SUPREME COURT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 27 October 1882, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.

crwEjsrr.TiNGs; THu-BsDAY^B^irPpr., 1882. (Befoie his HonorMrJustice Rich- ' mond arid '&• special jury.) KAIRA V.ja|j^i(M;vkNi>' KENNEDY. Mr H,utchisonift>i! .plaintiffs. Mr Duncan for defendants.'! The following gentlemen constituted the special jury : — G. 8. Robertson, Thomas ■ Thatcher, O. W. Oowper, John" Anderson, William Alexander, Gilbert -King, J. P. Watt, "W. F. Russell, ' James Duigah, Wihnot Powell, Donald Ross, J. G. Sharpe. Mr Robertson was elected foreman, Th% is a very, interesting and important case of ejeclment,the plaintiffs being Messrs Hatia.Kaira.jWd Reiharia Perer kuku, "Itad ' typ" '.defendants Messrs Nicholas - Hear'n . and James Kennedy, of Waitotera.—fTbe object of the action ia to reopver possession of 394 acres three roods and , eight perches, being section 400 in the • Wairoa District, and also to recover £115 for niesne profits. — The declaration states that by Crown grant of 16th February, ISBI, the land was granted to M aka ■ Taiapiti as from the 12tK "December, 1866 (the block being part of the confiscated territory), but £hat'Maka had died prior to the date of 'the grant. . That, at a; Bitting of the Native Land Court on the' 28th July, 1881, a testamentary order >waß made in "favour . of the plaintiff Han a Kaira „ .(wife of Maka) and, Paramena Taiapiti, Rio Tereipi, and Miripo Pi (minors) as successors, to the said Maka. By Order in Council, dated the 11th of October, 1881, the interest of those minors was vested in the plaintiff, Reihana Perekuku, under the provisions of the Maori Real Estate Management Acts, 1867 and 1877. The declaration, after stating these facts, claims that the defendants have been, since .the Ist August, 1881, in possession of the land without any right or title as against the plaintiffs. To this the defendants plead that, by a lease dated the 27th May, 1872, Mnku Taiapiti, Paramena Tumahuki, Mata Hihini, Mata,, ( te Ngau, Hariata te Rapu, Herona,; Hiniha'ra te Omaoina, and Samera Perangi, granted the land to one Henry Shakespeare Taylor for 21 years, at the rent of Is id per acre. By deed dated tbe.-24th of March, 1873, Mr Taylor assigned the property to Mr Francis Williamson, and the executors of that gentleman's will transferred the )c block to the defendants in this action. The defendants also, plead that they have been in possession of the land with the consent of tbe plaintiffs or their predecessors, and have actually paid rent to the plaintiffs on or about the lst.of June last, whereby the defendants became tenants from year'tb year. The principaTquestions submitted for trial by the issues, (as agreed upon between the parties) are as follows : —Did Maka Taiapiti, execute the lease ; was it duly certified by, a, trust commissioner; •were the defendants -in possession with the consent of/the' predecessors of the plaintiffs theiuselves; Dand did they accept rent accordingly from the plaintiffs. A great amount of Maori and other evidence was taken on both- sides, the chief question at issue beiDg whether Maka Taiapiti- did :not- die in the year • 1869, and that.tbereforohis name to the 1872 lease was a : forgery.'^ Maka was a native who was driven ■ Vy Titokowaru's war to take refuge at Putiki, and a host of ' native witnesses (including Maka's own wife) werti' called to prove'his death and burial in 1869." On the other hand evidence was given tq prove the signature of -Maka '-'to 'the lease, and it was not disputed that .the defendants had fully paid they.r.ent of f the. property to date. „', , ;..'.> '-'.', ',;,• . " ' t The evidence not being completed, the case was adjourned, till the follow-, ing morning. „-.<.,: •