THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WKEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1880.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 28 July 1880, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WKEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1880.

The Commission appointed to inquire into Native affairs haa completed its mission, and the full Report has been laid before Parliament. Tbe investigations of tbe Commission extended over a very wide field, and the conclusions arrived at, covering thirtyfive pnges of closely printed matter, and tbe facts upon wbicb they are based, together furnish a tolerably complete and succinct, history of tbe Native question from the foundation of the Colony down to our own time. In saving; that the history is tolerably complete, it is meant in so far only as regards the salient incidents of the conflict between the races. As might be expected, from the nature of revelations which ha?e been made from time'to time during late years, the Report brings to the surface some most damning 'disclosures in relation to f;b,e past management of Native affairs; of the wrongful conversion of public moneys; of falsification in State returns; of bribery, spoliation, arid, in brief, of corruption of the darkest die. "We are unable from its great length to -^o more than furnish a few extracts from tbe Report bearing upon the way in which the Native funds have b.een administered. Tbe report says : — " On going into the expenditure charged against the acquisition of the Wa'mate Plains, the first thing that struck us wa9 the large proportion which contingent pxpen«es bore to the sum paid to tbe Natives. Out of a total sum of £8924, which up to the end of the financial year C3lst of March last) had been charged to Waimate, £4,357 appeared ns contingent expenses, against- only £4567 received by the Native owners. Out of this sum we found ihat £90Q hud been received by Tito Kaworatif but he did not get it by that name. When the first voucher was signed by him it was returned by the Audit office with the intimation that no payment of public, money to him would be passed, so a note was appended bjr t^he under-sec retary ihajHhe voucher had better be signed in other name, which was .j|pnp, ar.d three other different names jpere used* whenever Tito Kowaru had o'geto 'get money But upon going fur--okt ijito tbi3 several payments, and

asking whether, the sums paid to tbe various chief^ (£2,50 had all been paid to them as tolcoha for their clref* ship, we were surprised to learn that none of the money .iad reached the tribe at all, and that £900 had bsen paid not for anything on the Waimate plains, but towards the expenses of the Waitara, meeting in 1878, and that another sum of £1000 returned as having been paid to the chief Tiera, of Waitara, and others, was not a payment on account of any proprietorship on the Wa'mate plains, but for food and other expenses incurred at the b ime Waitara meeting. We wish we could have stopped here, but by theflierest accident pur inquiry had to be taken into quite a different channel. On thinking over the circum* stance that Teira and a Waitan chief of the Ngatiawa tribe had received a fourth of all the money returned as tahoka fpr the Waimate phins, we wondered how it was that he hid established rights over land belonging to the Ngatiruanjui tt ibe, entitling him to £1000 to spend at pleasure upon a Waitara meeting, when men like Hone Pihnma and Rnakera had only got a couple of hundred. Then the truth came out, not only that the money bad not been paid to him as takoha on account of any proprietary rights at Waimate, hut that the money had never reached his hands at all, and that another £1000 of Hie money for which the other chiefs line! signed had never reached theirs either. Where the money had gone had bepn kept a secret. We called the proper officer of t he Land Purchase Department before v«, and requested the vouchers which had passed the audit to be produced to us These vouchers with detailed accounts of the true expenditure which they were me;int to hide, are now laid before your Excellency- It is enough to give a sketch of them to see what, at a time when heavy taxation had to be imposed up* on all classes, could be done in secret squandering among the Natives at this Writara meeting. To help that there were not wanting luxuries of all kinds, including ales, wines and, threestar brandy. The women were supplied with costumes, chemises, skirts, silk handkerchiefs /and ties, fisclius, innumerable shawls, scarfs, ribbons and feathers, 3?rench merino and velvet, perfumery and trinkets, sidesaddles, iiding habits acd portmante* aux, to pack all their finery in The Under- Secretary of the Land Purchase Department left U3 in no doubt as to what would have been the fate of such accounts if they had ever come before the auditor We. asked him ' Would there bave been any means of tracing this espendilnre if it had not been for the accident of your attention being called to it by this Commission?' 'I do not think the expenditure would ever have been shown unless my attention had been so directed to it. 1 ' Are we then to un«dentand that the sum of £2 000 charged to the acquisition of the Wai» mate plains, us having beep paid to certain Natives, turns out, through an accidental investigation, nctfc to have been so paid at all ; that nearly all *he money passed into the hands of persons other than those who signed the vouchers, and that it was paid away for purposes which were not disclosed on audit?' I' am sorry to say it is so." All this and much more that is equally discreditable to the Ministry of the day, the Report shows, and the document is upon the whole one of the most damaging records against the past administration of Native af> fairs that the Colony has yet seen.

the vicinity Jfcuur olice last night. The assemblage ;^^H very numerous one, but whether froj^^^bsence of a chairman, or other caug^^^Hroceecjtiiigß wera veiy dis* orderly, an|9p> protracted till an early hour this morning- Ttfe magnitude of the gathering was astonishing, particularly in the face of the facj that tho meeting was never advertised before hand. We put up with the proceedings tamely for some hours, having been inured to tbe infliction of late by the literary caterwaulinga of our contemporary, but there is a limit even to reportorial endurunce, and tho meeting adjourned burredly ahead of a 21b weight piece of Lanky Gully coal. At a later hour the meeting re-assetn - bled to read over the minutes and pass a vote of thanks to the chair, but a fresh altercation seemed to ensue, and we were compelled to again disperse the felicitous concourse. We trust in the interest of tha public peace and decorum a repitiHon of those open air meetings will not be permitted— in the vicinity of our office. The pleasing information was brought to town last night that a new reef, 6ft thick, and showing good gold, was yesterday met wllh in the south drive of the Keep>-it-Dark. Some of the best stone yet obtained was taken from this portion *of the miue, so thut the discovery is one of considerable value. The Bank of Australasia some time ago presented to Mr Hector Munro a valuable .gift, in recognition of his courageous conduct; in repelling the attack of two armad men on the Moe branch (Victoria) of the bank in November last. It is now stated by tbe lusurance and Banking Record that " the sister institutions bave, iv combination, provided for bestowal up.m him a large sterling silver salver. The plate bears this terse and Hling inscription :— < Presented to Hector Munro, Esq.. manager of tbe Bank of Australasia, Moe. Victorl-i. by the undermentioned institutions, in recognition of the courage and high sense of duty displayed by him in fie success "ul i-esistance of an armed attack on the bank on the night o^ the sth November, 1879. — Bank of Victoria, London Chartered Bank, Orien'tnl Bank of Australia, English, Scottish, anil Australian Chartered Bank, Oriental Bank Corporation, B -nk of New Zealand, Union Bank of Australia, Colonial Bank of Australasia, National Bank of Australasia, Commercial 13auk of Australia. Bank of New South Wales. Melbourne, April, 1880.' The banks' subscription further provides £200 for tbe recipient. This recognition of duty by the banking institutions wi'l be an encouragement to th^ir officers to do likewise if placed in a similar position of difficulty and danger."