REPORTS ON NATIVE AFFAIRS.

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 247, 22 August 1877, Page 2

REPORTS ON NATIVE AFFAIRS.

Amoxgst Reports ■ from --Officers in Native Districts, . presented to the General Assembly* is the following,-from Major Brown, Civil Commissioner dor this part of the_,Cplpny. i ~ NewlPlypaouth, 31st May, 1877 i r'siß-—I hdve the Bdnov to make the following on /the most material questions affecting-the present state; of the ;distrust;.,of which L am !the Civil Commissioner a ’

;I,iT-ho- .Natives : ar« jgradually but steadily: improving ’ in,, their feeling of submission to the state of things .resulting from->th,eir defeat; by -us ; .Bp uiuch so, that they diave;; -accepted the:parrying out of the: confiscation of the: balance of the- -land 'between the Patea and Waingongoro rivers without any serious, demur. The Ngaraurns ’ also show signs of meeting the Government hallway on the confiscation question in their district,,, X propose, after I have finished south Of the' Waingongoro, to cross that river and settle'the question of the Waimate. Plains. One of the principal difficulties’arises from the philanthropic advisers of the Natives, who sometimes profess, as Dr Curl did to Captain' Wilson, to be working, as amateurs, in the interest;of the Colony, while others have .the interest of pne race or the other in view; but in no caSe their’ own. Their views are very various, and have the effecCdf raising feelings of distrust and uncertainty in the Native mind. In np case is the view of the Legislature advanced— i.e. } that the land within the confiscated boundary belongs ‘ to’ the Colony, . and that it ...rests...with the Government to return what it pleases of the , land to- its former owners. The enclosed copy and translation of a letter from Colonel. McDonU e k, licensed interpreter, ’ is ah distance of the sort; of : advice given to the Natives. As will be. seen, it is diametrically opposed to the view that the lands are in the hands of the Government.. . Instead of advising them (if advice is... necessary) that they had better .obtain ,the best terms they can from the Government, his advice is to let the Government have some of the land, and let him have the management of. the rest. As all these advisers of the Natives are either themselves licensed interpreters, or employ interpreters as their agents, under some mistaken idea that the confiscation has left some native claims in the laud that can be dealt with under the Native 1 Lands Acts, I recommend that licensed interpreters be informed that by so doing they are exceeding their licenses, which will be cancelled if they attempt any further action of the kind without the special consent of the Government. Objections have been raised to’ the control that I have attempted to exercise over licensed interpreters in reference to conveyances and leases from natives of confiscated lands that have been, sot apart for their use, but which are still in an undefined state as regards the interests comprised in them. In native lands over which the native title has not been extinguished by the confiscation, the Legislature has provided by enactment, in the Native Land Acta, for the definition and. protection of the rights and interests comprised therein cf the natives who to deal with Them ‘ by sale or lease. But where the. native title has been extinguished by the confiscation, np such protection exists, and The Native Land Court has refused to deal with such interests when they have been brought before it. Nor does the license given to native-interpreters confer any authority to the holder, to interpret in eases of confiscated lands, except where, by the action of the Government, they, can be dealt with by the Native Land Court, Under these circumstances, I have thought it advisable to assume the protection of the interests of the natives, and, where it has appeared to me necessary, to forbid paid officers of the Government, who were licensed interpreters,' from acting, where the question was still in a complicated state. : Difficulties have arisen through the leasing by Europeans of reserves of confiscated lands set apart for the natives. In nearly all cases the rights of those have been recognized who formerly owned them., , The. native, therefore, whose land has been given away or sold to military, settlers :ov: others, is left out in the cold. This has developed two classes of opponents' to the fnrthei- Carrying out of. the confiscation. The one who has let his reserve to an European, feels sure that the-.European wilLbe as , a buffer between rhim and the Government, and doubts if he will get any more if the confiscation .be: further carried out; while,the other.feels so dissatisfied with his position that if he has any further-interests; he. does not see ithe. force of their being compromised by; the confiscation being : IcaTrhhii blit on j the land that is left. Tapa te Waerojis a type; of the former class, He has accepted and leased all the reserves he had a former interest In p he has opppsed the confiscation being carried any further; he has petitioned the house for more land, whicli he appears To be entitled to ; but he is not as yet willing that the

confiscation should be carried any further than may be necessary to enable him to have the additional land he has petitioned for, Since Tapa te Waero and his. relatives were obliged to go off from Mr Dickie’s land, after having expended some labour there, and Mere Awatea and others had to give up troubling Mr Nicholson in the occupation of the land he had purchased from her and Erueti te Pawa, there has not been any attempt on the part of the natives to take the laW into their own hands. In one case a settler had destroyed an ell weir that was m .existence before -he acquired-, thi .adjoining property, and the nets at the openings? of the weir.went with.it. As .no .mention was made of. the weir in his Crown grant, I presume he is legally right. The natives patiently heard me * when I told them I feared they had no redress. It appears to be one of those hard cases in: which an European likes to o.xercise the power That he holds. It is no doubt true- that if our positions were reversed we should receive but a fraction of the consideration that we •extend to them. Still, it would bc.well if some few- of the settlers would refrain from talcing a'leaf out of native habits ■andcustoms in their dealings with them. The natives within the confiscated lands •are : evincing: daily more to oar Courts of law, and are eve '’■png tliemselves of our Courts cases, several natives having meen sentenced to various terms of imprisonment with hard labour, or fined, for theft or assault, on other natives—in all cases with the consent of the tribe. But lam not aware, of natives having recourse to our Courts .in. cases of debt amongst Theinselves. The system of credit-that obtains in the colony, and the, remedies afforded for the recovery, of debt or imprisonment, for non-payment, through .the Resident. Magistrates’ Courts, have a.very demoralizing effect. ’ The, trader looks : to the law to .enable him. to recover the value of the goods he indiscriminately .trusts .the, natives with. The native, on the other hand, endeavours fo get as ; mnph credit as he can, and trusts to the ...chapter of accidents to .enable him to pay, or to evade the payment of wfiat’he owes.,; If Natives were, viewed as being still minors‘in-pecuniary matters, and all : .legal remedy against ; them, Tor debt i abolished, there is no,doubt hut that they would become more provident, and that their ;standard of honesty and principle would be raised, when -they found it had a marketable value. This is hardly the. case now. The Natives are showing a disposition to part with the land immediately outside of the confiscated land. This will consolidate the,.blocks of land acquired by my . .predecessor, and facilitate the continuous survey and settlement of the district inland of Mount Egmont. There is a good deal of disease among the Natives, due to their, altered habits since the war.' They formerly lived principally on the coast at or near their fishing stations.;., and fish formed an important portion of their diet. - They have now been driven inland, and, even where fishhig stations have been secured for them, they are comparatively useless, their canoes having been destroyed. I therefore recommend that arrangements be made to extend to them the same medical attendance afforded to the Natives at ' Wanganui, Wellington, Wairarapa, and other places.: As regards the river fishing, Captain Blake informs me that the passage in Enclosure No. 3 of 0. 4a,, in the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives for 1873, referring to eel cuts, refers to all rivers—that the' Maomahaki was simply an illustration. I therefore re-commend-that no farther Crown grants be issued having river boundaries on the Patea, W-henuakura, or Waitotara, until I have had time to ascertain if the site of an eel weir requires proteetjom I have informed Taurua that future, in the Patea River, one of the \ openings in each weir must be ■ left six feet wide, to allow of the passage of boats: to this he has agreed. I have to express my indebtedness to the chiefs Hone Pihama and Taurua for their able assistance and advice on many occasions. The latter felt very keenly his having been taken prisoner to Otago, and the reproach made to him at Wanganui by Meti Kingi, “ that his (Tanrua’s) opinion was now of no value, as he was only a slave.” His appointment as an assessor was greatly appreciated by him, as a recognition by the Government that his rank and Influence have not been seriously impaired by his deportation to Dunedin, which he speaks of as “ the darkest day in his life,” while the day on which he went on board the steamship £ Luna,’ to return, was “ the brightest day of his existence.” The native police force was coiisider- , ably reduced last, year, .as Captain Wilson, who is in charge of it, considered that it could be done without impairing its efficiency. I. cannot as yet recommend any ffifther reduction, as it has been useful in prevefifmg theft, and recovering stolen property, even on the Waimate side of the Waingongoro River. —I have, &c. , . Charles Brown, Civil* Commissioner. • The Under Secretary, Native Department, Wellington.

A little boy was sent to dry a towc before the nursery fire. “ Mamma,; is i done when.it is brown?” he presently inquired. - There is a proposition ,on foot to start a hospital for well-to-do , patients. We always thought hospitals were for those who were doing badly.