Chapter I: Government Policy and Maori Reaction, 1880–1890
and European. The agreement had a prominent place in tribal memory, being interpreted by the Hauraki people as a recognition of their ongoing contribution to the development of the district, and as binding for all time. In contrast, the Government tended to accord the agreement no status at all, seeing it as extra-legal and essentially meaningless.
Crown Purchasing, 1880–1890
(a) Introduction
The administrations of the late 1870s and 1880s were characterised by retrenchment. Reductions in the Native Department's powers began in 1876. The Government took stock of its expenditure of money on land purchase in the Hauraki district where finalisation of transactions had frequently been long-delayed because of intermingling tribal claims and the strongly held anti-selling views of sections of the right-holders. That resistance could be undermined only by the slow build-up of debt, the purchase of signatures under the Native Land Act 1873, and eventual excision of the minority interests of the hold-outs. The primary task of land purchase officers in the late 1870s and early 1880s was, thus, not to initiate new purchases, but to push through those transactions initiated by James Mackay in the early 1870s. The Te Aroha, Moehau, Waikawau, and Ohinemuri blocks, with the exception of the excised A subdivisions for the remaining `non-sellers', all finally passed into the Crown's hands after more than a decade of negotiation, pressure, and tampering with tribal authority. These purchases have been discussed in the first part of this report. The finalisation of the Crown's dealings in Piako proved more elusive, however, and the Government was unable to get Maori to put the area through the land court until 1889. It will be seen in later discussion that the Government's success in finally arranging for the area to be surveyed and brought through the Native Land Court, marked a new phase in Crown purchase in the Hauraki rohe. A revival of interest in acquiring land for settlement, technological advance permitting extensive swamp drainage, and the costs of survey and court hearings, came together to promote the transfer of the last large area of Maori land into the hands of the Government between 1895 and 1912.
The formation of the Hall Ministry, in 1879, and the ascent of John Bryce to position of Native Minister were followed by further Government retrenchment. There were cutbacks in all branches of native policy. Maori reserves which were vested in the Crown, transferred to the control of the Public Trustee, while the Thames district was amalgamated with Waikato, leaving Hauraki without a permanent Native Department officer. Wilkinson's duties often called him elsewhere, and Puckey who had acted as native agent for the past decade was laid off. The list of assessors was also reduced, although not dismantled entirely since the retention of able men was considered desirable to 'influence the general conduct of the Natives and indirectly assist ... in maintaining order and peaceful habits in their localities.'24 It will be seen that the remaining assessors
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