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surveys. (3.) We ask that the survey charges should be lessened, and the Government should pay for our surveys. The Government should pay for the surveys in the first place, and when the lands are put to use and we derive a revenue from them, then we will repay the Government the cost of the surveys. (4.) The train from Waikato to Eotorua: let that be made speedily. (5.) " The Thermal Springs Act, 1881:" let that be firmly upheld by your Government. Mr. Ballance, in reply, said: My friends, the Native people of the great Arawa Tribe, I thank you very cordially for the very kind welcome which you have given me. I have not, in my travels through the North Island up to the present time, met with any welcome more cordial, and I feel assured that it fully represents the opinions of the Native people of this part of the country. That welcome is a guarantee that our relations will be in the future as they have been in the past, friendly. There was no occasion to assure me of the loyalty of the Arawa Tribe. The loyalty of the people has long been known to the Government of the colony. In times of difficulty and danger the Arawa Tribe, when called upon by the Government, have always rallied to the call. On one occasion I had the pleasure of seeing what the Arawas were ready to do at the bidding of the Government. It was in 1868, when I met the Native contingent of the Arawa Tribe on the West Coast, when the war was going on there, and I saw some of their services. I was then a fellowsoldier with the Arawas, fighting in support of the laws of the colony. You have referred in the address which you have presented to-day to the land which has been handed down to you by your ancestors. That is a sentiment which I gladly reciprocate. I believe it is one of the dearest to the Maori race that, at any rate, a large portion of the estate handed down to them by their ancestors shall be kept for their descendants. I say it deliberately—and I say it in the presence of the fact that I am criticised severely in some parts of the colony for expressing this sentiment—that it is not the desire of the Government to strip the Natives of their lands. On the other hand it is the desire of the Government to assist the Natives in preserving a large portion of their territory, in order that their prosperity, and their existence, and their happiness may be maintained in the future. A landless people is a discontented people, because they are likely to become paupers, and they are likely to become a burden on the Government. You will have seen yourselves that the Government, in trying to assist you in realizing rents from the property around Ohinenrutu, are most anxious to preserve to the people a large portion of their heritage. Ido not refer only to one Government, but to several Governments. I will have something to say to you, perhaps to-day or perhaps to-morrow, with regard to the railway which is now being constructed, and I shall ask you to sell to the Government or to the company, for the purpose of constructing that railway, a portion of the land through which it passes : but I shall ask the people to preserve to themselves —that is to say, every hapu to preserve to itself —sufficient land ; and I shall be able to show you that the land which will be kept will be more valuable than the whole of the land is at the present time, in consequence of the railway. The reason that I make that proposal is that I fear the railway will not be constructed unless the Natives are prepared to sell a portion of the land through which the railway passes. That railway has not been undertaken by the Government, but by a company. Therefore, if you are anxious to get the railway completed, we shall have to discuss terms with regard to the land, which will be advantageous both to the colony and to the Native people. You have referred to the policy affecting Native lands as a whole, and I will explain to you briefly what that policy is. In fact, you have struck the key-note yourselves when you said that the management of the land should be joint— that is, that there should be joint management by the two races. I thoroughly agree with that proposal; and a measure will be submitted to Parliament next session to enable the Government to manage the Native lands—that is to say, that the Government should sell or lease land belonging to the Natives for their benefit and in accordance with their wishes; and it will be done in this way : When a block of land has been declared by the Court vested in a certain hapu, the hapu will be called upon to elect a Committee. We will suppose that the number of people in whom the land is vested is one hundred ; they will meet together and elect a Committee of seven persons, who shall hold office for two years. There shall be a Board appointed also for certain districts. The Board shall consist of a person appointed by the Government, who shall be a Commissioner, the Chairman of the District Native Committee, and some other Native to be appointed by the Government. When the Committee wish to sell or lease their land they will apply to the Board. The Board will have power to advance the cost of the survey, and to arrange with the Committee for the construction of roads. Each district will probably be made coterminous with the district of the large Committee. It may, however, sometimes happen that the Committee do not fairly represent the opinion of the people. lam now referring to the local Committee appointed for the land. In that case power will be given to the people —that is, to the owners of the block—to meet and to veto the action of the Committee by a majority. Now, the Government will place one limitation —a very important limitation —to the disposal of the land, and the limitation is this : In order that the land shall carry the largest available population the Government will see by regulations or by Act that the land shall not be disposed of in blocks above a certain area. That is the limitation that the Government will place to the power of the Committee and of the Board ; for the policy of the Government is this : not to allow the land to be held by a few persons. They believe that a large European population settled upon and cultivating the land will be best for the interests of both people, larger rents to the owners of the land, and greater prosperity to the colony generally. Reference has been made to the cost of the surveys, and upon this I will say a word or two. The Government do not propose to, and will not, charge for surveys more than the surveys cost themselves—that is to say, the Government will make no profit off the surveys. It is proposed to advance the money for the surveys by the Government, and to deduct the amount from the rents, or the purchase-money of the land if sold ; but the owners of the land, of course, will have a voice in this matter themselves. Now, with regard to the Native Committee. It is proposed to give the Committee (I refer to the large Committee, the District Committee) larger powers. Wherever I have gone I have been highly pleased at the way the Committees in the various districts have discharged the duties which has been conferred upon them by Parliament. I have found great intelligence and great zeal