SUPREME COURT.—CIVIL SITTINGS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5129, 31 August 1877, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.—CIVIL SITTINGS.

Thursday, 30th August. (Before his Honor the Chief Justice.) THE WAKA MAORI LIBEL CASE.

The hearing of this case was resumed at 11 o’clock, when a good deal of viva voce evidence was taken.

The first witness called was Mr. Locke for cross-examination by counsel for the plaintiff. He deposed that in the agreement which he made with the native owners of the Waipukurau block an arrangement was arrived at that Hori Nia Nia, a big chief, should have a reserve of some fifteen or twenty acres. Since passing the Court the land had been sold to Mr. Henry Russell, with the exception of a small piece at the pa, which was reserved for Hori Nia Nia.

A letter was handed in, written by Mr. Locke, and addressed from Napier to Mr. Russell at Waipukurau, the letter bearing date March 13,1866, and informing Mr. Russell of certain negotiations entered into by the witness on Mr. Russell’s behalf for the purchase of the block of land in question. Mr. Macassy : Looking at this letter, Mr Locke, it would appear that your memory rather failed you in your examination in chief. You have told the Court that, according to your conviction, Mr. Russell was present at your office at the time the agreement was made. Still here is a letter written by you from Napier on the 13th March, and addressed te Mr. Russell at Waipukurau. Witness : I was certainly under the impression that he was present at the time ; but of course, from that letter, he could not have been. My impression was wrong so far as that day was concerned ; but I still believe he was in my office with these natives, as I should not have taken upon myself to alter the terms of agreement with the natives without previous consultation. Mr. Macassy ; And Mr. Russell could not have given you a cheque for the £SO you spoke of as being necessary to the completion of the agreement ? Witness : He could not that day.

Mr. Macassy : Reverting again to that letter, I wish to know from you, Mr. Locke, whether Hr. Russell could have learned from you that you had succeeded in closing negotiations for the purchase of that land prior to your writing the letter? Witness : Apparently not. . Mr. Macassy : Now I ask you must he not have been at Waipukurau when you completed the purchase ? Witness ; He could not have been in the office. . .

Mr. Macassy : You sent him the first intimation in a letter addressed to him at Waipukurau ? Witness : Yes.

Mr. Macassy : Is not this letter of the 13th of March, in which you say the offer of £SOO for the land has been agreed to, an answer to Mr. Bussell's letter of the 10th March, in which Mr. Bussell says you may offer £4OO for the land ? Witness : Probably; but lam still unable to believe that I could have raised the price from £4OO to £SOO without having previously obtained the consent of Mr. Bussell to such an arrangement. Mr. Macassy : You remember the commission of inquiry which sat in 1873 ? Witness : Yes. I was at that time in the employ of the Government. Mr. Macassy : Did you see Hori Nia Nia with reference to a claim or complaint against Mr. Bussell ? Witness : I could not say that I did not, because I saw so many natives in reference to such questions. Hori Nia Nia did lodge a complaint in reference to the Waipukurau .Reserve. I have telegraphed for the original document. I think it probable that I may have told Hori if he had a grievance to have it tried before the commission. I did not write his complaint for him. The complaint was never heard before the commission. I did communicate with Mr. Drower as to Hori. I telegraphed to him asking where Hori was, aa I wished to see him. I may say that I acted under instructions from the Government. I know Mr. Tanner. He is a settler in Hawke’s Bay. He was interested in the Heretaunga Block. He was one of the twelve apostles. Messrs. Gordon and Ormond were also included in the twelve apostles. Mr. Macassy : Who was the Judas Iscariot of the twelve ? Witness ; I am not a judge. Mr. Macassy ; And Mr. Tanner, being one of the twelve apostles, accompanied by you went to Hastings ? ■

Witness ; Yea. Mr, Macassy : For what purpose ? Witness : Hr. Tanner’s chief object was to get Alice to confirm the sale. There was a doubt as to her age—whether she was a minor or not. There were no other members of the twelve apostles there. They had become reduced in number at that time. Mr. Tanner offered her £2500 I think. I have heard that le»al proceedings were pending at the suit of of° Alice to set aside that transaction, but I had nothing to do with the Heretaunga purchase. lam sorry to say I was not one of the twelve apostles. I was in no way concerned in the land in question. Mr. Macassy : You found yourself there promiscuously, so to speak. Witness -. Exactly, if you like to put it in that way. There were others there—two Maoris and an interpreter named James Carroll. I was there in order to witness the deed. I should have witnessed it as a magistrate. I went at my own expense. I was not reimbursed. Arihi had two natives to advise her. The transaction was not completed then, as Arihi said she would like to see some relation of hers. The means of communication with Hastings at that time were by rail. We did not all travel together. I was not present at the whole of the interview with Alice. I reserved myself to hear what the other side had to say. t , ... Mr. Macassy : What do you mean by the other side ? Witness : Alice, Carroll, and the others. Mr. Macassy : Do you mean to say that the contracting parties were the other side, and that you were this side 1 • Witness ; I mean generally. I wished to hear what they had to say, and therefore I did not enter into their negotiations. , j,p r . Macassy ; Did you make any statement regarding Mr. Henry Eussell ? Witness ; I saw the words—to which I suppose you allude —in a letter in the Walca Maori, but X did not utter them.

Mr. Macassy read the letter in question, m which Alice (the writer) makes a statement to the effectthat Messrs. Tanner and Locke (the witness) had warned her against Mr. Henry Russell on several grounds, concluding with the assertion that he was endeavoring to wheedle the natives out of their land. Is this, said Mr. Macassy, that Alice states, true? Witness : So far as lam concerned, no. As animosity existed between Mr. Tanner and Mr. Russell, I should think it probable that he said so ; but I did not. I may have warned the Maoris to be careful absut what they were doing in regard to their lands. Hawke s Bay was in a very excited state for years. I remember Mangai and Mr. White (a native interpreter) going t.) Te Aute. I was attesting witness to the deeds of leases produced, dated 15th May and 23rd May, 1876. I would not have attested the deeds had I thought the parties to the deeds did not thoroughly understand them. Mr. Macassy : Was any application made to you to proceed to Te Aute for the purpose of attesting the signatures to Crown grant leases to Mr. Russell ? Witness : Yes.

Mr. Macassy : And yet only a tew short years before you went to Hastings at the request of Mr. Tanner ? Witness : Yes, but at that time I had more time to spare. I was delayed in the first instance owing to domestic matters; and on the day I would have gone I received a telegram from the Native Minister, stating that in future these deeds must be brought to my office to be signed, unless I happened to be travelling on public business, Mr. Macassy : I should like an explanation on this point, Mr. Locke. Is it not a singular coincidence that on the very day you were going to Te Aute you should receive a telegram stating that you, must not go ? Witness : All I can say is this—That this last meeting was the talk of the place at the time. Mr. Ormond telegraphed to the Native Minister on the subject, and I received these general instructions afterwards. Mr. Macassy : Was Mr. Ormond at this time one of the twelve apostles ? Witness : Yes. Mr. Macassy : And was he at that time Government agent ? Witness : Yes. Mr. Macassy ; Was it your intention to go to Te Aute before you received the telegram ? Witness : That was my intention. I mentioned to Mr. Sheehan that I would go up if possible. Mr. Macassy ; Did you make any communication to Mr. Ormond on the subject ? Witness ; I think it very probable that I told him about it. Mr. Macassy : Turning to another subject, Mr. Locke; did you see the letters of Alice and Mangai before they appeared in the Waka, Maori ? Witness : No ; I did not. Mr. Macassy : Did you hear of them ? Witness : The first time I heard of them was when Alice came to my office, in reference to the letter which I sent to Wellington, stating that Alice’s letter was important. I assume that I considered it so because of its earnestness. Alice was in the habit of using strong language. Mr. Oonolly re-examined this witness at considerable length. Francis Edwards Hamlin was examined by Dr. Duller as to the land purchase transactions between Mr. Russell and the natives in Hawke’s Bay. In reference to the signatures appended to the letters forming the subject of the present action, he stated that it was the custom for native chiefs of different degrees to sign on behalf of a whole hapu without consulting them on the subject, and this practice extended to the signing of deeds in reference to land transactions. It was also the custom, particularly in his district—namely, Taupo—for men of inferior rank, who were famous either for oratory or warlike deeds, to sign on behalf of a tribe ; but of course objection could be raised afterwards if any or all of the persons represented objected to the document to which their names were attached. He considered Mangai an important chief, and one who would be entitled to represent his hapu. This concluded the evidence for the defence, and evidence on behalf of the plaintiff was then called. Kingi Ta Tohunga and Parawhera (persons interested in land acquired by Mr. Russell) were examined to show that they had never been induced by money or coerced by threats to sign their names to deeds of lease, Mr. Ollivier was the next witness, being called to prove the attestation and registration of the deed between Mr. Russell and Arihi.

The Court then adjourned till 1C o’clock next morning.