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into these matters. They are matters of great importance from a Maori point of view. It is well that you should consider carefully this word, that there should only be one policy for the Europeans and the Natives. You, the present Native Minister, carefully consider this word, that there should be only one policy for the Europeans and the Natives. lam very glad to see you within this house, and of your appointment to the position of Native Minister to conduct matters for the Native people. Give us some new policy that will be clear to the Native mind. I have nothing new to say. I say the same now as I said to Sir Donald McLean in his time. Do you search for some new word to tell us or some new policy. From the commencement of these matters we only looked to the Almighty—that was taught us by the ministers. Now, this is a Minister who conducts matters according to law; the other was one who conducted matters according to religion. Do you search for some new policy. [To the Natives : Have I said anything wrong ?] A song was here sung by the Natives assembled. Mr. Ballance, in reply, said: My friends, I thank you all for your very cordial welcome. It has given me great pleasure to meet the chiefs and people of the Waikato. I recognize that the different tribes of the Waikato may hold different opinions upon various subjects of policy, yet you are all agreed in welcoming the representative of the Government. Your words show the feeling which you entertain towards me simply as a representative of the Queen. I have listened to your sentiments and they are all excellent. It has been well said by a chief who has spoken that the Queen is supreme in this colony. It does not require us to go out of the colony to find the power of the Queen. The Queen, represented by the Government and by the Parliament, is here as much as in England, and it is from that authority in the colony that will proceed the redress of all grievances. It has been said that one man passes away and another comes. Yes, that is so ; but the Government and the Parliament remain and will survive the lives of us all. The son of William Thomson has said that we cannot unloose the trouble that is fastened on his back. Why not ? He can unloose his own trouble if he chooses, but, if he will persist in pursuing false ideas and false hopes, troubles will remain on his back. Rewi has referred to the hope that a policy will be given which will be clear to the Native mind. I have only to say, on this point, that I shall try to make my ideas clear to all of you. I wish to keep nothing back, but to take you into the confidence of the Government and state the policy that the Government intend to pursue, without any reservation whatever. I have heard that there are many subjects which are agitating your minds at the present moment. There are the questions of the railway, of the Land Court, and of the land. I hope to hear the expression of your views upon these and other subjects, and I shall try to explain anything that may be obscure and make it clear to your minds. It has been said that a promise was given by my predecessor that nothing would be done beyond the survey in the matter of the railway until a representative of the Government had appeared amongst you. I looked to find this promise in the records of the department but I could not find it, for I felt that it was my duty to make good all promises. When I heard from several of your chiefs that such promises had been made, I lost no opportunity of announcing that I should appear amongst you; and I am here to-day to discuss all the questions that you may think of importance, to put plainly before you the policy and intentions of the Government with regard to the lands and the railway and roads. If there are other subjects which you wish me to refer to I hope you will not be backward in referring to them yourselves. It is well that there should be a clear understanding between the Government and the Native people. The present Government believes that there should be no differences between the two races; in other words, that they should be made one race. It is our sincere desire to promote in every possible way the happiness and prosperity of the Native people; therefore, where there is a difference of opinion, I hope that we shall discuss that difference and see whether it cannot be adjusted. I will now say no more at the present time except to again thank you for the very cordial welcome which you have given to me, the representative of the Government. Wahanui : It has been decided to welcome you this day—that is, to welcome you in the first instance, and, having finished the welcome, we suggest that you adjourn till after dinner, after which we will meet again. We, the Maori people, have been discussing amongst ourselves as to what should be said, and we have not arranged anything yet about the line of proceedings, and now, as the time as come, we ask for an adjournment to enable us to discuss the matter. We ask you now to allow us to dissolve the meeting until after dinner. Mr. Ballance replied that he was entirely in the hands of Wahanui, and, if Wahanui wished for an adjournment, he (Mr. Ballance) would be very pleased for that course to be taken. On resuming after lunch, Wahanui said: lam going to speak upon the matters about which I was sent by the people to Wellington. One was one of the policies which we, the Maoris, had initiated, and which referred to the people and the land. It was fully understood that there was nobody who would interfere or complain of what was done within the boundaries of the land that we had marked out. After we had arranged this policy—when it was settled that we were to hold on to the land, and that we were to preserve the land and the people, and to keep the tikanga —this was universally agreed to by the majority of the people at that time. After we had got this policy finally settled, then we were to fight with, or negotiate with, the Government with regard to matters within the district. After that the fighting took place ; people got wounded in the arm and in the shoulder, and there was great trembling, and then the old policy broke up. The policy was then broken up, and the men divided, and the land was separated, and everybody took a new departure, some of them according to European ways, and they were all split up. After this break-up took place there was no recognition of relationship; every one worked for himself. One brother would not do the same as another brother; but we do not charge the Europeans with bringing this about. The Europeans assisted the Maoris, but the Maoris themselves were to blame. Everybody was more or less wounded (or tainted) with the system up to the time of Mr. Bryce. When Mr. Bryce took office he made a compact with me, which was signed, that a search for the railway was to be made,