a—6b

The petitioners were very vague as to what relief they desire. Eventually Hinetera stated that she desired not equality right through, but " 300 or 400 shares "to be taken from the Henare Ruru group and awarded to Hohepa Tahataha, deceased, and then under his will to the two petitioners. She has already, as stated above, received 316-65 shares as part-successor to one of Henare Ruru's sons. We are unable to accept the contention that distribution of shares should be per stirpes equally. Such a method would disregard all the reasons which were accepted by the committee in deciding on the allotment of shares and which were, in the main, adopted by the Court both at the original hearing and on appeal, and would upset every Taupara award made following the lengthy 1918 to 1922 hearings. In other words, it would require a total rehearing of the allocation of the 32,667 Taupara shares for no good reason. We repeat that in our opinion the petition is the effort not of the two petitioners, but of Alex Curtis, the husband of one of them. He reiterates that he wants more shares for his wife at the cost of the Henare Rum group, but cannot give any adequate reason why. We are of opinion, therefore, that the petitioners have not established that there lias been a wrong distribution of shares which calls for redress. For the Court, D. Gr. B. Morison, Chief Judge. Ivor Prichard, Judge. To the Chief Judge, Maori Land Court, Wellington.

Approximate Cost of Paper,—Preparation, not given; printing (563 copies), £6 10s. By Authority: E, V. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington.—394B. Price &£.]

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