REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PETITIONS COMMITTEE ON THE PETITION OF MESSRS. GOODISON.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1869 Session I, F-09

F.—No. 9.

REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PETITIONS COMMITTEE ON THE PETITION OF MESSRS. GOODISON.

ORDERED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BE PRINTED, TOGETHER WITH THE EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE COMMITTEE, Ist SEPTEMBER, 1869.

WELLINGTON. 1869.

F.—No. d.

Eepoet of the Public Petitions Committee on the Petition of Messrs. Goodison. The petitioners a father and two sons, English settlers in Otaki, carrying on the business of storekeepers and public carriers, complain that they have been plundered by the aboriginal Natives who reside in Otaki and the neighbourhood; and they pray, as they have been unable to recover any portion of their property or obtain redress from the Natives or from the Government, that their C Je may be taken into consideration by the House. The particulars of this case appear to be as follows : The aboriginal Natives of Otaki have for some time past suspected the petitioners of beinohabitually addicted to plundering their cattle. In the beginning of March last, these Natives taking the law into their own hands, resorted to the old Maori practice of tana, or seizing by an armed foreS the property of the suspected parties. In addition to taking the law into their own hands in the present case, they attempted to obtain a conviction against the two younger petitioners in the Supreme Court; but in this they failed, the defendants having been acquitted. The aboriginal Natives still retam the property; and having taken possession of the crops, they have rendered it impossible for the petitioners to remain any longer in Otaki. v The Committee have examined the elder petitioner, and they have received from Mr J C .Richmond the late Native Minister, a written statement, that officer having been present in Otaki at the tame the armed party of the aboriginal Natives was within a short distance of tie elder petitioner's, abode with a view to make the tana, and having induced the aboriginal Natives to disperse without actual, violence, and to allow the elder petitioner to pack up his chattels and depart from Otaki the following morning. l The Committee direct me to observe that, so long as the aboriginal Natives are permitted to take the law into their own hands, even admitting, for the sake of argument, that the suspected persons in this case had committed the offences of which they were suspected, it is impossible to hope that both of°« %Tk ? am T? fc \ O T"T£™ °i f the Same Wn ° r Village; that the Wuage of the statute law «Th S g n Ct ' ff/ Ck^ es 2 and 3 ' is cx P licit on the sub i ert > ail d h" declared That the Supreme Court and all other Courts of Law ought to have and have jurisdiction in all cases touching the persons and property of the Maori people ;" and that it is absolutely necessary that the ° nCe 6 StepS t0 PUt a St ° P t0 SUCh * gr ° SS Sal as that which is in Evidence taken before the Committee, Monday 30th August, 1869. Mr. Thomas Goodison was then called in and examined : 1. The Chairman.} Does this petition, presented to the House by the Member for Christchurch emanate from you P— Y es, myself and my two sons are the petitioners. ' w n 2, y hat ~^ tern5 nt .. have 7 OU t0 make?— Some thirteen years ago I came from Victoria toWellington with my family, and about six years ago I left Wellington and settled at Otaki Since then I hare been earning my living by keeping a store, and my sons have been acting as'carriers between Otaki and Wellington. I and my sons have been dealing in cattle and in pigs during the past four years. In March last the Maoris missed some of their cattle, and without saying a word they came to our place in the town of Otaki, and took away from my paddocks, which I rent from the Maoris three of our horses. The party who took away these horses were about ten in number The same afternoon, or the following morning, the Maoris drove away from the Otaki flat fthe fee'to tW Maoris for depasturing horses and cattle on this flat is 10s. per head per annum) seven horses which were grazing for a day or two en route from Eangitikei to Dunedin. I contracted in the beginning of the year, with the Maoris, for permission to depasture horses which pass through my hands payiit a lump sum for the privilege. Besides these seven horses they carried off from the same flat'a number of cattle belonging to myself and my sons. I cannot say how many cattle they took away, but we had 33 head there at the time I have not been on the flat since, and Ido not know how many head out of the 33 head they drove off. I ought to have said that on Monday, the Ist of March (the three horses which were taken from the paddock were taken on the Thursday following), Kiharoa and two or three other Natives came to my house in Otaki, and took away from my stable three horses, one a saddle horse, and two of which had been harnessed, with a view to drive them to Wellington, the plea uraed by the Maoris being that my son had not paid the rent of a cottage in which he was living My sons have since succeeded m getting hold of one of the harness horses, but the Maoris retained one of the harness horses and the harness as well as the horse which was the saddle horse. It so happened that Mr. Halcombe, the Provincial Secretary, was in Otaki that day. I told him of the circumstance, and Mr. Halcombe and myself meeting Kiharoa in Otaki, Mr. Halcombe asked him why he had taken the horses insteadL of summoning my son, if he had any claim for rent. Kiharoa replied, " The horses belong to Eobert Goodison (Eobert Goodison is my eldest son) and I shall retain them " Mr Halcombe then recommended me to go and see the Superintendent of Wellington. I then consulted Mr. Travers and he told me to apply to the Executive of the Colony, /then learned that Mr Eichmond, the late Native Minister, was about to visit Otaki, and I returned to my home. On the Ihursday of that week the taking away of the three horses from the paddock, as above detailed, took

REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PETITIONS COMMITTEE.

REPORT ON PETITION OE MESSRS. GOODISON.

F.—No. 9,

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place, and I think the cattle were driven away on the next day (Friday). On the Thursday on which the three horses were taken from the paddock the Natives surrounded my house at night and threatened to tomahawk my sons. Upon this I sent my sons off to Wellington, telling them to take any horses they could get hold of. On the Friday afternoon after the cattle had been driven off, a party of Natives, seventy or eighty in number, were on their way to my house, about 100 yards off, intending to drive me out of my house and take possession of my property, when Mr. Kichmond, the late Native Minister, arrived and prevented them from molesting me. He then went, with about ten of the Natives and the interpreter, to the Court of the Kesident Magistrate. . I followed, and a warrant was granted for the arrest of my sons for stealing a Maori's horse. Mr. Kichmond then told me to give up all my property into his charge, and that he would endeavour to arrange matters with the Maoris. The next day (Saturday) Mr. Kichmond held a Native meeting, and he, that same evening, informed me that he had got permission from the Natives for me to take away all my property which was inside my house, and that I had better get away from Otaki as soon as possible. On the following morning (Sunday) I started with my property on two drays and came into Wellington. My sons were tried by the Supreme Court for cattle stealing, and acquitted. The case for stealing the horse was dismissed by the Kesident Magistrate. With the exception of the one harness horse taken from the stable, which one of my sons recovered, the whole of the property specified above remained in the possession of the Maoris, who have in addition taken possession of property as per list which I now produce. About a fortnight or three weeks ago, one of my sons recovered in Kangitikei the saddle horse which had been taken away from my stable, and he sold it in Wanganui. On his return he was in company with two other young men, and reached Otaki, where they passed the night. Just before daylight the next morning the Maoris seized the three horses which the three young men were riding and carried them off. One of these horses has been since returned. 3. Were you ever sentenced in the Province of Otago for any offence ? —About nine years ago I went to the Waitahuna Diggings, in the Province of Otago. After some time I left the .Waitahuna Diggings, and I went to a place on the Waiporo Koad, about nine miles from Weatherstone. I kept a store and butcher's shop there. My sons had joined me just as I was leaving Waitahuna. A man whom I had known at the Hutt, and who had formerly driven a timber-waggon for Mr. Cotter, of the Hutt, but whose name I now forget, called at the store. I employed him in tending the sheep which I had bought for slaughtering. He had been with me about a fortnight when he and another young man came to the store with a flock of sheep. The stranger had the appearance of a drover, and ho had two dogs with him. He offered to sell me the flock. I refused to buy the flock, but I bought, I believe, two dozen from him. A day or two subsequently a man who carried on the same business as myself at a distance of about two miles from my store, got some of these sheep from mo as a loan: we were in the habit of assisting one another by the loan of a few sheep occasionally. A man, two or three days after this, seeing these sheep in the yards of this storekeeper, claimed them. That storekeeper was made a witness in the case, and I was sentenced to two years imprisonment. That storekeeper was subsequently arrested, and sent back to Victoria as an escaped convict, as I believe. I could never find the man who had driven Cotter's timber-waggon, and the stranger who he brought with him when I bought the sheep.

APPENDIX A. Mr knowledge of Mr. Goodison's case is as follows:—In March last I visited Otaki, and on entering the village I found a noisy party of mounted Natives mustered in the road a little way from Goodison's house. I learned that it was a case of muru —that the Maoris were about to sack Goodison's house in payment for alleged robberies by the petitioner's sons, assisted by himself. I succeeded in inducing the Maoris to disperse without violence. I then learned from Goodison that cattle and horses had been taken by the same Natives from himself and sons. After some conversation I said probably they would place them in my hands if he authorized me to say he had done so also. I held out no hope of recovering possession, however, in the excited state the Natives were then in. He assented. Next day I visited the pa. On my stating that the petitioner had placed the cattle in my hands, the Natives voluntarily proposed to make them tapu for me, and not to kill or dispose of them. Some of them added, however, that they were not to be removed by me until Goodison had made restitution of the beasts stolen by himself and sons. I made no remark on either of these proposals, and have not thought right to press upon the offer to hold the beasts in my name by asking that they should be given up. The Natives had threatened to detain Goodison and his family, who were greatly alarmed and wished to leave. I urged them not to violate the law further by interfering with Goodison's movements. They at once agreed, and, I believe, assisted him to leave the place. It was not at my request that he quitted, but because his family were in bodily fear. I did not think there was any sufficient cause for such fear, but no doubt Goodison was liable to interferences if he remained ; both Europeans and Maoris being convinced that he and his sons were guilty of the robbery complained of by the Maoris, as well as other previous robberies. 31st August, 1869. J- C. Eichmond.