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the Native-school system from that very cause. The parents will send their children to school for a portion of the year, and for the rest of the year will keep them at home digging gum. The Natives, in respect to educational matters, should be made to do exactly as the Europeans are obliged to do. The Europeans have been playing AA'ith them too long. If lam to give my candid opinion I think the Natives should be made to have all their lands subdivided equally among the present generation, and not be tied up by the present generation. 1070. Mr. Bees.] And each have his OAvn share ? 1071. Mr. Mackay.] That is to say, each to have his share of the reserve land, and also a share of the land they dispose of?—Yes. There is too much monopoly among them. And, in addition to this division of the land, let them, as I said before, be compelled to send their children to school regularly. 1072. Mr. Bees.] You think the Maori Committees should take a part of the land for these schools, and have technical instruction imparted to the children, and that their attendance should be made compulsory? —Yes, it certainly should be made compulsory. Why, Pomare and 1 tried this thing over here, and we brought it under the notice of Mr. Pope. But he said it was a case for Parliament to deal with ; that he could only deal with things as they were. 1073. It is in order that Parliament may obtain a knowledge of these things that we seek the opinions of the Natives. Our purpose is to elicit information for the purpose of enabling Parliament to make good laws?—Then Parliament should make a law compelling the Natives to send their children regularly to school and imposing a fine of £5 in cases Avhere, without good cause, they keep them aAvay. They take them away just when they are getting on nicely, and for no sufficient cause. Let them remove the child, if necessary, only at the end of the year. But to take them away in the middle of the year is hard upon the children, and a punishment upon the teacher. The child may be at school to-day and away to-morrow, and, if you ask the cause, the answer may be that it is kept at home to nurse the baby. I was inquiring after one absentee only to-day, and I ascertained that that was the cause of absence. The teacher, as well as the children, suffers from this irregular attendance, because good work can hardly be done under such circumstances. 1074. Is there anything else that you think should be brought under our notice ? —ln reference to technical education, I Avish to say that when a pupil has passed the fourth village school standard with distinction it should be ascertained for what trade or occupation the pupil has an aptitude, such as for that of carpenter, blacksmith, boatbuilder, machine-fitter, and so on for the boys, and for the girls dressmaking, keeping books of account, nursing, cooking and domestic work, school-teaching or other suitable employment for females. The successful pupil should then be removed from the A'illage school to a higher technical school for a period of not less than three years, under bond, or security, or fine, or such like safeguard to prevent the child returning to the Maori kainga or the gumfields, which is fatal to all further improvement or restraint from free or evil ways. And as regards mixed schools for Europeans and Maoris, I have no hesitation in stating from my own experience that such an arrangement will fail utterly, for this reason : that the children of the lower classes of Europeans, Avhether from ignorance, or mischief, or from what is called race-hatred, cannot help annoying the Maoris in a manner which they will not for a moment submit to even amongst themselves, and they will not attend the European schools. Therefore it is hopeless to expect for some time to come that any such arrangement will be acceptable either to the Europeans, who look down on the Maori race, or to the latter, who equally, from long habit, will not bear being treated as inferior or as servants to any one.

Auckland, 13th April, 1891. Edavin Thomas Dufaur, sworn and examined. 1075. Mr. Bees.] You are a solicitor practising in Auckland ?—lam. 1076. How long have you been practising in Auckland ? —Sixteen years. 1077. Have you had experience during that time in land-transactions AA'ith the Natives ?—Yes ; more so, I suppose, than any other professional man in Auckland. 1078. I believe you speak the Native tongue, and know personally many of the leading chiefs in the North ? —Yes. 1079. Have you, during the time you have been practising your profession in Auckland, had opportunities of watching the procedure of the Native Land Court ?—Yes, I have very frequently attended sittings of the Court. 1080. Can you say whether, within your knowledge as a professional man, there have been disputes as to title in relation to the transfer of land—that is, disputes between Natives and Europeans?—Yes, there have been, but not so many here in the North as I have heard there are in other districts —Gisborne and Napier for instance. 1081. Have any of these cases that have come within your knowledge arisen from the omission of some technical point in the statutes or in the requirements of the law, Avithout there being any allegation of fraud, so that, apart from the technicalities of the case, the titles would be quite as good as those that are held to be quite valid ?—Oh ! a great many. There is one case, for instance, where one man, out of sixty has not signed, and the subdivision order has not been obtained—that is by the ruling in Poaka v. Ward, in consequence of which decision the whole deed has been declared invalid. 1082. Can you say that there are many such cases?—Yes, there are many other such cases. There is a case pending at Kaipara, where the purchaser got all the OAvners, but because, through being away in Australia at the time, he did not register his transfer before the Native Lands Administration Act of 1886 came into force, the Court will not noAV accept it, and his title is consequently in jeopardy, although the deed passed the Trust Commissioner's Court, and the Natives received their money, and do not dispute the title. The area of the land is 2,200 acres,