the action of both Committees, that the Chairmen of the two Committees should meet together and discuss the matter amongst themselves in a friendly manner. In that way they might be able .to remove the difficulty. The matter of the expenses of the Committee is one that I am now Committee. I have already given instructions that the stationery to be used by the Committee for purely Committee purposes, he supplied by the Government free of any charge. With regard to the revenue of the Committee for general purposes, that is now under consideration, and I shall not be long before coming to a decision. As to the right of the Chairman to frank letters, I shall bring that before the Postmaster-General and consult him upon the point. With regard to the right of the Committee to issue summonses, the Act gives them power now only to deal with civil cases, and not with criminal. I am very doubtful whether the time has come for the Committee to deal with criminal eases. I think the ordinary Courts should continue to do that work. What I referred to in giving the Committee larger powers to deal with small debt cases was to give them there larger power, and, if possible, to increase the amount for which they can sue. I quite agree with what Hoani Nahe said about filling up the vacancies caused by members falling out of the Committee. That is a power possessed by all local bodies with the exception of the Committees, and shall be one of the provisions in the Bill—that .when a member falls out there shall be the right of re-election immediately. I now have touched upon all the different questions brought forward by the Committee,' and I shall just say, in conclusion, with regard to what has been said by Tamati with regard to Hikutaia Block, that I am not acquainted with all the facts, but I shall make inquiry into them, and I hope the affair can be arranged without much trouble. I trust the Committee will themselves assist in getting the matter brought to au amicable conclusion.
NOTES of a MEETING held at PARAWAI, Thames, on the 12th February, 1885, between the Hon. Mr.
BALLANCE and the HAURAKI NATIVES.
Hapi Rewi said : The first question is regarding Komata (Te Puke Block at Ohinemuri), a block that was purchased wrongfully by Mr. Thorpe. That portion of land is where the steamer at present lands passengers and goods. Tukukino owns that piece of land, and he is asserting his ownership. He built a fence on his land, which was agreed to by Mr. Mackay. It overlaps Mr. Thorpe's boundary. He built a fence to show that that piece had been taken wrongfully, and I wish to draw the attention of the Native Minister to the fact that it has wrongfully come into Mr. Thorpe's possession. Other disputes have been settled, and the Natives at Hikutaia, have got their lands back ; but this piece has not been settled yet. Tukukino still persists in his claim to 'it. Another matter is in connection with Mackaytown. It is four years since it was leased. It was exempted from the gold field. The main portion of the land in that district has been bought by the Government, but a portion has been retained by the Maoris. Now, we consider that we own Mackaytown, and as it has been leased for four years, we consider that the Government should pay us the rent. There are twenty-two shareholders who have not signed, and they want to get their proportion. The d:fliculty is, that the interests have not been subdivided yet, as it is not known which is the Government's and which is the Natives'. The third matter is, the taps-places on the Owharoa Block. Lots of applications have been made for these, but they have never been agreed to. Another matter is that the reserves that were fixed at Wailii are useless, because they are on the mountain and cannot be cultivated, and I ask you to exchange them for some lands on the flat, where we can make use of them. These lands will do for Europeans who have cattle or sheep ; but, as we have no cattle, we want lands that we can cultivate. Another matter is the tramway at Waihi Gold Fields. I do not know why the revenue from that is not paid to the Maoris. There was fifty acres put on one side for us, but there is no timber on it at all. We want that substituted for a piece within the Ohinemuri No. 7 Block, on which there is some firewood and some timber. If it is given to us within Ohinemuri No. 7, we can then get a supply of fencing and other timber. There is a road over the portion that we want, but the is broken at present ; but the Europeans are going to repair it. There is a piece called Marutatai, at Te Aroha, promised to us but it was not carried out. That is all I have got for you. I will keep some back for some other Minister. When you reply will you commence with Tukukino? Whatever matters you agree to we want in writing.
Haora, Tareranui : I am going to talk to you about the troubles of the Ngatitamatera, the tribe living at Ohinemuri. One of our troubles is connected with our reserves in the Waikawau Block. A portion of that Waikawau Block was awarded to the Government. It was sold to the Government : a portion was returned to the Maoris. After the awards were made in favour of the Maoris for the reserves, the Maoris had to pay for the surveys of them. I ask that you will do away with those claims for payment by the Natives for the surveys of the reserves, and that the Crown grants be ordered to issue to the Natives. There was one block called Waiaro which was not included in the Government survey, and we were called upon to pay for it. The Government Agent, when the land went through the Court, told the Natives that the Government would pay for all the surveys. The Government Agent was Mr. James Mackay. It was a verbal statement. It was seeing that certain reserves had been made in other places, and the Natives had not been charged for them, and it was promised that they would not be charged for the surveys in this block. With regard to the surveys in the Waikawau Block, I ask that the Crown grant should issue. Another application that we make to you is, that the Native owners of the reserve should have power to grant leases to the Europeans who wish to occupy them. Another application of ours is concerning the Native reserves in the Ohinemuri Block ; when the reserves were marked off by the Native Land Court it was on the map ; we considered that they were not in the exact positions that they would turn out to be when they came to be surveyed. We asked that, when the surveyor went on the ground, one of our people should go with him and point out the tapus, &c. ; but, when the surveys took place, we were not informed of it. We discovered afterwards that the reserves had been made in
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