G—2

1950 NEW ZEALAND

REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO AND REPORT ON CLAIMS MADE BY CERTAIN MAORIS IN RESPECT OF THE WANGANUI RIVER

Laid on the Tables of Both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency

Royal Commission to Inquire Into and Report Upon Claims Made by Certain Maoris in Respect of the Wanganui River

George the Sixth by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King. Defender of the Faith : To Onr Trusty and Well-beloved Sir Harold Featherston Johnston, Knight, of Opoutama, one of Our Counsel learned in the law, and sometime a Judge of Our Supreme Court of New Zealand : Greeting : Whereas upon proceedings taken in the Native Land Court (now called the Maori Land Court) for the investigation of title to the portion of the bed of the Wanganui River between the tidal limit at Raorikia and the confluence of the Wanganui and Whakapapa Rivers the Court, on the twentieth day of September, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine, made a provisional or preliminary determination that the said portion of the bed of the Wanganui River was, at the time of the making of the Treaty of Waitangi, land held by Maoris under their customs and usages : And whereas upon proceedings taken in the Native Appellate Court (now called the Maori Appellate Court) by way of appeal from the provisional or preliminary determination aforesaid, the Native Appellate Court, on the twentieth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and forty-four, dismissed the appeal so brought: And whereas upon later proceedings taken in the Supreme Court it was, in effect, declared that by virtue of section 14 of the Coal-mines Act Amendment Act, 1903 (now represented by section 206 of the Coalmines Act, 1925), the bed of the Wanganui River, so far as the same is navigable, is, and is deemed to have always been, vested in Us : And whereas it is contended by or on behalf of certain Maoris that they would, but for the provisions of the said section 14 of the Coal-mines Act Amendment Act, 1903, be the owners, according to Maori custom