A.—4,

4

Proclamation in his hand, he said, "No, this does not admit of any reply. An officer slept here last night. These are not new words ; they were uttered some time ago in the House by Sir William Fox, who said the Maoris were to be deprived of all their land this year. Do not now attribute any blame to Te Whiti for this: it is the doing of the pakehas entirely." Te Whiti's language was temperate throughout, without the least sign of temper. There was a weary and careworn expression on his face as we left. Mr. Carrington said he would return on Monday with some medicine for him. Te Whiti said, "Do you know the contents of this document ?" He replied he had just heard it read. Te Whiti said, " Then you know the number of days allowed?" Mr. Carrington said " Yes." Te Whiti then told him he had better not return there, lest he should be shot by the pakeha. Propose to distribute more copies of Proclamation to-morrow. I hear that the officer Te Whiti alluded to was a European who slept at Parihaka last night, and told him, through young Fox, of the Proclamation, but have been unable to ascertain his name.

No. 6. The Peemiee to His Excellency Sir A. H. Goedon. Memorandum for His Excellency. The Premier presents his respectful compliments to the Governor, and has the honor to forward to His Excellency the memorandum recently promised respecting Native affairs on the West Coast. Government Offices, "Wellington, October 24th, 1881. J. Hall.

Enclosure. The following is a statement of recent events on the west coast of the North Island, which have led up to the present position of affairs, when, in order to assert the supremacy of the law, and to secure that effect shall be given to the provisions of the Legislature, under " The West Coast Settlement Act, 1880," it has become necessary to strengthen the Constabulary, and intimate plainly to the Natives the determination of the Government that the statute law of the colony must be observed. The narrative of facts commences from a time before the departure of His Excellency, when the Natives began to fence upon lands not set aside for them. Shortly after they did so, definite instructions were given to Colonel Eoberts, that the illegal fencing of lands by the Natives must not be permitted, and the provisions of the West Coast Settlement Act must be enforced. It is thought advisable to give the facts from this point, as showing that the course now being taken is a natural sequence upon that instruction, given prior to His Excellency's leaving the colony, of which instruction he was made aware by the Native Minister before his departure. In the month of July, reports reached the Government that the Natives were fencing upon sections of land on the seaward side of the main road, which were rot set aside for Native occupation, and instructions were given to take down the fencing, after warning the Natives that they were acting illegally, and telling them to desist. It was hoped at first that the course taken would have led to the Natives desisting from further fencing, and in the first case it was successful; but it soon became apparent that they intended to persist. In the month of August, Colonel Eoberts was informed that he was first of all to warn Natives that they were trespassing in an illegal manner, and that they must remove the fences they were erecting, and if they did not remove them the fences would be taken down by the Constabulary, and that ultimately, if he was satisfied that they intended to continue obstruction, he must have the ringleaders identified and arrested. Towards the end of the month of August the number of cases of fencing by the Natives was much increased, and it became necessary to send strong parties to remove the fences. The records show that in almost all instances the Natives placed upon Te Whiti the responsibility of their action ; and it will be seen that in a number of cases the Natives cultivating the ground were strangers in the district, who had no individual or tribal interest in the land. On one occasion a number of the Natives engaged in planting told the Native Minister that the original Native title had nothing to do with it now, but the land was Te Whiti's, and he gave to whom he chose irrespective of their tribes. On the Ist September, it had become evident that, unless we were prepared to run considerable risk of being overpowered by numbers, and of some accident which might lead to bloodshed, any further taking down of fences must be done by a larger force of Constabulary, and accordingly the position of Pungarehu was ordered to be strengthened by taking forty-five men from Opunake. His Excellency left Auckland on the morning of the 13th September. On the 12th, an act of aggression was reported by Colonel Eoberts, which showed a determination on the part of the Natives to more active and serious obstruction. " As the firewood drays from the camp had finished loading on Section 14, about thirty Natives, " who had come to put up the fence on Section 15, went to the wood party, consisting of two drivers " and three constables, and ordered them to take the wood off the drays and to go away. As the wood " party would not unload the drays, the Maoris did, and again told them to go. The party, considering " that resistance would be useless, then started towards the camp, followed closely by the Maoris to " the ford on Section 23. When they had crossed the river, the Maoris called out to them not to come " back, and returned to their fencing." On the 15th September, Colonel Eoberts reported as follows: —■ " Mr. Ca.rrington went to Parihaka to-day, and reports Te "Whiti as looking very anxious, dis- " spirited, and very irritable, quite different to his usual manner. The quantity of food collected for " the meeting is enormous : far beyond the customary supply. This afternoon I rode out with orderlies " for the purpose of visiting the different clearings. After I had proceeded a few hundred yards from " camp, I noticed Natives galloping about in different directions. By the time I had travelled " about a mile on the Parihaka Eoad (the road called by that name on the map), the orderlies " informed me that we were followed by fifteen or sixteen mounted Maoris, and from seventy to one