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Whakatane to see the Ngatiawa and Ngatipukeko. I will now sing a song of welcome. (Song.) Welcome to Whakatane, that you may hear what these two tribes, Ngatiawa and Ngatipukeko, have to say Mokai said, —■Wβ welcome you to Whakatane, that you may come to see these of your children. We are here dwelling as orphans seeking for parents —some one to be a father unto us. We have now found a father in you. We rejoice at your coming, and hence it is we accord to you the welcome we now give. I will now address myself to Mr Carroll. Welcome, 0 friend We welcome you whom we twice returned as our representative in Parliament. Now you have come to us we welcome you. Let us know the laws that are good, and the laws that are evil, so that we may hear These are all the congratulations we propose to offer you. Tiaki Bewiri said, —I belong to Whakatane, and my hapu is Patuwai. Salutations to you, the Minister of Native Affairs, and your colleague !My congratulations will be brief. Salutations to you the people who have done good for the tribes, and given relief in these burdensome times to both the hapus of Ngatiawa and Ngatipukeko. This ends my congratulations. I wish to speak to you now about the Native Equitable Owners Act, which was passed in 1886, the operation of which was extended over the land in this district last year The Native reserves in the Whakatane district were Crown-granted under special grants in 1876, which Act brought trouble on the people, and that trouble was only cleared away by the legislation of last year or the year preceding. There is one clause in that Act, clause 5, which we ask the Premier to have amended. The clause provides that the money should pass into the hands of the Public Trustee—that is, the rent-money is that the Public Trustee should dispose of these moneys. I now apply to the Government for the lessee to pay these moneys to the Maoris or known owners —that the rents should be paid direct to the owners by the lessee. Ido not object to the whole of clause 5, but I object to the Public Trustee disposing of these moneys. That is our only objection—that we do not wish this matter to be dealt with by the Public Trustee. That is the only explanation I have to give with reference to that clause. Now, this is the second matter I wish to touch upon Trouble has come upon us through the action of the Government and the Eoad Boards. In 1876 we leased a certain piece of land as a site for a flour-mill, £400 was the price paid to the Government. At that time there were no written agreements. We applied for the land to be returned to us, and we only got two acres. It was arranged we should get four acres, but we only got two, and now we find the two acres we have do not include the dam where the water was. The land was afterwards leased to a European named William Kelly, but it did not include the dam. The land now, including the dam, has gone to Europeans, and we want the dam given back to us, and the four acres—that is, two acres in addition to what we have already got. This is a very great grievance of which we have to complain, and we earnestly hope the Government will give it full consideration. Now, this is the third point upon which I wish to speak, and that is with respect to the landing-site on the river. Mr Eichardson was Minister of Lands at the time. When the Minister arrived here in 1889 or 1890—I am not certain which—in consequence of an application I made to him on behalf of my people, he agreed to that site being a landing-place for our canoes. The area of that land was fifteen acres, and it was all sand. I explained the whole situation clearly to him, and that Minister agreed we ( should have it for a landing-place, but we have received no document showing we have a right to , that place. The promise of the Minister was not reduced to writing. Therefore it is that I now apply to the Native Minister that we may now have this matter finally and satisfactorily settled. Considerable difficulty has also arisen between us and the Europeans because of our going through their land. Therefore I ask you to see to this matter at once, for it is the cause of a great deal of trouble—having to pass through European lands. I wish you all prosperity Mauparaoa I belong to the Ngatirangititihi and Ngatipukeko. Salutations to you, Mr Carroll ■ —you who have been absent from this district, but have again appeared amongst us. lam the only one of my hapu here, still I welcome you. Salutations to you, accompanied as you are by the Premier I heartily welcome both you and the Premier to this part of the country, that you both may hear what the tribes of Whakatane have to say Salutations to you both, Omy friends I have no further welcome to give you here, but ask you to go to Galatea, because there is an important matter to be dealt with there. Although it may be supposed you have only come to see the Tuhoe—the Ur.ewera —there is also good reason why you should go and see the people at Galatea, because we want to sell you our land. Should you arrive at Galatea, we can then talk of disposing of our land to the Government. These are the only subjects I have to speak about. Hurinui Apanui I will first welcome Mr Carroll, in accordance with Native custom. Welcome to you, my cousin! I regret so many of our old people have passed away You bring with you the king of the island, come and receive the good wishes of the people, you bring with you the treasures of the colony This is the ancient landing-place of our ancestors, who brought their canoes from Hawaiki. It was here the ancient canoes of Te Arawa and Matatua arrived. Of these two canoes, Arawa landed at Maketu, and Matatua at Whakatane. These two canoes contained all the chiefs of these tribes, therefore it is right the chiefs should reassemble on this spot. Tour canoe, Takitimu, passed down the East Coast. You had controlling power on your canoe, as we had on ours, Arawa and Matatua. Welcome again to you both, who have been all over the island. Salutations to you, the Premier, who is at the head of the affairs of this colony , you who have penetrated through all parts of the colony , you who have seen the good and bad parts of the colony Welcome, that you may see the descendants of those who came by the canoe Matatua — these, the remnants, who are now before you. This is the prow of the canoe here in Whakatane. Maungapohatau and. Buatahuna are the stern of the canoe. Welcome, the Premier, this day ! Bring over the light, and let its rays be shed on us to-day Many Ministers have stood with this canoe in days gone by, from the time of Sir Donald McLean to the present time, but now we have the Premier standing on the bulwarks of Matatua. Let him be clear in what is to be done with regard to these tribes, who trace their origin from those who came in the Matatua canoe, 7—G. 1.