LXI

G.—2.

as the European children are. It will be for the Parliament to say whether any part of the grant made long ago by the Queen for Native purposes can be applied to these schools : if so, it Avill also be right for the tribe to agree that some part of the money derived from rents should be set aside towards the support of the schools, so that the children may not reproach us hereafter, when they are grown up, that they were forgotten when the settlement of this question Avas made by us all to-day." The theory, indeed, of our " Continuous Reserve " Avas that under proper management, and with the help of the Natives themselves, it might be made at least as conducive to English settlement as the Crown lands. It was not to lock up a great tract of country that we proposed it. We do not think it matters by whom the land is owned so long as it is peopled; and as for revenue, it ought to be quite a secondary consideration. There are plenty of settlers who would greatly prefer a long lease from the Natives to buying land, or even to the most favourable deferred-payment system when applied to such valuable land. We found the Natives themselves most anxious on this subject of leasing their reserves. The tribe gets very little of the rent; the chiefs fake nearly all. In a report of Mr. Blake, himself a half-caste, the feeling of the people finds this expression : " The Government should take immediate steps that kaingas and other places should be reserved, and restricted from sale or lease. Otherwise chiefs, by forcing and intrigue together, will sell or lease the very places on which the people are actually living. This has already been done at Wanganui, and has been the main cause of so many of the Wanganui tribe migrating to Parihaka." At present Ave are inclined to think that leases only should be given, and that the Natives, should not be allowed to sell; but at any rate, whatever regulations are made should insure residence and occupation by as many lessees as possible, as Well as rigidly require the fencing and cultivation of the land, and prevent large areas being taken up on speculation. The great point will be to invite the tribes themselves to "help in making regulations that will suit both races; to interest them in the progress of settlement; and to let them feel that if they are large proprietors, it will be best for them not less than us to change the country from a wilderness into cultivated fields. Again, the Government should aim at separating the tribal title to a certain point. It Avill not be easy to "individualize" the title everywhere; the Native people are not ripe for it. But the separation of the title of the various sections and hapus in accordance with their own use and occupation, is within our reach, and Avould be hailed by many with the greatest pleasure. It was the first thing brought before us, and constantly came up at every sitting. Major Brown told us: "I endeavoured to regulate the leasing of the reserves, and to decide what Natives Avere entitled to deal with them. My action, was suspended by a statement of Mr. Sheehan to the Natives eighteen months ago, that he would send a Judge of the Native Land Court, or some other authorized person, to decide what particular Natives should be deemed to have rights in any particular reserve. Such person has never been sent." We renewed the promise over and over again, that the subdivision of reserves should be provided for. It is perhaps not so much desired by the chiefs as by the tribe; but it is eagerly wished by many of the common people, and would be by most if they only dared. The present evils are very great: the chief is everything, the tribe nothing : the tribe is dissolute and degraded, the children ruined. The evidence before Your Exeelle3a.cy teems Avith the reproach, in varied form yet ever the same, that we have kept the word of promise to the ear only to break it to the hope of those Avho long to live on land which they may call their own. But it will not be enough to make regulations for the reserves. In our opinion, poAver should be taken to deal Avith the Avhole of the CroAvn land between Stoney River and Waingongoro, in the Avay best fitted to prevent übav troubles and to insure the settlement of people on the land. The colony cannot afford, after so many blunders and such a Avaste of treasure, to run the risk of what the Taranaki Land Board may choose to do. Up to the present time the Board have x—G. 2.

Blake, Eeport, 4 April 1879, PP 1879,04, p. 9.

Major Brown, Evid., Q. 82.