3

&.—IB

I am afraid it will take some time to carry out the instructions contained in your circular, and expect it will be necessary for me to call meetings of the Natives interested, and explain to them the provisions of the Act, and the benefits resulting from their taking advantage of it. I have, &c., Thomas Jackson, R.M., Papakura and Waiuku District. The Under Secretary, Native Department, Wellington.

No. 5. Mr. W. E. Gudgeon to the Under Secretary, Native Department. Sir, — Native and Defence Office, Gisborne, 7th February, 1876. I have the honor to forward a petition from Henare Potae and forty-nine others, members of the Aitanga-a-Hauiti Tribe, requesting that the district lying between the Uawa River and the northern end of Tokomaru Bay be proclaimed a district under " The Native Licensing Act, 1878." I beg to recommend this petition for the favourable consideration of the Hon. the Native Minister, as the tribe is for once unanimous. I have, &c., W. E. Gudgeon, R.M., The Under Secretary, Native Department, Wellington. .Native Officer.

Enclosure in No. 5. Petition from Henare Potae and Others. Uawa, 25th January, 1879. To His Excellency the Governor. This is an application of ours, your servants, whose names are signed hereunder, with respect to this " man-destroyer," spirituous liquor, that the sale of it be prohibited in our district, the boundaries of which we here describe as decided upon by our Runanga on the 24th of this month, in the hope that you will give effect to the resolution of your servants. These are the boundaries : Commencing at the mouth of the Uawa River, and following its course to Mangatuna, Hikuai, and Pouariki, thence along the boundary line of the Tokamaru Reserve to Mangahawini, thence along the boundary line of Tawhiti to Te Wharau-a-Purua, thence to Waimahura on the coast, and following the coast to the mouth of the Uawa Stream. From Henare Potae and Others.

No. 6. Mr. W. E. Gudgeon to the Under Secretary, Native Department. Sir,— Native Office, Gisborne, 13th May, 1879. I have the honor to report that Circular No. 7, of the 22nd April, arrived here during my absence in the Wairoa on official duty; hence the delay in answering the same. I have now the honor to report, for the information of the Hon. the Native Minister, that only two petitions under the 3rd section of the Act have been presented from my district: one from Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, requesting that the coast district lying between the Township of Tologa Bay and the northern boundary of the Mangahawini Block (boundaries attached) be proclaimed a district under the said section; and the other from the Wairoa, by the chief Toha, the boundaries of which I am unable to state, as the petition was not sent through me, but direct to the Government. Toha is very anxious that his district should be proclaimed. I have interviewed the chiefs of the country to the north of Tokomaru, and have urged them to bring the Waipiro, Whareponga, and Tuparoa Blocks under the provisions of the Maori Licensing Act, but without effect. I have, however, received promises from the chiefs of the next blocks, viz., Reporua, Te Awanui, and Waiomatatini, to the effect that they will endeavour to secure the tribe's assent to the measure; but I would here point out that a publichouse at the shipping-point (Te Awanui) will be a necessity. North of the Waiapu River nothing can be done at present; but I will not cease to urge the adoption of the Act. I do not think it possible that claims for compensation can arise in any portion of my district, as a large majority of the houses, whether European or Maori, are only grog shanties, and should never have been licensed.