E.-No. 2B.

waiting his arrival. The chief, Te Kepa, addressed his Honor to the effect that tho people had assembled ' not to talk but to listen,' —that they had placed their dispute in his hands nearly twelve months before, and had adhered to their promise quietly and patiently to wait his decision. " Dr. Featherston, in reply, commended them for the strictly honorable manner in which they had fulfilled the conditions of their agreement, and then proceeded to give them a full and circumstantial account of what had passed at the Ngatiraukawa meeting on the previous day. He concluded by congratulating them on the favourable aspect tho question had now assumed, and the evident prospect of a speedy and satisfactory adjustment of the dispute by a mutual sale of the block." * * * Recently, however, certain dishonorable attempts were made to create dissatisfaction among the Natives, and to induce them to repudiate the agreement they had thus deliberately entered into with the Commissioner, on the ostensible ground that the exclusion of this land from the operation of " The Native Lands Act" was an act of oppression, and ought not to be tolerated by them. These attempts to some extent succeeded, and their effect soon developed itself—not merely in a petition to the General Assembly for a repeal of the restrictive clauses of the Act, but in a threatened seizure of settlers' stock to satisfy arrears of rent. This was the actual state of matters when, in June last, his Honor the Superintendent (with the concurrence of the General Government) requested me to undertake a mission to the tribes concerned, and to attempt by negotiation the prevention of further mischief. The mission was successful, and all the leading men on both sides signed a declaration that they would adhere strictly to the original terms, and that pending the sale of the land, they would in no way molest the settlers or interfere with their stock. It will naturally be asked "How soon is the purchase likely to be completed?" To this question it is difficult to give any very definite answer. It will depend in some measure on circumstances over which the Commissioner has no direct control; but I am of opinion, that if the Commissioner could spend the whole of his time in the district, and devote himself entirely to tho work, the terms might be finally arranged and the purchase concluded in the course of two or three months. On the other hand, it is very certain that if the Natives are tampered with by those whose interests are opposed to the acquisition of the block by the Government, the negotiations will be impeded, and the cession of the land to the Crown, the only practicable solution of the " Rangitikei difficulty," indefinitely postponed. Wellington, August 5, 1865. Walter Buller, R.M. No. 32. W. Mantell, Esq., to the Hon. the Premier. Sir, — Sidney Street, Wellington, 11th September, 1865. In accordance with my promise of this afternoon, I have the honor to enclose such notes as the time will permit on the Special Report of the Land Purchase Commissioner, dated 21st August ultimo, and to request you to have the kindness to cause a copy of them to be laid on the table of the House of Representatives, and printed with that Special Report, the draft to be returned to me. You will perceive that I desire that the full report, as I originally saw it, may be laid on that table ; and I hope you will oblige me by endeavouring to procure it for that purpose. My reasons for considering that my generosity has been abused, and that I am therefore entitled to demand the original report, will be found in the accompanying notes. I deeply regret to have had to notice these unprovoked and unwarrantable calumnies ; but you, I trust, are aware that I have hitherto shewn all the forbearance that could be expected, and more than could have been required of me. That forbearance, so far as was consistent with the explanation of the circumstances under consideration, I have striven still to exercise. I have, &c, The Hon. the Premier. Walter Mantell. P.S. —I would also request that this letter be laid upon the table of the House. W. B. D. M. Enclosure to No. 32. NOTES on the Special Report of the Native Land Purchase Commissioner for the Manawatu Block to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, dated Wellington, 21st August, 1865. On paragraph 3.—1 fear that the Commissioner will be found to have over-estimated the extent to which the differences referred to have been removed; but on this point I can form no final opinion until I shall have seen the letters adverse to the sale, for which I moved some weeks ago. On paragraph 4. —I have taken no action whatever antagonistic to the purchase. On paragraph s.—The questions still to be arranged, according to the Commissioner's report, are the most important and the most difficult of arrangement iv these land purchases; until the reserves are defined the extent of land to be purchased cannot be known, and until the price is agreed upon the the willingness of the owners to sell for the amount which the Commissioner is ready to give cannot safely be depended upon. On paragraph 6.—lt is not true that I censured Mr. Buller for having obeyed his instructions ; mv censures of that officer, whenever I have had occasion to record them, have been caused by totally contrary action on his part. The question of the propriety of employing a Resident Magistrate in land purchases, especially in his own district, had been a subject of consideration between Dr. Featherston and myself early in 1863, when that gentleman indignantly informed me that he had heard that Mr. Buller had been instructed by Mr. Dillon Bell (Native Minister) to negotiate for Native lands at Manawatu, and expressed his astonishment and anger at a practice so detrimental to a Magistrate's judicial efficiency, having been permitted by the latter gentleman. In these feelings and opinions I shared, and should

7

THE MANAWATU BLOCK.