TARANAKI.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 131, 31 October 1846, Page 4

TARANAKI.

Office of the Commissioner for investigating and determining Titles and Claims to Land in New Zealand. Auckland, 31st March, 1845. "Sir, — I have the honour to lay hefore your Excellency the result of my investigation into the New Zealand Gompany's claims to land comprised in cases No. 374 d* and 374 <,f and founded upon two deeds, attested copies of which are herewith enclosed, dated respectively as per margin. I have to call your Excellency's attention to the copy of minutes of my court,£ also enclosed, -holden at New Plymouth, which "will put your Excellency in possession of my ■determination upon the case, which was delivered in open court, in the presence -of a large assemblage -of -Europeans and Aborigines, (translated to the latter by Mr-. Forsaith, my interpreter) and which decided that the New -Zealand Company was entitled to a Crown Grant of a block of 60,000 acres of la>al, commencing on the north side of the Sugar Loaf Islands, and 'extending in a northerly direction to a place called Taniwa, including •native reserves, with certain -exceptions particularised in my judgment. This will comprise all the land that the Company has already sold, or offered for sale in that district. My despatch from New Plymouth, under date the 12th of June, 1844, (No. 44-5) will have made your Excellency fully acquainted with the facts, circumstances and reasons, which induced me to decide in favour of the Company. Much, therefore, of the subject matter contained in this my final report upon the case has already been brought under your Excellency's consideration. As, however, your Excellency was pleased to reverse my decision, I think it absolutely necessary, now that I am about, after the most mature deliberation, to confirm my former judgment, in this my final report, to recapitulate every fact, circumstance and reason, that I think bears upon the case, and is calculated to shew the correctness of my first decision ; so that this report may be complete in itself without reference to any other docucument. I take this opportunity most respectfully to request that a copy of this report may be forwarded to the Right Honorable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, together with all the evidence taken in the case, which I think indispensable to enable his Lordship to form any correct opinion upon its merits ; and also a copy of my despatch to your Excellency of the 12th June, 1844, with its enclosures. Great misapprehension has existed in New Zealand amongst the European as well as the Aboriginal population as to the purchase of this district by the New Zealand Company ; or rather, perhaps, as to the particular block of 60,000 acres of land which has been surveyed by the Agents of that body, and is the

• No. I.— -Conveyance, 15th February, 1840. t No. 2.— Conveyance, 15th February, 1840. 1 No. 3« — Copy Commissioner's proceedings at Court bolden at New Plymouth, with Commitffdner's judgment .

only land I have decided they were entitled to in the Taranaki district. It Was commonly reported, and generally believed, that the land the Company intended to claim included the whole of the Taranaki district, which was formerly occupied by branches of the Ngatiawa tribe, who, being driven away by the Waikato about ten or eleven years ago, went to reside at Waikanae, Port Nicholson, and other places to the South, where most of them have remained ever since ; but it now turns out that the district where a great majority of these natives who were called " the Taranaki tribe" formerly resided, commences on the south side of the Sugar Loaves, and extends in a southerly direction towards Waimate, and is outside the block of land which I have awarded to the company. The New Zealand Company originally claimed a very large tract of land in this district under three purchase deeds : The first, from the Ngatiawa residing in Queen Charlotte's Sound ; the second, from the resident natives of Ngamotu^ and the third, from the Taranaki tribe. Colonel Wakefield not having offered any native evidence in support of the Taranaki deed, I called upon him to know whether he meant to call any further witnesses in support of the Company's claim ; to which he replied in the negative.* I further enquired of him whether he intended to claim any block of land to the southward of the Sugar Loaf Islands under the deed from the Taranaki natives or to offer any further evidence in support of that deed. Colonel Wakefield replied that it was not the intention of the Company to claim any block under that deed, or to call any further evidence in support of it. This narrowed my enquiry to the block of 60,000 acres under the deed from the resident natives of Ngamotn, "also branches of the Ngatiawa tribe. I have in my "first general report" to the late acting Governor, (which I had the honour to lay before your Excellency on your arrival in this colony) and in my other final reports upon the New Zealand Company's cases, most -particularly referred to the way in which those alleged purchases by the Company, that I had investigated, had been conducted ; I had occasion to express in those reports a very strong opinion that these purchases had been conducted with great carelessness ; and that the signatures of some leading chiefs having been obtained, the great object of the parties seemed to be, to insert in the deed the names of places, comprising degrees of latitude and longitude, upon the surface of which thousands of natives were living, instead of ascertaining who -were the resident natives upon this immense territory, and endeavouring to obtain their consent to its sale. I then stated that although a tribe might have marched througli a country conquering all "the natives, occupying the ground over which they passed, — yet if they failed to retain the lands so conquered in their possession, and allowed the former owners still to occupy it, or to return immediately afterwards and cultivate it without interruption for a period of years, — in that case, the consent of the conquerors to a sale to the Europeans, without that of the resident natives, could not be admitted by me as constituting a valid purchase : and I know of no rule laid down as binding upon, or generally adopted by the nations of Europe, in colonizing a new country peopled by aboriginal inhabitants, which would justify the taking of land from the actual occupiers and cultivators of the soil without their consent ; on the contrary, I have quoted the very opposite doctrine, as laid down by De Vattel, in my final report upon case No. 374. I have also very fully remarked upon the imperfect way in which these transactions had been explained to the natives. This purchase, I am happy to say, is free from these objections. The Principal Agent of the Company had previously effected a partial purchase of Port Nicholson, and had got another deed executed by the Ngatiawa resident in Queen Charlotte's Sound, purporting to convey (amongst other lands) the district which forms the subject of this report. E Puni, orte of the principal chiefs of Port Nicholson who joined in, and has ever since admitted the sale of that place to the Company, and who had formerly resided at Taranaki, recommended Colonel Wakefield to purchase it. Here then it appears that the Port Nicholson natives, who had formerly lived at Taranaki, and the Ngatiawa in Queen Charlotte's Sound, had ample notice of the intended purchase. Subsequently, Richard Barrett, who had been many years in New Zealand, having a native wife by whom he had several children, speaking their language and understanding their customs, was landed at Taranaki, and remained on shore, living with the resident natives for a period of between two and three month?, negotiating for the purchase, and explaining to them the boundaries of the land he was desirous of acquiring for j

• See copy minutes of Commissioner's Court held at New. Plymonth, on the sth June, 1844. Enclosure No. 3.

Colonel Wakefield ; and the bargain was not finally concluded until the natives had" seen the goods offered in payment, brought by the Guide brig. After much negotiation, and after every attempt had been made by the natives to obtain more goods than those offered, and after Barrett* had told them that if they did not intend to take the payment that they saw lying on the de»k, that he should get the vessel underweigh and go away from them, they consented to accept the payment ; had the goods landed ; and forty men, besides women and children, including a large majority of the resident natives, signed the deed, and took away the goods. Richard Barrett states as follows : — " As soon as a chief by the name of Awatea, and a woman by the name of Eka (Katherine) heard that I was going away with the vessel with my family, they came on board the vessel and said I should have their land, and that the payment was to go on shore. I then asked the remainder of the natives, on the ship's deck, whether the trade should be landed ? And they said * Yes.' We then landed the trade consisting of fowling-pieces, blankets, powder, tobacco, cartridges, iron-pots, umbrellas, shawls, calico, gun-flints, axes, tomahawks, and spades. After the trade was landed Mr. Wakefield and Mr. Dorset came on shore, and brought the deed with them ; and it was read over to the natives in English by Mr. Wakefield and interpreted by me. I told them that they could not touch any of the property that was lying on the beach before they had signed that paper, to let the gentlemen in England see that they had sold their land. I then stopped sometime and sat down on the beach, and at last they gave consent and signed their names in the presence of myself, Mr. Dorset, Mr. Wakefield, Dr. Dieffenbach, and George Doddery. After the deed was signed they separated the trade into different parcels, and we returned on board the ship." — (Richard Barrett, examination in chief). This evidence goes to show, that the greatest caution and deliberation was used on this occasion, and that every fair opportunity was afforded the natives fully to understand the nature and extent of the transaction in which they were engaged, before it was finally concluded. During Barrett's residence at Taranaki, before he effected his object, there was ample time for any of the Ngatiawa of Port Nicholson and the other places, to have opposed the sale ; but none appeared to dispute the right of the resident natives. About eleven years ago, a battle was fought •between the Waikato and the Ngatiawa residing in this district, at a place called Pukerangiora, when the former completely conquered the latter, taking a great many prisoners with them to Waikato, whom they made slaves. The majority of those who escaped, fearing a further attack from the Waikato, migrated to Waikanae, Port Nicholson, and other places to the south, took possession of (the land) and cultivated the land there^ and in the case of Port Nicholson I have already admitted their title by reason of their occupation, and cultivation of the soil for a period of nine or ten years, as against Te Rauperaha and others, who pretended to claim that district by right of conquest. The resident natives of whom Barrett made the purchase in question, appear to have been permitted by the Waikato to occupy this district between the Sugar Loaves and Taniwa without interruption, from the time of the taking of Pukerangiora until the purchase : most of them, however appear to have lived opposite the Sugar Loaves, for the purpose of being ready to escape in case of further attack ; and it seems to me that fear of the Waikato, coupled with a desire to have Europeans to reside amongst them, to protect them from their enemies, was one of the piincipal moving causes that induced them to consent to the sale of the district. It appears to me that these Ngatiawa who, having left this district after the fight, sought for, and obtained another location, where they lived and cultivated the soil, and from fear of their enemies did not return ; cannot now show any equitable claim, according to native customs, or otherwise, to the land they thus abandoned. Had they returned before the sale, and with the consent of the resident natives, again cultivated the soil without interruption, 1 should have held that they were necessary parties to the sale. During my residence in this country, in the execution of my commission for a period of between three and four years, I have taken every opportunity of ascertaining by every means in my power all native customs respecting the tenure of land ; and, in my decisions, I have endeavoured in every instance to respect them, where certain ; and, where doubtful, or not clearly ascertained, I have allowed justice, equity, a common-sense view, and the godd conscience of each case, to supply their place.

* Vide Barrett's Evidence, t Confirmed by Te Uia, vide infra, p, 41.

Bearing all these points in mind, I 4m of opinion that the adoption of a contrary doctrine to' that which I have just laid dowri would lead to very serious consequences, not only a* regards titles to land between the aborigines themselves, but also as between them and the Europeans. It appears that some of the Ngatiawa tribe, after the arrival of the Europeans, and the formation of th~e settlement, when they thought themselves in consequence safe from their enemies, did return to Taranaki, and commenced the cultivation of land within the limits of the block previously alienated Co the New Zealand Company ; but I cannot for the reasons stated above admit their title, a recognition of which would oblige me to admit that of all others similarly situated, who might at any time think proper to return and claim payment. From my first arrival at Wellington, the chiefs Moturoa, Wairarapa and others, members of the Ngatiawa- tribe, who disputed the sale of that place to the Company, constantly told me that they should remain there until they obtained payment, and then go to Taranaki, which they had left ten years before, and claim payment for 1 that place also. I invariably discouraged them from taking a step which appeared to me so unfair and unjust ; and I was much pleased to find that not one of them appeared at my Court to assert any claim ; although they had full notice of my intended visit to Taranaki to investigate the claim there ; and some of their people, and Wairarapa's son, travelled with me the whole journey. If, however, the claim of those who had returned since the purchase had been once admitted, no doubt all the others would have immediately claimed payment, and my enquiry would have been almost interminable. I had no claim brought forward on the part of the Waikato, which may be accounted for by the contents of a letter from the late Governor Captain Hobson to Captain King, the the original of which I enclose herewith ;* nor was there any evidence offered to shew that that tribe had ever cultivated any land within the Company's block. I shall now proceed to take a review of the evidence given in this case, which induced me to decide in favor of the validity of the Company's purchase. John Dorset, the first witness examined, is a respectable settler, a surgeon, residing at "Wellington. He deposed as follows : — "On our passage up to the North in the barque Tory, Mr. Barrett was left at Taranaki on 27th Novembar, 1839, with his wife and family, for the purpose of arranging with the natives for the sale of their land. On the 31st January, 1840, I returned in the brig Guide, with the goods requisite for the purchase of the land. On the 15th February, 1840, the goods were landed, and the chief inhabitants of the place signed the deed, even ! to the women and children, so anxious wete they to make it binding to their posterity, on account of the reserves of land guaranteed to them by the deed." — (John Dorset, examu tion in chief. ) This witness afterwards says that Barrett was present at the transaction j and on being asked in whose handwriting the names of the parties to the conveyance were written, replied as follows :—": — " except where the natives signed their own names, and native missionaries wrote the names of others, Mr. Edward Jerninghara Wakefield wrote the rest, and I did see them all execute." He also states that the deed was interpreted and fully explained to the natives by Barrett : and that they appeared so satisfied that one of them he particularly noticed, insisted upon his infant putting his mark to it, to make it binding on the child. That the transaction took place at Taranaki near the Sugar Loaf Islands, on the beach ; and that he saw the whole of the goods enumerated in the deed delivered to the natives ; that the deed was in the handwriting of Mr. E. J. Wakefield, who received the names of the places from the natives, " Wideawake," (he did not know his maori name), Puki, and Ngamotu. That he concluded the bargain for the purchase of the land : and, that the natives told him that before his arrival there had been a great meeting conferring with Mr. Barrett ; and that, tired of waiting for the ship, they had dispersed, leaving directions that they should be sent fot when the ship came in sight. — (J, Dorset, examination in chief.)

♦ Nd. 4.— Captain Hobson to Captain King. (To be continued.)