G.—2.

Now as the bush along the coast between Urenui and the White Cliffs comes doAvn to within a mile and a half of the sea, there is but little open land available : and whoever has the allocation of these 20,000 acres to make Avill have some trouble on his hands. XII. Abandonments of Confiscated Land. 1. The only formal abandonment eA'er made Avas that of the country between the Whanganui and Waitotara Rivers. By notice in the Gazette of 15th March, 1867, the Crown Agent announced that the Government had abandoned their right to take that part of the confiscated territory, Avhich then ceased to be under the operation of the New Zealand Settlement Acts. But as will presently be seen, Ave do not think the abandonment Avas effectual. There Avere lavo other informal restitutions made in 1866 of territory to the Natives : one, of the block betAvecn Stoney Biver and Waiweranui, about 18,000 acres, to the Ngamahanga hapu, which surrendered in 1865 and came in under the Governor's Proclamation of peace; the other, of the block betAveen Moutoti and Taungatara, about 41,000 acres, to the Ngatihaumiti hapu, of AAdiich Wi Kingi Matakatea and Arama Karaka Avere the principal chiefs. They had remained loyal to the Queen all through the Avar. Speaking of Matakatea in 1866, Mr. Parris said that he had not only never been implicated in the Avar, but on the contrary had ahvays been proverbial for his kindness to Europeans. In a telegram which the Prime Minister directed to be sent to an officer of the Land department last year, Sir George Grey placed on record more fully the reason for their land being restored to these chiefs : " They had been our firm friends through the war, and none of their land Avas consequently confiscated under the Proclamation ; indeed Sir George Grey had during the war given to Matakatea and Arama Karaka personally, and by the advice of his Ministers, a solemn promise that none of their land should be taken: land Avhich the Government had never co.nfiscated, and solemnly undertook not to confiscate," It remains to be seen Avhether this chief, wdio is in gaol on the charge of being concerned in the ploughing, had ever anything to do Avith it himself. But at the time that the Waitotara-Whanganui country and the Opunake and Stoney Biver blocks Avere restored, there certainly was no legal poAver in the Government to abandon the confiscation in that way. The only power then existing AA ras the one contained in section 6of the Settlements Amending Act of 1865, which said that "in every case of claim for compensation the Colonial Secretary on behalf of the Crown might, by notice to the claimant, abandon the right of the Crown to take the land in respect of which compensation was claimed." It is clear, as Avas pointed out by the Attorney-General in the case of the absentees to which Ave have already referred, that the Act of 1863 did not contemplate land being given to tribes or hapus : and,' as the Confiscated Land Act of 1867, though it evidently was brought in to confer the necessary powers on the Governor, and did give power to make " reserves" for persons of the several hapus or tribes, prescribed that this should be done by formal Proclamation, the Act was of no use in Matakatea's case, because no Proclamation was ever issued to declare the abandonment of his land. If we are right in our vieAV of the law as it stood at the time Ave speak of, none of the abandonments Avhich were then purported to be made were effectual to take the title out of the CroAvn and put it back in the Native: and as the New Zealand Settlements Acts from 1803 to 1866 and the Confiscated Lands Act of 1867 were all repealed in 1878, the powers given by them to the Governor have long ceased to have any force, so that the laches of 1867 cannot be cured now. The Natives have constantly made it a subject of complaint that their title to the land given back to Matakatea has never been confirmed. This complaint was brought before Mr. Sheehan, and Avas mentioned by Mr. Mackay in his reports; i and it Avas the earliest grievance that was brought before ourselves at our first ], sitting at Oeo, the fear having arisen that because Matakatea was one of the 8 prisoners charged with being concerned in tho ploughing, his right to the block might be held to have been forfeited. We did not hesitate to assure the Natives that even if the accusation should be proved at the trial of the prisoners, the act

18CG. Crown Agent, 1867, Gazette, p. 112.

Parris, Report, 22nd March 1866, 12th February 1867 : Evidence, Q. 717 to 719. Hon. Mr. Richmond, 10th September 1866 : P.P. 1879, A.-8, No. 5. Parris, Eeport, 17th February 1866.

Telegram by order of Sir G-. Grey to Commissioner of Crown Lands, 23rd June 1879.

Parris' Eeport, 17th February 1866.

" Now Zealand Settlements Act Amending Act, 1865," section 6.

Hon. Mr. Sheehan, 1879 : Maekay, telegram, 1879.

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