Q.—9.

6

such land might be handed over to the company as an. endowment, thus enabling the company to proceed with the construction of its railway, and fulfilling one of the purposes for which the Thermal Springs Act was passed. The construction of a great public work will thus be secured, without cost to the revenue of the colony, and at once establishing the Rotorua Township as a success. The company could not have approached the Government in asking it to secure the cession of the lands in question without having first ascertained the Native mind on the question. The company has reason to believe the Government will find a general willingness on the part of the Native owners to assist the company in such a manner as will enable it successfully to carry out its undertaking; but immediate action is imperative, so that the land endowments may be financially available. The company can almost with authority state that the necessary consent of the Native owners —numerous as they are—could at once be obtained if the Government would appoint Mr. Edwards to take advantage of the present willingness of the Natives to cede the land and obtain their signatures, which would thus secure the necessary acquiescence from them in anticipation of the individualization of their titles, on which being passed through the Land Court the Government would be in a position to immediately transfer the land to the company on such terms as it deemed the Thermal-Springs Act demanded to secure the interests of the Natives as well as those of the public. The directors respectfully request the Hon. the Premier will lay this memorandum before the Hon. the Minister of Lands and the Hon. the Native Minister, so that an early reply may be granted to the company as to the action the Government intend to take. J. Logan Campbell, The Hon. the Premier. Chairman.

No. 14. Dr. J. Logan Campbell to the Hon. the Premier. (Telegram.) 18th May, 1883. The Board of Directors Rotorua Railway are anxious to know decision of Government on the memorandum handed the Hon. the Premier, bearing date 2nd instant, as the necessity of taking advantage of existing frame of mind of the Natives becomes every day more apparent. J. Logan Campbell, The Hon. F. Whitaker, Wellington. Chairman.

No. 15. The Hon. Mr. Rolleston to Dr. J. Logan Campbell. (Telegram.) 22nd May, 1883. Your memorandum of the 2nd of May has been considered by Ministers. Government has already issued instructions prescribing the course to be taken by an experienced officer in obtaining the consent of the Natives to the Government dealing with their lands for the purposes of settlement, for cession for railway construction and otherwise. A copy of a memorandum on the subject will be furnished you by the Commissioner of Crown Lands in Auckland. Instructions will be given to expedite the action to be taken in accordance with this memorandum, or with such modifications as particular circumstances call for; and Government will also take steps to obtain at an early date such a report as will enable them to determine the particular blocks of land which must remain inalienable from the Natives or the Government, so that on the Natives' assent being given there may be as little delay as possible in giving effect to the general intention of the Thermal Springs Act. W. Rolleston. J. Logan Campbell, Esq., Chairman, Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company, Auckland.

No. 16. Dr. J. Logan Campbell to the Hon. Mr. Rolleston. Sir,— Auckland, 30th May, 1883. I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your telegram of the 22nd instant. The copy of the agreement alluded to therein has been handed to me by the Commissioner of Crown Lands for Auckland. The Board of Directors, after mature consideration of the telegram and the agreement, have had the.- conviction painfully forced upon them that, if the action as defined by the above-named communications is adhered to, the construction of the second section of the Rotorua Railway may be considered as virtually at an end, not only for the present, but for many years to come. The directors regard the position as one of such gravity that they deem it necessary that a deputation from their body proceeds to Wellington to personally make a final appeal to Ministers to retire from the antagonistic position assumed, and, by acting in accord with the company, enable it to proceed with the great public work which has been so successfully inaugurated in so far as the first section of the line is concerned. The directors most- respectfully submit that the time has now passed away when the Government can with any reasonable hope of success approach the Natives to carry out such negotiations as are necessary between them and the Railway Company to secure the construction of the railway through the Thermal-Springs District.