MR.HINE'S CHARGES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 975, 16 November 1910, Page 4

MR. HINE'S CHARGES.

V TE AKAU PURCHASE. HON. J. CARROLL'S STATEMENT. TO "WET" A PETITION. Tho Parliamentary Committee on tin allegations made by "Mr. Hine, membe: for Stratford, sat again yesterday morn ing. Mr. J. A. Hanan presided. Mr M. Myers appeared for Mr. Hino, am ■ Mr. Skerrett, K.C:, with him Mr. P. 13 Sharp, represented Mr. Henare Kaihau M.P. ' Tho charge before the committee wa: ■that' Mr. Kaihau, M.P., received fron ■Horomona Watarauhi, in 1905, a sun of money for services connected with : petition to Parliament. Horomona Watarauhi, of Waingaro Raglan, said ho was interested in Lo G6, Waipa, and wanted a rehearing b; the Native Land Court of a case con neoteel with the title to the land. Hi mot Mr. Kaihau at the Waipa Hotel Ngaruawahia, and gavo him £15 fo drawing up and presenting a petition ti Parliament on tho subject. To Mr. Massoy: If was not for a peti tion that had been already presented but for an intended one. Mr. Fraser: Was it on that occasio) that Mr. Kaihau said to you that hi did not like dry petitions', hut preferret wet ones ?—" Well. I had given hin something to wot tho petition with." . Did Mr. Kaihau say that to you, o: something to-that effect? —"No. H said ho would bring it here to be deal with." Mr. Myers pointed out that tho re mark referred to by Mr. Fraser was al leged to have been made on another oc casion. . Are you. quite certain that the mone; was for services in connection with tha* petition, and not for any other service: that Mr. Kaihau had done, or was to d< for you?—'-'lt was simply for working my uow petition." THE FLAXBOURNE CASE. LETTER FROM SIR'G. CLIFFORD. The Flaxbourne case was mentioned at this point. Sir Joseph Ward' said ho had intend cd to call Sir George Clifford (fron whom tho estato was bought by tin Government) as a ■witness, hut ho hac received tho following letter fron him:— "Dear Sir, —I have been summoned to give evidenco on ;tho Hino cliarges, -but I have no useful information to give, the papers in the Flaxbourne case being destroyed. I have no recollection of the. details ■ of payments, except that the.total amount of costs amounted to about £6000.". Under the circumstances (tho Pre mier added) ho did not proposo to cal Sir George Clifford.' Mr. Massoy: Do you proposo to cal Dr. Findlay? Sir Joseph Ward: I do. Mr. Massey: That's all, right, becaust I havo some questions to ask him. THE TE AKAU CHARCE. STATEMENT BY HON. J. CARROLL .Tho Hon. J. Carroll, Nativo Minis tor, was then called by the Prime Mia ister to give evidonce on 1 tho To Akai chargo, in which Mr. .Henaro Kaihau M.P.,. is accused of having conductec tho sale by tho Natives of a block o: land to the Government and. received i payment from tho vendors for so doing Mr. Carroll, being'asked to make i statement, began with tho timo whei tho To Akau Illock was under least to. tho Loan and Mercantile Company When tho lease was about .to fall ii tho company tried "to get'a renowal o. it, and communicated with- the Govern mont'on tho. subject. iTho" llaglai County Council, through.' its chairman also, communicated. with tho Govern mont, and urged that'no further lease! should be granted over'tho block, ant that. a largo area—son™ £0,000 acresshould bo acquired for' closer settle ment. From that time disputations ii regard to tho title became rifo be tween tho two sections of tho owners known as tho Tainui and Ngatitahinga Tho block was tho subject of severe investigations by tho Nativo .Lain Court and by tho Commission,' nnd'wai also the subject of legislation. ' Tin Government, owing to public -pressure especially in Auckland and Waikato decided to acquiro as much as it couh of tho To Akau Block. Tho attontioi 6f .tho Government was constantly be ing drawn to tho necessity of acquiring the block by the local bodies and b; deputations, one of which was introduc ed by Mr. Massoy to the late Mr. Sed don'in 1905. Tho subject, was nisi mentioned in tho House on more thai one occasion. Ho remembered Mr.'Mas sey putting a question, to him,: ant complaining of. the delays that seemet to keep tho block from actual settle ment. The matter was referred by tin late Mr. Seddon to Cabinet, and Cab inet decided, in April, 1905, that tin Crown should purchase the whole block or as mucli of it as could bo got. Tin matter was referred to him (tin speaker), and he then forwarded tin papers to Mr. Sheridan, the Govern ment's land purchaso agent, who wai directed to try to acquiro the block [and was also told that it would.be.safi to advanco up to half its value. He be lioved that Sir. Sheridan proceeded ti .negotiate under.those'instructions, bu had not proceeded ■• far, and had no advanced any money on account of.tin purchaso, when tho negotiations passet out of his hands, and owing to 'i rearrangement of tho Nativo lam •purchaso hranch, Mr. Kensington re ccived chargo and conduct of tho busi ness. Mr. Kensington had as agent ii tho field Mr. Grace and also Mr. Pat terson. Mr. Grace's duty was to carr; out immediately active operations witl tho Nativo owners, and Mr. Matter son was to be thero on behalf of tin Department to sco that everything wa; conducted properly. . Two Pountfi! an Acre. Ho (tho speaker) had.nothing to d< whatever with tho details of the carry ing out of tho purchase. Ho only ad vised and consulted with''Mr. Kensing ton when necessary. Mr. ; Kensingtoi discussed with him tho question of : fair and reasonable price for tho land Mr. Kensington had a personal know ledge of tho land, and he (the witness had also a personal acquaintance wit] a good deal of it, including the portioi that was afterwards bought. From . Mr. Kensington's ■ persona knowledge of the land and from wha ho had seen himself, they denied tha it would bo a safe thing to fix th pHce at £2 an acre, and those wcr tho instructions which Mr. Kensingtoi issued to his officers. A member of tho Committco: Cai you fix tho date of that? Mr. Carroll: I think it was duriii] tho session of 190 S. Li that year sov oral of tho owners of tho To Aka Block were in Wellington. Ho (wit ness) was taken ill on October 27, an was laid up until November 1-1, an could not seo anybody until two o three days after lie was able to go about. Para Haimona and Popa an a few others waited all that timo i Wellington to sen him. They saw hii after he became slightly convalescent and they wanted somo advances a against their interests in tho land, an as they had offered to sell'it to th Crown, and the Crown had agreed t buy, and as they had been put to con sidorable expenso by staying in Wo: lington, ho (the Minister) directed Mi Kensington to make them an. advanct

which lie did. "From that timo onwards," concluded Mr. Carroll, "the negotiations proceeded without any par- ■ tieipation on my part beyond advising the Department when they were in any doubt. That is shortly the position so far as the question of .To Akau is concerned." As it was then 1 o'clock, Jlr. Masscy suggested that the- examination of Jlr. Carroll should ho taken at another tingThe Committee adjourned until 10.30 this morning. -i