J. JONES. j

Mr. Masscy: Partly only Witness: Alter keeping me for thirteen weeks they said, " You shall noi be heard there. 115. Mr. Massey.] There were two requests in the petition. 1 have it here. I find that Mr. Macdonald is right with regard to the prayer of the petition; but the Committee, while reporting against Mr. Jones so far as his appearance at the bar of the House was concerned, reported in his favour with regard to consideration of his interests in equity. Leaving that point, Mr. Jones, do you remember writing to the Chairman of tfle Waikato-Alaniapoto Land Board, asking to be notified of any intention on the part of his Board to dual with these lands/- 1 wrote to Mr. Carroll and 1 wrote to the President of the Bourd. Mr. Carroll instructed Mr. Fisher to inform me that I had better write to the President of the Board, but I got no such intimation at all. 116. Have you a copy of the letter which you forwarded to the President of the Maori Land Board? —Yes, sir. [Document produced.] I have also a copy of the letter to Mr. Carroll, and Mr. Fisher's reply. 117. 1 want you to read the letter which you wrote to the President of the Maori Land Board, and his reply, so that they may be placed in evidence? —This is my letter —it was registered dated from Mokau, 11th March, 1911 : " Sir,—Mokau-Mohakatino Block: On the 29th December, 1909, I wrote to the Hon. James Carroll with respect to certain parties endeavouring to obtain titles adverse to my interests in these lands, and he replied through the Under-Secretary, Mr. Fisher, advising that I should bring the matter to your notice; and on 17th January, 1910, 1 adopted this course, but you did not see fit to acknowledge my letter. I have heard indirectly that Mr. Fisher is a member of the Board. No Gazette, or official information reaches me in this neighbourhood. I have, however, heard incidentally that some dealings are being attempted with these lands through the Board. or may not be correct, but I would remind you of the before-mentioned letter, and again state that no legally constituted Court of law, upon competent trial, has decided that my rights in this estate have become void. The Under-Secretary, Mr. Fisher, cannot but be aware that the Legislative Council Committee, in 1908, and the Committee of the House of Representatives, 1910, both reported in effect that I had been defrauded with regard to the title to the lands, and recommended the Government to set up inquiry into the facti, which I have not yet obtained. Please take notice.—l have, &c, Joshua Jones." 118. Now, would you mind reading the reply that you received? —"Office of the Waikato Manianoto District Maori Land Board. Auckland, 25th March, 1911. —Mr. Joshua Jones, Mokau, Taranaki. —Dear Sir, —Mokau-Mohakatino Nos. If, Ig, Ih, 1j : I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, which reached me on the 22nd idem. Yesterday an application was made to the Board, then sitting, for confirmation of resolutions passed by the meetings of assembled owners held at Te Kuiti on the 22nd instant. The resolutions provided for the sale of all four blocks to Mr. H. Lewis for the sum of £25,000 in cash, besides £2,500 worth of shares m the Mokau Land and Coal-mining Company (Limited) to be formed. Mr. Dalziell appeared in support of the application, and pointed out that any rights which you might have as against the present lessee would be in no way prejudiced by the present proceedings, which affected only the owner's reversionary interest. He was prepared to take confirmation on this understanding. The Board therefore decided to affirm the owners' resolution to sell, and it is proposed that the transfers will be executed as soon as the purchase-money has been paid and the shares delivered. —Yours faithfully, W. H. Bowler." 119. He says that your letter reached him on the 22nd of that month? —Yes, my letter of the 11th. It was registered at Awakino on the 15th March, so that it ought to have reached him the following day, but it took seven days to get to him, apparently. 120. Do you know the date on which the confirmation of the sale to Mr. Herrman Lewie by the Natives took place? —Yes. 121. What date was it?— Here it is, in his letter: " Yesterday an application was made to the Board." That was the 24th. 122. No notice was taken of your request?— None that I know of. It was all .lone quietly. 123. If anything had been done you would have known? —I ought to have known. I got no intimation. 124. You got no intimation of what was intended to be done or had taken place until after the confirmation?-— lhat is so. 125. Do you know the date of the Gazette notice?— Yes, the 30th March. The Order was signed by the Governor in Council on the 15th March and gazetted on the 30th. But there is a more important point than that about it. It appears that this Order in Council was sanctioned on the sth December previously, if you can believe Sir James Carroll, as no doubt you can. 126. There is no mention of the sth December?—lt is in Hansard —in Sir James Carroll's paper. 127. You are not able to put that in evidence, are you?— Yes; why not? Hon. Mr. Ngata: It is in the statement. Witness: It is admitted. Mr. Massey: If it is admitted, that is sufficient! Witness: Why I take particular notice of it is this : It is dated the sth December, while on the Bth December Sir Joseph Ward shook me by the hand and said he would put my title all right for me. Hon. Mr. Ngata: Here it is : "On sth December, 1910, Cabinet resolved that an Order in Council should issue." Witness: Sir Joseph Ward, as he was leaving Parliament House, shook me by the hand and said, " Jones, lam sorry I have not been able to attend to you; I have been so busy. lam going to Rotorua now " —he was just getting into his motor-car. " Come and see me when I come back and I will fix the thing up for you " —as I understood, on the basis of this letter that had been talked about so much.

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