73

G.—2

ston, called Tuwhakatupua, to the Bangitane. Ido not remember any other allotment made by that Court for the original tribes, except that in Manawatu-Kukutauaki No. 2. A number of Bangitane, better known as Ngatituwharetoa, were dealt with as the Ngatiraukawa, and put into these blocks along with the Ngatiraukawa. It was a large block containing 50,000 or 60,000 acres, and a certain number of these were put in with the Ngatiraukawa. But in the other case, Tuwhakatupua, was set apart—this for Muaupoko, and the other for Bangitane. That Court sat in 1873. I believe it began in 1872, but it did not adjudicate under the Act of 1873, and orders were made under the previous Act of 1867. Under the 17th section of that Act an order was made for the issue of a certificate to Kemp alone; and, in accordance with the law, a large number, which by some means, I see now is reduced to 143, but which I then thought was 152, were registered in the block. Ido not know what the special grounds of complaint were; but I do know this : Kawana Hunia and, I believe, others of those registered persons made application to the Court to have a rehearing, or to have the title altered in some way ; they were dissatisfied with the existing title. But the law did not give the Native Land Court adjudication to entertain claims by registered owners, and consequently nothing came of those claims. In the year 1886 the Manawatu Bailway had been constructed, and passed across this block, as shown upon the plan. I had been in the employ of the company for some time previously, but had completed the work they had given me, and was specially employed on this occasion to try and get a title to the railway-line, containing about 76 acres of land. I represented to the company that, in the existing state of the title, it could not be done— that Kemp, as sole certificated owner, could not alienate any part of the land for a longer period than twenty-one years, which would not suit the company. The company decided to try by any means the law would allow to get the title, and I was authorized to negotiate for the title. I then learned that land-purchase officers of the Government had made some attempts to induce Kemp to apply for a partition of the block, which would have the effect, as provided by the Division Act of 1882, of constituting all these registered persons owners, and have the effect of doing away with then existing titles in order that new titles under the Act of 1880 and its amendments could be issued to all registered owners. I accordingly waited on Kemp at Wanganui, and asked him whether he would be willing to make application to the Court to partition the block, and I say that I entered with Kemp most fully into what the effect of this application would be on his then existing position as sole certificated owner of the block, and that, so far as I could see, he clearly understood that the mere application to the Court would have the effect of destroying his title, pending the issue of fresh titles to the land. Kemp declined to make the application until he had first interviewed the Government. I made some little preparations to enable him to do so ; the circumstances being that he had been summoned to pay a small debt, and I deposited the small amount with the Sergeant of Police to enable Kemp to proceed to Wellington. We went to Wellington, and interviewed the Government together. Mr. Lewis, who was then Under-Secretary, asked Kemp to put any proposal he desired to make into writing, and Keinp did so through me. I wrote the proposal myself, at his dictation. The proposals were : that 4,000 acres in the centre of the block should be sold to the Government as a township ; that the township should be called Taitoko; that there should be a garden in the township of 100 acres, which garden was to be vested, in the first instance, in Kemp and his Excellency the Governor, as trustees, until there should be a Mayor and Council for the town, and that the trusteeship should then be shifted from the Governor to the Council. There was to be a reserve of a few acres for a Courthouse, and another for a schoolhouse, and it was particularly specified that the school was to be for Maoris as well as Europeans. It was to be divided into sections in the usual way, and every tenth section was to be Crown-granted to members of the Muaupoko, to be nominated by Kemp. He said he had already divided the Muaupoko into five classes, and it wound up by saying that if the Government agreed to these proposals he would make application to partition the block. We waited upon Mr. Lewis with these proposals, and subsequently had interviews with the late Mr. Ballance in his office. In these proposals the price of the land per acre was left blank. It was proposed, in case the Government and Kemp could not agree to a price, that an arbitrator should be appointed by the Government and another by Kemp ; but that was subsequently modified, both Kemp and Mr. Ballance agreeing to send the Surveyor-General forthwith to view the land, and Kemp agreed to abide by a price per acre to be fixed by the Surveyor-General. This being agreed to, we went back to Mr. Lewis's office, and informed him that Mr. Ballance had agreed to this, and that Kemp was prepared now to make the application. Mr. Lewis sent for a form of application, which was filled in, and was signed by Kemp. That is still on the files. The application for partition being thus put in, we waited for a sitting of the Court. But Kemp became extremely ill. I forgot to mention that, negotiations being completed, Kemp made me a present of —he said in his evidence—£2o or £25; my impression was that he gave me £50. I was then going to Auckland; at all events he gave me something. I went to Auckland on business, and was some time absent. When I returned, I found that Kemp had been taken dangerously ill. I went to Wanganui to see him, and found him apparently extremely ill. In consequence of his illness there was some delay in issuing the Gazette, and the Court was adjourned from time to time till Kemp was well enough—though still on crutches—to attend the Court, which was constituted to sit at Foxton. Two applications w r ere made by myself to the Court at Foxton to adjourn the sittings to Palmerston, and to be allowed to take a tracing of the block from the Court plan. Mr. Wilson gave me permission to take the tracing, and informed me that he had already determined to remove to Palmerston; and the Court did adjourn there a few days afterwards, and began its sittings. I got my son-in-law, a surveyor, named Palmerston, whose wife happened to be away at the time, to place his house at the disposal of Kemp: there was an outbuilding which was used for a store there, and he placed that and other outbuildings at the disposal of the people, and they formed their camp there, Kemp and I living in the house. I then applied to the Court for an adjournment, expressing my full belief that, if an adjournment were granted now, that they had a 10— G. 2.