much less of the latter commodity than the former. Even so, Wi Pere should have credit for working out a far-sighted arrangement for retaining the tribal lands which were in great danger of being lost outright through the difficulties of the times. Known also as William Halbert, Wiremu Pere was a chief of Rongo Whakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki. For long he was the Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori, and he also became a Member of the Legislative Council. He was known as a formidable leader and a very determined person, one of the ablest of Maori politicians. What was Wi Pere's ultimate aim in promoting this company? Guy Scholefield's National Biography gives some information supplied by the late Sir Apirana Ngata, and part of this is that Wi Pere wished to neutralize the free trade in native lands by developing and managing them in the interests of the native owners. Wi Pere undoubtedly wished to preserve these lands to the Maori owners, and under very difficult circumstances. At that time there was free trade in Maori land. The formation of the company seemed to afford a rare opportunity to provide the money necessary to develop the land without the Maori birthright being lost. As all relevant documents are lost, we can only guess at the details of the arrangement. The company intended to develop the land and then liquidate. The Europeans would take one-third of ultimate profits, and the Maori shareholders the rest. It also looks as if some understanding existed that the Maori owners could redeem their lands fully developed as long as the Europeans received their share of the proceeds. In other words, Wi Pere probably dreamed of buying out the European shareholders and then farming the land for his own people. However this may be, the Settlement Company went the way of so many development companies of the time; it fell a victim of the slump. We Pere went as far as London to seek finance to keep it alive, but in vain. In 1890, with some of the land already partly developed and stocked, the Bank of New Zealand, as mortgagee, foreclosed on its mortgage, which amounted to £135,000. Wiremu Pere as he is portrayed in the ‘Parliamentary Shield’ showing all Members of Parliament for the years 1903–1905. This shield may be seen at Parliament Buildings, Wellington. Mr Pere was M.P. for Eastern Maori from 1884–1886 and 1894–1905 and M.L.C. from 1907–1912. He died in 1915. In the following sixteen years, the sheep and cattle continued to graze the fertile slopes without being greatly added to. The land was fiercely fought over by lawyers, businessmen, financiers and politicians. Following the foreclosure, Wi Pere looked for some means of stopping the bank from selling all the land, and in this way disinheriting his people. After two years, during which some sales took place, he succeeded by a legal action, in preserving One of the original shares of the East Coat Native Land and Settlement Company, to be seen at the East Coast Commission building in Gisborne.