E—No. 9 Sec. VL

tto. L INSTRUCTIONS TO tiEUT.-COLONEL RUSSELL, CITIL COMMISSIONER. Office of Minister for Native Affairs, Auckland, March 3rd, 18Gl Sir, — His Excellency the Governor having been pleased to appoint you to be Civil Commissioner for the District of Ahuriri, this day constituted by Order in Council, I have to convey to you the following instructions for your guidance. Your own acquaintance, as a settler of the Province of Hawke's Bay, with the peculiar circumstances which have affected the relations between the Natives and the settlers in that Province for the last two or three years, relieves me from the necessity of explaining in detail the difficulties in the way of introducing any system that should alike be acceptable to both races and prevent the recurrence of evils which at one time seriously threatened the peace of the settlement. You are aware that one of His Excellency's Ministers has recently visited the Province of Hawke's Bay, and taken the first steps towards bringing into operation there the plan of Native Government instituted by Sir George Gtey. It is the prosecution of that task which the Governor now confides to you. In order that you may be placed fully in possession of what has already been done, I enclose i herewith copies of five papers, as noted in the margin, to which your attention is directed. In particular I have to request your careful perusal of the suggestions made by Mr. Crosbie Ward for the : guidance of the officer who might be appointed Civil Commissioner of the District—not that His ' Excellency's Government desire to fetter your discretion, or would be unwilling to adopt any modifications which you should point out as desirable, but because those suggestions convey generally the views of the Government as to the way in which Sir George Grey's plan should be introduced at Napier, and because it is desirable to disturb as little as possible any arrangements which have already been made. I desire, however, to add a few observations of a general character. I need hardly refer you to the outline of the Governor's plan, which has been extensively circulated both in English and Maori, and with which it is presumed you have already made yourself well acquainted. You will have observed that the proposal is based upon the recognition of the Native Runanga as the instrument through which the Natives may practically receive the benefit of self-government, under English guidance and the sanction of English law. The Government does not pretend to have framed a perfect scheme; it has contented itself for the present with the endeavour to give effect to those laws which the General Assembly has already passed, relying on the ultimate development of such elementary institutions as can now be planted, into a good system resting on the free assent of the Native people themselves, and preparing them, by teaching them the first steps in political life, to take hereafter that full and equal share in the government of the country which the theory of the Constitution already gives to them as well as to Her Majesty's subjects of the European race. The laws to which I have referred were intended to provide, first, for the political organization of the Natives, and secondly for the administration of justice among them. Thus the Native Districts Regulation Act enables the Governor, with the assent of the Natives, to put into force regulations for every purpose with respect to which it would be prudent to make laws without the intervention of the Colonial Legislature: while the Native Circuit Courts Act confers large powers upon Courts comprising European Magistrates and Native Assessors, for carrying into effect both the general law and any special Regulations made by the Governor. I enclose you copies of these Acts, which have been carefully translated into Maori. The 7th sub-section of the 2nd clause of the Native Districts Regulation Act is one which may be used with success to put an end to the disputes which have led to what is called the " Grass-money Question," and to establish a system under which both races may exchange the constant and open violation of the law which has long been going on, for a recognized occupation of Native lands, under conditions securing to the Natives their just right to the profits of their own lands, and to the settlers the u«e of fertile traets which have not been acquired for the Crown, It is probable that to this subjec

Enc i o , ure i._ Minute by Mr. Dillon Ben, i6ih NoY- 186'-

Enclosure 2.—Minute by Hon- erosbie ward, lsui cc '' '

Enclosure 3.—Report by "on" Crosbie Wa"> t0 toe Governor, 23rd Jan., 1862.

for lhe Cjvi | commit sioner, 18th Jan., lass,

s—Papers relating to proposed regulations> Ju!ylcw-

SECTION VI. HAWKE'S BAY.