of Ohinemuri, including their block at Waihi, and they could not expect to receive any revenue until the whole debt had been paid.¹²⁷

Dr Battersby has referred to the view of the MacCormick commission, that in relation to prevailing land values, the Government was out of pocket for the purchase of the Ohinemuri blocks. The commission calculated that up to 1882 the Crown had paid overall £39,390 for land, which, when valued at five shillings an acre, was worth only £16,504.¹²⁸ Dr Battersby comments that:

After mining revenues (£7,838.12.0) and the value of the reserves returned (£1,659) had been accounted for, Maori appear to have received twice as much money as the land, which the government actually acquired, was worth. The cost to the Government was roughly 10/- per acre, coincidentally the price Te Moananui had attempted to obtain from Mackay in 1874!¹²⁹

This may be true for the land value, but if the value of the gold is factored in, the situation looks different, depending on how well the Ohinemuri field actually produced, and how much revenue flowed to the Crown. This matter, and the question of who, after sale of the land, should have received the revenue, will be taken up in the overview on gold issues and Maori in chapter 13.

10.4 Ohinemuri Mining and Further Purchases

10.4.1 Reserves

More than half of Ohinemuri was awarded by the Native Land Court to the Crown in July 1882. In arranging this application, the Crown promised reserves to those who had consented to sell, but was not generous with their extent and allocation. The non-sellers’ interests were excised, at the rate of 10 per cent of the area examined by the court – that is 7237 acres out of 73,251 – but the non-sellers were not to be included in the ‘reserves’ made within the alienated land.¹³⁰

In his purchase negotiations Mackay had promised to the vendors: 2550 acres for Ngati Koi, and 1000 acres each for Ngati Tangata, Ngati Karaua, Te Uriwha and Ngati Hako. In 1882, the court was informed of these promises by the various hapu, but the Crown did not regard itself as bound by them because, whereas Mackay had been negotiating for an estimated 135,000 acres, Maori admitted the sale of only 73,251 acres. The vendors requested one-fifth of the land as reserves but this was declined by Gill; the vendors were offered 10 per

127. Document o6, p 284

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

129. Document o6, pp 285–286

130. Document a8, p 270