with the Government over his terms of employment and in 1880, still privately saddled with some of the expenses he had ‘incurred on behalf of Govt’, declared that he would take no further part in land purchase transactions.¹⁰⁵)

Before long, Crown purchasing of Ohinemuri resumed. The MacCormick commission believed that it recommenced as early as July 1877.¹⁰⁶ The 1875 leasing arrangement was in fact seen in Wellington as a poor return for the money laid out in advances. It was also poorly regarded by local bodies (the Thames Borough Council and various highway district boards which replaced the provinces in 1876), which pressed for the purchase of the freehold.¹⁰⁷ Their demand was supported by the fact that, in the early years of its opening, the Ohinemuri goldfield was not very productive.¹⁰⁸ Administrative costs were high, made more so by the complexities involved. From the Government’s point of view, the solution was to extinguish the difficulties by purchasing the freehold. In Dr Battersby’s words, the decision was made ‘to re-purchase, with cash, interests for which raihana or cash advances had been given before 1875, and to complete the sale by purchasing such other unsold interests as could be acquired’.¹⁰⁹

Early in 1878, a deed of purchase was drawn up for Ohinemuri (see sec 10.3.2). Purchasing of individual interests resumed under Mackay, at the rate of five shillings an acre, and was continued by G T Wilkinson and E W Puckey. Maori needed cash in a money economy and, with the goldfield revenues going to the Crown, had limited sources of income. Some took out miner’s rights and others worked as casual labour, but these activities provided little income. Maori felt that they had lost control of the land as a result of the 1875 agreement, which left them little room to make alternative uses of the land. Although goldfields warden Harry Kenrick seems to have consulted with the owners, virtually all commercial arrangements had to be mediated through him. Although mining was confined to very small areas, much of Ohinemuri passed quickly under agricultural leases, 96 of which had been issued by 1878. In 1882, Ohinemuri Maori complained to Richard Gill, the under-secretary of the Native Land Purchase Department, that the best agricultural land had been leased.¹¹⁰ In these circumstances, many individuals sold their interests in the freehold, and by 1879 Government agents had acquired some 260 signatures, which they estimated would entitle the Crown to two-thirds of the block. The main resistance still came from the Kiriwera hapu of Ngati Tamatera, residing at Komata and led by Tukukino.¹¹¹

105. Document o6, p 269

106. ‘Statement of the Facts and Circumstances Affecting the Ohinemuri Block’ (doc a8(a), pp 1026–1237)

107. Document a8, p 261

108. Document o6, p 271

109. Ibid, p 282

110. Gill to Native Minister, 29 July 1882 (doc a8, p 261); ‘Return of Goldfields Revenue from August 1867 to June 1882’, md1 82/714 (doc a8, p 269)

111. Document o6, pp 271–272