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rehearing must take place by law, and, as to the time, that I shall refer to the Land Court Judges. You say, secondly, that, in the matter of subdivisions in the block, they should be heard severally. That is closely connected with the other part—the first question, and that I shall refer to the Chief Judge who has the matter under his control. Thirdly, you wish the Native Committee to adjudicate upon these questions before they are referred to the Native Land Court. The Committee has now certain powers given it by law. It is competent for them to proceed to ascertain, in the first place, the ownership of the block, and to make recommendations to the Native Land Court. I have no doubt, therefore, that the Committee will proceed to perform the duties imposed upon them by law. Now you wish the Tuhourangi to decide the date of hearing. Any representations which you have to make upon that question will be forwarded at once to the Chief Judge of the Native Land Court. If you will let the Government know they will take immediate steps to acquaint the Land Court with your desires. Then you wish that the adjudication next time shall take place at Te Wairoa instead of Ohinemutu. I should have thought that it would have been more for your convenience that ,the rehearing should take place at Ohinemutu. It is not so far away at any rate from Whakarewarewa as Te Wairoa. The wish of the Government is, in these matters, to have the Court sitting where it is convenient for the great majority of the owners of the land ; and if Te Wairoa is more convenient for the great bulk of the owners, then I think the sitting should take place at Te Wairoa; but I think if it is more convenient for the great bulk of the owners that it should be at Ohinemutu, then 1 think the Court should sit there. If you will write a letter showing where the people wish it to be held, and the numbers residing at the different places, we will forward a copy of it to the Native Land Court. I understand that you have a local Committee appointed out of the Tuhourangi Tribe, consisting of nineteen persons, whose duty it is, I suppose, to attend to questions relating to the interests of the tribe, and you ask for that Committee authority. There is only one Committee that has authority by law, and that is the District Committee ; but the Government do not object to your electing a Committee for the purpose of considering questions relating to your own hapu. It is not illegal, but it is not constituted under the law. Now, we propose next session to introduce legislation, and the Bill will be circulated amongst you before the session, establishing local Committees to look after the blocks of land belonging to the different hapus and tribes; and . will explain to you how that Committee will be constituted. Suppose there are a hundred people declared to be the owners of a block of land. The owners will have the power of electing a Committee of, say, seven persons, to manage their affairs relating to the land. That Committee will have power to carry out the wishes of the owners. When the Committee wish to sell or lease their lands, they will apply to the Board to do it for them; and, after arranging for the surveys and roads, the Board will proceed to act according to the wishes of the Committee. But the Committee may sometimes act contrary to the wishes of the great majority of the owners. When that is the case, the majority of the owners may veto the action of the Committee. The object, of this is to place the control of the land in the owners of the land. There will, however, be one limitation to the action of the Committee, and it is this : the land must be sold or leased under the land laws of the colony, and this is to prevent the land being disposed of in too large areas, the Government believing that it is to the interest of both races that the land should carry the largest possible population in comfort. I will now proceed to the next subject, in which you ask that the District Committee should have power to investigate the Paengaroa Block. The same answer will be made to that as in the other case. The Committee have certain powers to investigate titles under the Act, and they may exercise those powers. Now, with regard to survey charges, you ask that they may be reduced. lam sorry to say that I find in many cases that the survey charges are much too high. In some cases unauthorized surveyors have been selected by the Natives to perform their surveys, and the Surveyor-General has been compelled to decline to acknowledge their work: the result is, that in many cases the Natives have had to have their work done over again. I propose going into this question upon my return to Wellington, and seeing that the charges are so regulated that the Natives will have ample powers of protecting themselves. I think that the District Committee should know what is going on in this matter ; and, in future, when an application is made to have land surveyed, I have given instructions that a copy of the application shall be sent to the Chairman of the Native Committee. The Committee will then have power to inquire whether the surveyor is authorized, and they will also have power to check the charges. I hope, therefore, that in future the survey charges will be so reduced and so regulated that you may have no further cause of complaint. These are the eight subjects brought forward by the Tuhourangi Tribe, and, if the explanations are not sufficient I will explain further after I have referred to the subjects brought forward by the other hapu. I will now refer to the questions brought forward by the Ngatiwahiao hapu, and I will proceed in the same way as in respect of the others. You are desirous to have a Native school, and I would like to ask you how many children you think would go to the school. Wi Pauro : About fifty. Mr. Ballance : That is very good, but I would like also to point out that there is great irregularity in the attendance of Native children, and I would like to ask you as a favour that, when a Native school is established, you will take action to see that the children attend regularly. The school-teachers complain that sometimes the attendance will be eighty, for instance, and sometimes it will suddenly be reduced to fifty, and, through the irregularity of attendance, a teacher is prevented from doing justice to the children in their education. Now, I would ask you, if a Native school is established, to see that the children attend regularly. lam glad to find that you have offered a site for the school. I will bring the subject before the Minister of Education—who is Mr. Stout, and I shall recommend him to establish a school hero as soon as the site has been fixed You have also asked that a township should be established at Turikuri. lam afraid that a township cannot be established until a subdivision of the land takes place, for at present it is impossible to find out the owners; and it will, therefore, be necessary to have the subdivisions before the Government could proceed—if they were disposed to do so—to establish a township. Ac