred and eighty pounds (£1,380) as a final payment for all his right, title, and interest, and acknowledging the former receipt of £620, thus making up £2,000. The amount of the price of Tiopira's half of the land under his agreement was £1,974 3s. 2d. He asked me to make it up to £2,000, which I did, as it was only a matter of £25 16s. lOd. extra. In settling up with Tiopira, I first read over to him in detail the vouchers for the various sums of money which had been paid to him and his party from time to time by Messrs. Brissenden and Nelson, amounting in all to £620. These payments he admitted. That point having been settled, I told him that by the papers before me it appeared he had, on receiving these various sums, agreed to sell the land to the Government for the sum of one shilling and a penny per acre (Is. Id.). This he said was correct. He said I being a new purchaser should enter into a new arrangement. I told him that I was not the purchaser but the agent, and as he had agreed to sell to the Government at that price, and on the faith of that agreement, the Government had advanced him such a large sum of money as £620, and had been induced to incur the cost of survey and other charges, that he was bound to carry out his agreement. I then told him the two blocks contained 72,892 acres, which, at Is. Id. per acre, would amount to the sum of £3,948 6s. 4d., the half of which would be £1,974 3s. 2d., which sum he was entitled to, less the £620 deposits. Paul Tuhaere then calculated the amount, and told Tiopira it was correct. They both said they were quite satisfied, but asked me to agree to make even money of it and let it be £2,000. This I agreed to, the difference being, as above stated, £25 16s. lOd. I then went to the hotel to get the money, and first gave Tiopira the sum of £100 on behalf of Parore (the nature of which I shall presently show), as he (Tiopara) had made it a sine qua non that that sum should be paid before he would sign the deeds. This sum I advanced out of sums in my hands, as I knew Parore had no funds at the place, and I knew he would repay me even if we did not come to terms as to his interest. I then counted out £1,380 in notes, and prepared vouchers for Tiopira to sign—one for £100 and one for £1,380 —acknowledging the receipt of that amount as being " a payment in full satisfaction of his right, title, and interest in the Waipoua and Maunganui Blocks." These vouchers I read over to Tiopira and Paul iv the presence of Judge Symonds, Mr. H. T. Kemp, CC.; Mr. Clendon, Interpreter