3

g.—s

Tawhiao's secretary, and acting, it is said, under instructions from Tawhiao himself, deliberately pulled down a trig.-station that had been erected at Waitakaruru, in the Piako Block, -within the Thames County. The reason given for this action was that the Piako Block was owned mostly by Natives who are supporters of Tawhiao, and therefore the Government had no right to put up a trig.-station there without first getting his consent. Another reason—given by Kerei Kaihau at his trial at the Eesident Magistrate's Court at the Thames —was that Tawhiao ordered the station to be pulled down in order that he might raise the issue between the Government and himself as to who is to blame for the fighting between the Maoris and Europeans at Waitara and Waikato, by which the former lost their land, and, they think, their independence. The arrest of Kerei Kaihau by an armed party sent for that purpose from Auckland to Tawhiao's settlement at Pnkekawa is now a matter of history, and was fully reported and criticised in the newspapers at the time. I need not therefore refer to it here, more than to say that I am of opinion that if the Government had not taken steps to have Kerei Kaihau arrested and punished, it would have been impossible in the future to have erected trig.-stations or made surveys, however necessary, in localities occupied by Natives who are supporters of Tawhiao. During the same month that Kerei Kaihau was engaged in breaking the law as a supporter of Tawhiao, Tamahuka, alias Te Manukura, a disciple of Te Whiti and Tohu, of Parihaka fame, w ras also, with a fanatical few who live at Te Kumi, about two miles aud a half from Te Kuiti Railwaystation, making preparations to startle the few European families living in that locality with a sample of his madness similar to that which took place in February, 1883, when, having worked himself up to a high pitch of religious fanaticism, he seized and tied up Messrs. Hursthouse and Newsham, and treated them to great indignities, for which action he and his followers were arrested and punished. His conduct in October last was almost exactly the same as it was in 1883—that is, it was traceable to the same cause, namely, a visit to Te Whiti at Parihaka, and a fanatical outburst of enthusiasm through studying the Maori translation of the Old Testament and the accounts therein given of the rites and practices carried out by the Hebrew prophets and soothsayers, which, by the way, the Maoris delight to read' and study, because the habits and customs there recounted are similar in many instances to their own. On his way back from Parihaka, Tamahuki began to show signs of again becoming a religious maniac, or " crank," and by the time he reached home his sayings and actions showed that the lunatic asylum was the proper place for him for the time being. Unfortunately, his preaching, as in 1883, caused a number of the young people of his settlement to be influenced by him, and to have implicit faith in his promises and his power to fulfil them, so that in a very short time they were as complete a set of mild lunatics as he was a more pronounced one. Amongst the number of strange things that he did at that time was to fix the date of the millennium, and, having done so to his own satisfaction, he sent letters to Wahanui, Taonui, Eewi, and other important chiefs, and also to Judge Mair and myself (as representing the Native Land Court and the Government respectively), ordering us all to go and sit at his feet at Te Kurni, in order to be ready when the event should take place. He then sent messengers to the storekeepers at Te Kuiti, Otorohanga, Alexandra, and Te Awamutu, ordering them to give him credit for goods to an unlimited extent, which, with one exception, was refused. This refusal annoyed him, so he decided, for the sake of his reputation, to make a bold move by going with his followers to take possession of the Europeans' stores at Te Kuiti. Knowing the nature of the man and his followers, and the likely result of their madness, I took the precaution to keep the Native Minister and yourself w*ell informed as to his actions, with the result that, by the time his disease had developed, into that acute stage in which a lunatic may be expected to commit a serious crime if not checked, arrangements had been made for the arrest of himself and followers, which was done by an armed force sent by special train from Auckland on the morning after he had taken possession of Mr. Ellis's store at Te Kuiti. I would here like to point out what a source of trouble and danger a man of this description is in a district very sparsely populated by Europeans, some of whom are women and children, more especially when it is considered that the fact of his developing symptoms of religious lunacy means that in a short time he will have a numerous following of the weak-minded of his own people, who, given time, and no power at hand to check them, will, in a few days or weeks, have worked themselves into such a state that it is merely a matter of chance Whether property only, or human life, or both, may be sacrificed at their hands. Surely some steps can be taken by which men of Te Mahuki's class can be dealt with by the law as soon as they show unmistakable signs of deranged intellect, and thus keep them from influencing others of equally weak minds as themselves, and so avert a catastrophe. Election of Maori Members for House of Representatives. The fact of the general election taking place in November last it was necessary for the Maoris to return a member for each of the four Maori electoral districts in accordance with "The Maori Representation Act, 1867." I was appointed Returning Officer for the Western District, which is bounded by the West Coast from the Waitemata Harbour to Wellington, and by a line drawn nearly through the centre of the Island. The electorate contained eighty-nine polling places. There were five candidates —namely, Hoani Taipua (the late member), Pepene Eketone, Kipa te Whatanui, Te Kahui Kararehe, and Pataua te Whataupoko. Hoani Taipua was returned by a large majority. Maori Census. The quinquennial census of the Maori population was taken during the third week of February last. I was appointed Enumerator for the Counties of Eden, Manukau, Waikato, Raglan, Kawhia, Waipa, Piako, Ohinemuri, Thames, and Coromandel, and also for the Great and Little Barrier and Waiheke Islands. In addition to which I also took part of West Taupo and Clifton Counties at the request of the Enumerators for those two counties,