THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON NATIVE AFFAIRS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 51, 28 February 1880, Page 1

THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON NATIVE AFFAIRS.

[From a Correspondent.] l i _'■.,•'•- Hawera., Febiuary27. f Jj[;.TJbiei Royal Commission has finished ifs enquiry so far as concerns the country between Patea and Stoney Biver. The natives interested appear very well satisfied with the manner in which the investigation has been conducted, end the conclusions which the Commission has arrived at in all the cases brought before it. Some of the newspapers and their correspondents from this neighborhood appear to have thought that the business of the Commission was of a political character, and tbeir duty that of getting access to Te Whiti and inducing hira to comeio, but aoy one who haa read the Commission issued' by the Governor must kuow that the business of the Commission ia. simply one of enquiry. They are charged to'- ascertain and report on certaiu pledges alleged to have been made to- the natives on this coast in reference* (o the confiscated lauds, the non-fulfilment of which is said to have led to mueh dissatisfaction amongst the natives, and to be the chief impediment in the way of the restoration of friendly relations and the quiet occupation by the Government ot a great portion of the confiscated territory. The Commission has had access toevery source from which any information is likely to be obtained on the subject, and has gone into every alleged caae with the grealeßt painß, and thera is no doubt that they now know everything which their commission required then to find out within the limits mentioned. The sittings hava been crowded with influential natives of both sexes. They leave for New Plymouth on Saturday, where they will have to make similar enquiries affecting a class of cases supposed to exist in fchafc parfc of thafc parfc of fche country as far as fche "Whito Cliffs, (fche northern ! boundary of the confiscated lands). These, it is said, will be of a technical character, and affecting the allocation of awards made^ by the Compensation Court to local' natives. The general character of the evidence taken before the Commissioners hitherto has gone fco show that, substantially, the promises to the natives between Waimate and Patea have been fulfilled by the restoration to them of large reserves, of which they are in actual possession, and which have mostly been surveyed on the ground, but that they have not yefc received Crown grants for them, or had their titles individually, bufc there would seem to be no reason why it should nofc be. done in a few weeks. The natives allege that Mr Sheehan promised them, eighteen months ago, thafc he would send tip a Judge of fche Land Court to do this work bufc fche promise was nofc kept. In the course of the enquiry on "Wednesday the Commission endeavored to ascertain whether any reserves had been made or promised on the Waimate Plains before the commencement of the sectional survey?, or at any time before the surveyors were expelled. Ifc will be remembered that, in the House of Representatives in July last, Mr Sheehan asserted in the most positive manner that such reserves had been made. The statement, however, is apparently irreconcileable with the facts as brought out in evidence before the Commissioner. It also eamo out that Major Brown, on his own responsibility, would have made the reserves while fche survey was going on, and was on the point of consulting the natives about it when he was stopped by a telegram from Sir G. Grey, which prohibited him from doing so. All the Government had been consulted, and the natives were in the meantime nofc to know anything about ifc. Later on, Mr Sheehan directed Major Brown to disregard the telegram, bufc ifc was fcoo late, and in a few days the surveyors were ejected, and nothing had been done. Major Brown very distinctly declared hia belief that, if the natives had been consulted about the reserves when the survey was commenced, and they if had been made in accordance with their wishes, the stoppage of the surveyors would not have occurred.