Page image

7

G.-~5

APPENDICES TO REPORT OE WEST COAST ROYAL COMMISSION

No. 1. Commission signed by His Excellency the Goteenob. Aethuh Gordon, Governor. To ALL TO WHOM THESE PItESENTS SHALL COME, AND TO THE HONOEABLE SIE WILLIAM FOX, K.C.M.G., Greeting. "Wheeeas for the purpose of giving effect to " The "West Coast Settlement (North Island) Act, 1880," it is expedient that a Commission should issue, and that some fit and proper person should be appointed with the powers and authorities hereinafter particularly set forth : Now, therefore, know ye that I, Arthur Hamilton Gordon, Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, having full confidence in your knowledge, ability, and integrity, do hereby, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said colony, appoint you, the said William Fox, to be a Commissioner for the purposes and with the several powers and authorities hereinafter mentioned. 1. Within the confiscated territory, as the same is defined by the hereinbefore-mentioned Act, to allocate and set aside such lands as may be legally available in satisfaction of all or any awards made by the Compensation Courts held under •' The New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863," or any amendment thereof, in so far as in your judgment such awards or any of them have not been performed and are still unsatisfied: Provided, however, that the authority hereby conferred upon you shall not extend to cases where the lands in respect of which such awards were made have been returned to the former Maori owners, nor where the interests of any such former owners in or under any such awards have been purchased by or on behalf of the Crown, or where such interests have been released or extinguished ; but this proviso shall not be held to prevent you from subdividing between the hapus or individuals interested iv it any block of land heretofore set apart, reserved, returned to, or promised to any tribe or section of a tribe. 2. Also within the said territory to allocate and set aside such lands as may be legally available in satisfaction of all promises or engagements made by or on behalf of Her Majesty or the Government of the colony which have formed the subject of inquiry by the Commissioners appointed under " The Confiscated Lauds Inquiry and Maori Prisoners Trials Act, 1879." 3. In respect of such lands, or any of them, to define and mark out such reserves as may be necessary to give effect to any such award, promise, or engagement, and to indicate the purposes and objects of such reserves, and whether the same should be alienable or inalienable. 4. In all cases in which you shall exercise the powers conferred by these presents, you are required to define and ascertain with certainty the particular lands in respect of which action is taken by you, and the name or names of the person or persons to whom such lands are to be granted : Provided that where the intended grantees of such laud are not the persons originally entitled or intended to be benefited, or where they are representatives of the persons originally entitled or intended to be benefited, then that it shall be clearly apparent in what character or capacity such persons are to take the land dealt with. 5. And, in further pursuance of the power aforesaid, where lands are proposed to be vested in Trustees on behalf of any tribe or subdivision thereof, that you distinctly ascertain and name the persons who are to be Trustees or to whom any grant of such land is to be made, and the trusts to which the same ought to be subject, or auy conditions or limitations which ought to be provided for to render such grant effectual. 6. And generally in the premises you are hereby empowered to make all such inquiries and investigations, and to hear and determine all such questions, as may be necessary to give full effect to this Commission. 7. And for the purposes of this Commission you are hereby empowered to call before you and examine on oath or otherwise, as may be allowed by law, all such person or persons as you may think able to afford you any information in relation to the premises; and also to require any person or persons to bring before you and produce in evidence (saving all just exceptions) any books, papers, deeds, plans, or documents of which any Court of law might compel the production. 8. You shall also have full power and authority to employ such surveyors, clerks, interpreters, and other persons as you may deem necessary for your assistance iv the premises. 9. And you are hereby required from time to time to report to me in writing under your hand the several acts and proceedings done and taken by you under the authority of these presents. 10. And, lastly, it is hereby declared that this Commission shall continue in force for the period of twelve calendar months from the date hereof (unless the same shall be previously determined by the disposal of the matters herein intrusted to you, or by the revocation of these presents), and that