G.—2.

WEST COAST COMMISSION. THIRD REPORT.

To His Excellency Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c, &c, &c, Governor of New Zealand. May it please Your Excellency : In our Second Report Ave endeavoured to trace the events which had caused the long trouble on the West Coast, and to show its nature and extent. We have now only to tell Your Excellency what we think ought to be done. In order to do this Avith any clearness, however, the first thing necessary is to say exactly what the objects are Ave aim at. We think these ought to be tAVO. We have to do justice to the Natives, but Ave have also to go on with the English settlement of the country. No policy is worth a thought that does not provide for both. I.—WHAT "JUSTICE TO THE NATIVES" MEANS. The tendency to rush into opposite extremes is so natural, that some of those perhaps who were most truculent last year about a " march on Parihaka," will noAV cry out, after reading the story in our Second Report, that to do justice all the land must be given back. Certainly Ave have never said a Avord ourselves to justify an error so dangerous to peace : and at the risk of quite Avearing out Your Excellency's patience, Ave must ask you to let us say Avhat, in our opinion, " justice to the Natives " means. (1.) The Proclamations of 2 September 1865. The first thing to do is to determine the true position of the Native tribes on the West Coast under the confiscation. The confiscation was made in the following form, differing essentially from that of every previous one: " The Governor, in exercise of the power vested in him by the [New Zealand Settlements] Act doth hereby, Avith the advice and consent of the Executive Council, set apart as eligible sites for colonization, tho viii—G. 2.

Sir Gr. GrVCJ, Proclamation 2 Sept. 1865, N. Z. Gazette 5 Sept. 1865.

XLV