THE WAIKATO COMMITTEE.

F—No. 3

ground and superintended the fixing of the boundaries, I was accompanied and assisted by almost the whole of the Natives concerned. At one stage of the proceedings an old standing grudge between the Ngaituahuriri and' Ngaiterangi hapus found vent, and gave me some trouble, but having summoned a general meeting lor its consideration, we succeeded in effecting a very satisfactory reconciliation. Altogether, I may report that the attempt to place this valuable Reserve on the new footing of individual tenure has, so far, ptoved entirely successful; and to shew the unanimity of feeling l that prevails, I may mention that at the last general meeting, when I submitted the accompanying Minute for adoption, only one dissentient voice was elicited, and this proceeded lrom Teoti Wiremu Te Hau—a man of notoriously bad character, and consequently of no influence—who had purposely absented himself from the previous meeting, and, though invited, declined to attend when the apportionment of the Bush land took place. This man now contended for a larger share of the Bush than had been allotted him, and demurred to the place assigned him amongst the farms. On the latter point his wishes v ere complied with. In conclusion, it is gratifying to add the testimony of Mr. Stack, the Native Catechist, who assures me that notwithstanding the very limited time that has elapsed since the completion of the work, a marked change is visible amongst the people, in the stimulus given to the industrial occupation of fencing, ploughing, Wood-cutting, &c. Walter S. Bujlleb.

Appendix D. OIUEF commissioner*

Appendix E. miscellaneous papers.

A P P E N DIX—E. E—No. 1. LETTER FROM TIORIORI (OF MAUNGATAUTARI) RESPECTING A FINE OF FIVE POUNDS INFLICTED BY HIM. Maungatautari, September 16, 1857. Friend Mr. Smith, — Salutations to you, or rather to you all, in accordance with the law. Here is the word. Te Recommended that Te Aitu has come to me, the person of whom word has been set:t to you, that it was he who killed the o rlor '» hould i> e '"f or " ied , ... ~ --1, - ii ii ti/»iiiiji t ' lat nis letter has been child ; he was questioned by our meeting, and he spoke, but did not tmd that he had done any wrong, received in reference u>« the evil that I saw was in those who made the false accusation; the error was, we sent three times to false accusation of child them by the mail, but they did not come: we then said they were too late, and fined them £5. This mur *DoHAx!>licLKAii is all. 9th October, 18S7. From your loving Friend, ~ , , , m rr,, T . .« ~, -~ v o A] so recommended that JO TIIOS. H. Smith, Esq , Tl OEIORI. this letter be referred to Assistant Native Secretary the Magistrate resident in Auckland 'the distnct where the murder is alleged to nave occurred, as it is desirable tlwt the Government should be tally informed«on all such matters so as to toe able to explain and make accurate statements on the subject,—E. W, S- f Oct, i), 185?' Approved—-T. G. 8., Oct. 9, Referred accordingly to the Resident Magistrate (Waikato) —W. Gis'bornk, Oct. 10, 1857. Ti Oriori, of the tribe Ngatikoroki, hapu of Ngatihaua, is a Native Magistrate, and resides at Maungatautari on the Horotm, the eastern branch of the WaiTtato. He was appointed last autumn, and has had little experience in the duties of his office, and few opportunities of instruction from myself. Doubtless, thin letter was written by him with the object of obtaining an expression of the opinion of His Excellency as to the propriety or otherwise of his conduct in the case which he has stated—a case which has excited a good deal of interest in the country. I respectfully suggest that opportunities of thus giving valued instruction should be carefully improved. I think that not only will the opportunity be lost, but the writer will be disappointed by a mere acknowledgment of the receipt of his letter< 2. 1 further think that Natives should be encouraged to communicate on a\\ judicial matters, directly with the Resident Magistrate of the district. It is only through the local operations of this class of officers that the Natives can become realty acquainted with, and obedient to law. The Native Assessors should be instructed to look up to the European Magistrate, and refer to him in all cases of doubt and difficulty. It will then be the duty of that officer, in case he sees in any subject thus referred to him matter of political import, to communicate thereon with the Government, and solicit the opinion and instructions of the Governor. If correspondence is carried on between the central Department and the Native judicial officers on judicial subjects, without any reference to, or communication with, the highest judicial authority of the district, embarassment to that officer, and confusion in the public service, must, I submit, inevitably result. Before the enunciation of the principles contained in the recent Minutes of His Excellency and the Ministers on the subject of the government of the Natives, this subject was of little moment, but it is now of importance. 3, 1 have been in correspondence with Tioriori on the subject of the murder of this Maori boy. I was requested by Turn to go to Arikirua, and try the accused (three in number). But as the supposed murderers belonged to other tribes (Ngatiraukawa, Ngatikoura) the affair required caution, and J declined, except under certain conditions- The whole affair is stilt in esse It is detailed in my journal, as far as U has yet gone, 4- One of the principal difficulties which I have experienced in introducing the new system into the Waikato district, is the tendency of the Maoris to allow the powers and duties of the judge to lapse into and be exercised by a " runanga," or assembly. Although a «'runanga" is, in'my opinion, a good machinery for supporting the authority of the Magistrates, and effecting the execution of their decisions, it is a very bad one for hearing and determining cases, besides hieng utterly subversive of oraer if allowed to usurp any judicial functions. The Native magistrate, from want of courage and force of character, has a strong tendency to allow the administration of justice to slip from his hands into those of a popular assembly, unless constantly supported by the presence and authority of the European magistrate. I observe by this letter that Tioriori allowed the *' runanga" to try and pass judgment on three persons accused of slander. 5, The Maories hold very generally, the injurious notion that any one who informs against another, or even sues in a civil action, has, unless he gain a a decision in his favour, been guilty of "slander," Although this doctrine has, to a great extent, disappeared from the lower disrricts of Waikato, it still obtains in th« upper parts where the teacher has not been. The Maoris seem to have acted upon it in this case- I have always told them that a false accusation is not necessarily a wilful defamation, and a prosecntor is not punishable if he acts bona,fide and is not instigated by pure malice. I therefore, looking at the position of Tioriori and the abnormal state of his district, suggest that his letter should foe thus answered—'lhat in all matters touching his duties as Magistrate he should correspond immediately with the European magistrate, who will, if there is necessity, communicate with His Excellency's Government, That in all matters of importance, he should be careful, as a rule, to ask the assistance and advice of the European magistrate. That the "runanga," to which he alludes, should not be allowed to interfere with judicial matters, but that he should be very careful to preserve his dignity and office from intrusion. That the magistrates are the only judges, and he must not recognize any assembly as a judicial tribunal. That an action for defamation or slander does not necessarily lie against a man who has wrongfully accused another—that a man who sues or who accn.es, »Uhough he may be mistaken, is not punishable, if he acts with due care, and from pure motives. That he should communicate at once with the Resident Magistrate, and endeavour to cause the people to await their joint investigatin, and abide their joint decision.—Fras. D. Fenton, R M., October 12'.h, 1057. I entirely agree with tbe valuable recommendations of Mr. Fenton as to the nature of the answer which should be sent to Tioriori.—E. W. S., Oct. 12, 1857. Agreeing with Mr. Fenton as to the propriety of encouraging the Native Assessors to communicate with the European magistrate on all matters connected with their duties, I think all that is necessary in the present instance is to acknowledge Tioriori's letter, and inform him that in this and all other cases which may come before him in his capacity of Native Assessor, he should communicate with the Resident Magistrate in his district, who has been appointed by the Governor for the purpose of instructing the Native Assessors in their duties, and with their assistance to administer justice according to English law.—Thos. H. Smith, Feb, 3, 1858, I think Mr. Smith's recommendation embraces all that is now practically requisite,—C. W. \l., Feb. 4, 1358,

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