G.—7

40

Tuesday, 30th May, 1905. Raiha Puaha, of Porirua, waited upon the Commissioner and claimed to have the same rights as the Natives for whom Mr. Martin appeared. She gave her genealogy, which, the Commissioner stated, was quite plain, she appearing on the elder branch of the family from Toitoi and Wi Parata appearing on the younger line. The Commissioner requested Mr. Skinner to state anything he had to say with reference to this claim. Mr. Skinner replied that, seeing that the claimant appeared on the elder branch of the family, he could see no objection to the claim being recognised, but he presumed the Government would take into consideration the fact that this family had been non-resident in Taranaki. The Commissioner stated that he would probably recommend that 16 acres be granted Raiha Puaha, and that, as in the case of Wi Parata, when making his recommendation he would draw attention to the long while that the claimant had been absent from the district.

APPENDIX A.

No. 1. Commission. Plunket, Governor. To all to whom these presents shall come, and to James Mackay, Esquire, of Paeroa, Auckland. Whereas by "The Confiscated Lands Inquiry and Maori Prisoners' Trials Act, 1879," it was (inter alia) provided that the Governor in Council might, by Commission under the Seal of the Colony, appoint three persons to be Commissioners for the purpose of inquiring into all promises and engagements that had been made or alleged to have been made by or on behalf of the Government of the colony to or with any person or persons in respect of the matters thereinbefore stated, or any of them, in so far as affected any lands situated within the confiscated territory on the west coast of the North Island: And whereas by a Commission under the hand of Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson, the then Governor of the colony, beariug date the twentieth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the Honourable Sir William Fox, K.C.M.G., the Honourable Sir Francis Dillon Bell, K.C.M.G., and Hone Mohi Tawhai, Esq., M.H.R. (hereinafter referred to as " the said Commissioners "), were appointed Commissioners for the purposes in the said Act mentioned: And whereas by another Commission, under the hand of the Honourable Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, K.C.M.G., the then Governor of the colony, bearingdate the twenty-third day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the said Sir William Fox (hereinafter, unless the context requires a different construction, also referred to as "the said Commissioners") was, for the purpose of giving effect to "The West Coast Settlement (North Island) Act, 1880," appointed a Commissioner to (inter alia) allocate and set aside such lands as were legally available in satisfaction of all or any awards made by the Compensation Courts held under " The New Zealand Settlements Act, 1863," or any amendment thereof, in so far as in his judgment such awards or any of them have not been performed and were then still unsatisfied; and also within the said territory to allocate and set aside such lands as might then be legally available in satisfaction of all promises or engagements made by or on behalf of the Crown or the Government of the colony which have formed the subject of inquiry by the Commissioners appointed under "The Confiscated Lands Inquiry and Maori Prisoners' Trials Act, 1879": And whereas the said Commissioners, in their reports published as Parliamentary - Papers G.-2, 1880; G.-5, 1881; G.-5, 1882; G.-sc, 1882; G.-3, 1883; A.-sa, 1884; and A.-sb, 1884, recommended, amongst other things, that the block of land known as Section 6, Block VIII., Waitara Survey District, containing 3,000 acres or thereabouts, should be set aside to satisfy the claims of such of the absentee members of the Ngatimutunga Hapu as had not been included in the tribal reserves, or otherwise had their claims satisfied : And whereas one Heni te Rau, claiming to be the legal representative of the absentee members of the Ngatimutunga Hapu as aforesaid, has, by petition to Parliament, asked that the said block of land should be handed over to the Natives for the settlement of whose claims it was allocated by the said Commisioners: And whereas, on the supposition that all equitable claims of members of the Ngatimutunga Hapu had been disposed of by the awards of former Compensation Courts or other awards of the said Commissioners, and that the said recommendation was intended to meet the possible claims of absentees (if any) then unknown and not subsequently identified, the said block of land has been disposed of as Crown lands: And whereas it is expedient to determine what equitable claims (if any) in respect of the said block of land under the said recommendation are still unsatisfied and subsisting : Now, therefore, know ye that I, William Lee, Baron Plunket, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, having confidence in your knowledge, ability, and integrity, and in pursuance and exercise of the power and authority in me vested by " The Commissioners Act, 1903," or otherwise howsoever, do hereby, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said colony, appoint you, the said James Mackay, Esquire, to be a Commissioner to inquire into the claims of the said Heni te Rau as set out in her petition to Parliament as aforesaid, and of all other persons claiming to be the absentee members, or any of them, of the Ngatimutunga Hapu, or their successors, for whose benefit the said Commissioners recommended that the said block of land