G.—2

13

It would be impossible for the department to furnish any report which would enable the Committee to come to a conclusion without hearing the whole of the evidence on both sides. In purchasing 1,500 acres of land from Warena Hunia, the Land Purchase Department was not unaware of the alleged trust, but the view taken of the matter was that, under any circumstances, Warena's undivided interest in the land was at least equal to the area conveyed. This matter was not referred to in the petition, but will no doubt crop up before the Committee when the petition is under consideration. The tribe did not receive any portion of the before-mentioned sum of £2,000; the whole was appropriated by Hunia to his own use. It is impossible to say, owing to the utter unreliability of the evidence, what share Kawana Hunia was really entitled to. That he or Kemp were, as they posed, the saviours of the tribe is, we think, nonsense. Te Whatanui was the person who saved the tribe, and it was only on his death, after European occupation of the country, and after the tribe relying on his protection had returned to the land, that Kawana Hunia and Kemp came to the fore. Whatever they have done to entitle them to a larger share of the block than any one else has been done since then. It seems, however, to be generally admitted that Kawana Hunia and Kemp were each entitled to a much larger share of the land than any ■other individual members of the tribe, and we cannot ascertain that either Kemp or Kawana Hunia was entitled the one to more than the other. The Natives gave Kemp Subdivision No. 10, containing 800 acres, and Subdivision No. 1, containing 76 acres, making in all 876 acres. These gifts, however, it seems to us were not in satisfaction of, but in addition to Kemp's share of the land. Kemp has, by his misappropriation of moneys, received for the township section ,£6,000 and interest, and we think this sum should be taken as in full settlement of his rights to share in the block. Kawana Hunia is entitled to receive a similar amount from the tribal estate. It was admitted on all sides that the purchase of the State farm was an excellent thing for the district, and that the price, £4 per acre, was a fair one. No complaint was made by the Natives as to the sale or the price; what they objected to was to Hunia receiving the purchase-money. The farm does not interfere with any of the dwellings or cultivations of the Natives, and the land, covered as it was with bush, was practically useless to them before the Crown took possession of it. Under all the circumstances we have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that the best thing for all persons interested would be to complete the purchase, treating the farm as Kawana Hunia's share in the block. ,£4,000 of the purchase-money remains in the hands of the Crown. The total purchase-money, £6,000, would belong to the representatives of Kawana on their proving succession, and Warena and Hunia would, before they received any further portion, have, as between themselves and the remainder of Kawana's successors, to bring the £2,000 already paid into account. The names of the persons who, so far as we can ascertain, are entitled to Block No. 11 are set out in the fourth schedule hereto attached; and as it is, we think, owing to the quality of the evidence forthcoming, impossible to fix accurately the shares of each person, the only solution of the difficulty is to declare them to be entitled to equal shares. In the early days of the colony a white man, named Hector McDonald, took up his residence at Horowhenua, leasing the land from Te Whatanui and the Natives. One of his sons —John—still leases that part of Block No. 11 to the northward of the Hokio Stream. Another son —Hector —resides on the block in what was his father's house, on the banks of the Hokio Stream, a short distance below where the stream makes its exit from the lake. The Natives have allowed the McDonald family to occupy this house from the time of its erection, and Hector McDonald (the father) and other members of the family have been buried on the block a short distance from the house. The McDonald's have always been on excellent terms with the Natives, and considering this, and the almost superstitious veneration the Natives have for the resting-place of the dead, we think the Natives would have no objection to a reserve being made of, say, 10 acres, to include the residence of Hector McDonald and the burying-place of the family. We venture therefore to bring this matter before you, although it is beyond ■the scope of our Commission.