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G-.—l

J/r. Ballance : My friends, the Native people of Mokoia, it has given me great pleasure to be here to-day, and to receive your warm and cordial greeting. lam very much delighted with the way in which you have received me. That greeting seems to convey the position of the Arawa Tribe generally, its unfaltering loyalty to the Queen, to the Government, and the laws. When Wi Keepa called upon me yesterday, and asked me to visit the Island of Mokoia, I was afraid that time would not permit me to do so, but I found that I could not resist the strenuousness of his appeal; and now I am greatly delighted that I have come here, for I have not in any part of the Island received a more warm and friendly greeting. Te Keepa has said that his object is to bring the two races together. I reciprocate that sentiment: that is my desire. Another speaker has said that I have come to bring you prosperity. That is also my desire; but I will tell you this : that no one person can bring you entire prosperity unless you yourselves largely contribute to it. Prosperity must largely depend upon the industry and unity of the people themselves. My wish is to assist you in attaining that end, but in order to reach it we must co-operate together. I recognize that there is no tribe in New Zealand that has been more friendly or more loyal to the Queen, and therefore there is no tribe for which I have a greater regard than for the Arawa. I recognize also that this is the sacred spot of the Arawa Tribe. There is no part of New Zealand more rich in history or tradition. It was on this island that you experienced the greatest calamity that has ever befallen any tribe, and I am glad to hear that the attachment of the people to the Government has prevented them from seeking to take revenge. The time for revenge is past, and now we must seek together to live in peace and amity under the laws. Then, your ancestors lie buried on this island —ancestors whose fame has reached to all parts of the world, for there is no book written upon the Maoris and their traditions that does not contain an account of the story of Hinemoa. That is one reason why I visited your island—to see the place where so many valuable traditions are enshrouded. I trust, therefore, after we have disposed of the business, that I shall have an hour or so to spend in looking over the wonderful sights of the island. And now I will say no more with regard to the greeting which you have given me, but will ask you to proceed as soon as possible to business. I will only add that I shall never forget the greeting which you have given me to-day. Batema Awekoteko: I will now mention the subjects which we wish to discuss. The first subject is the Tikitere Hot Springs; wo ask what is the wish of the Government with respect to them. It is known that when the late Native Minister visited us, we handed that land over to the Government for the purpose of having a town made there. It is our desire with respect to that land, that it should be cut up and leased. The second subject we wish to talk about is the Island of Mokoia ; let that be held according to the Native mana or customs. We ask that no surveys shall be made of it, nor any leases be permitted to be made for portions of the land on this island. The third subject for consideration is the land on the Bast Coast, obtained by the Arawa through conquest, namely : Otawa, Te Puke, Bangiura, Pukeroa, Kaikopoku, Purekina, Waitahanui, Tahunaro, Whakarewarewa. These lands have all passed into the hands of the Government. Seeing that the Land Court did not admit the claims of all the hapus of the Arawa to these lands, we ask the Government to give us some consideration for our interests in those places. The fourth request we ■have to make is, that you will be pleased to give us a school for our children. We have not settled whether the school should bo built on Mokoia or at Te Ngae, on the mainland. The Government formerly had a school established at Tikitere ; we wish that school to be reopened. We only want one school; we have not decided where we would like it. The fifth subject is this, we ask that the Eotorua-Patetere Block may be re-heard. When that block was brought before the Court, Ngatiwhakaue and all its hapus joined together in setting up different ancestors ; they set aside our common ancestors, and set up different ones for the purpose of excluding us. But when the Court was held the Ngatiwhakaue set up our very ancestors for the purpose of having the block subdivided. We ask that the privilege of local option may be given to us ; that publichouses may not be sent into our district, unless we consent to them being built, only as far as affects the Tikitere Block, and the Island of Mokoia. What we wish is that no public-houses should be built on Mokoia or within the boundaries of our block, without the consent of these two tribes being first obtained, because we are now becoming fully alive to the evils attending on publichouses. We ask that the dog-tax and road-tax shall not be collected in this district. Another request that we have to make is that you will be good enough to give us some grass-seed. The Maketu-Eotorua road runs through the Whakapungakau Block; we ask that we may be helped to fence that block, by a present of fencing wire. It is to prevent our stock from straying on to the road. We would contribute the posts and the labour. We only ask the Government to assist us by giving us some fencing wire. The distance we want to fence is about three or four miles. Our tenth request is that you will relax the restrictions affecting the issue of arms and ammunition. The eleventh subject affects an old man called Ihaka Ngapaura, whose name was left out of the Whakapungakau Block. We have already applied to the Chief Judge of the Native Land Court, and have been informed that there is no law under which it could be done. We also ask that Te Ngae may be made a polling place for the election of Members of Parliament and other members. It is only for the Maori members, because there are not many of us qualified to vote for European members. Thirteenth : We ask that a piece of land at Te Ngae, three hundred and sixty acres, given to the missionaries, may be reheard. The reason we make this request is that the people living here are not aware how the missionaries became possessed of that land. Our idea is that the land was given as a mark of affection to the missionaries for religious purposes, but, seeing that it is no longer put to that use, we think that the land should come back to us. Another reason why we wish the matter inquired into is that we may know how the missionaries became possessed of that land. W Te do not understand at all how it was that the land passed from us. Fourteenth: We ask that we may be authorized to erect a public pound about Te Ngae; that we may be authorized to erect it and to keep it. The reason we ask this is that there are constant disputes between us and the European living at Te Ngae. We are always quarrelling over our stock. Fifteenth: We ask that a letter-box or post-office maybe opened at the