G.—3

20

is laid bare and public indignation demands a victim, the very rascal who is decamping with thebooty raises the cry of " Stop thief ! " against the Judge, so that attention may be diverted from himself. The warm appreciation of my efforts to guide things into a better channel, testified in the encouraging words of the Hon. Mr. Carroll and the Hon. the Native Minister, are an assurance to me that I, at all events, have nothing to fear from the calumniator in my efforts to enforce honest dealing and independence of judgment in Native Land Court transactions. It is a great relief to feel that this is so, especially when it is remembered how easily the Native race can be used for any purpose in an attack on a Judge. In future the operations of this Court will be confined to such cases as come within the words of the Act of 1892, and suitors will therefore understand that no purchases made regardless of statutory prohibition can henceforth be recommended for validation under this Act. Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given; printing (1,250 copies), £12 3s.

By Authority: Samuel Costald, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB93. Price 9d.J