D.—No. 16.

OE NATIVE RESERVES.

11

HOSPITAL PROPERTY. De. Ce. 186 S. £- 3. d. 1868. £ 3. d. May 4.—To half-year's rent from W. Watkins, June 30.—8y cash paid into " Consolidated due Ist. instant 7 10 0 Fund" 7 10 0 November 2. —To half-year's rent from W. 1869. Watkins, due Ist instant 710 0 June 26.—8y cash paid P. Moon for repairing i 8 (39. Hospital chimneys, as per voucher... ... 910 0 June 23.— T0 two months' rent from Colonel j June 26.—8y cash paid W. Sole for repairing Lepper (from 21st March to 21st May) ... 210 0 shoot, as per voucher 0 5 0 : July 26. —By cash paid S. Howell for sweeping chimneys, as per voucher ... ... ... 0 50 £17 10 0 £17 10 0 CASH ACCOUNT.—(Deductions for expense of management). De. Ce. 1869. £ s. d. 1869. £ s. d. January 1. —To balance in hands of Commissioner 3 5 5 June 30.—8y cash paid Provincial Treasurer for January Ito December 31.—T0 amounts trans- printing accounts in Gazette, as per receipt 7 10 ferred for expense of management, as shown June 30.—8y cash paid into '; Public Account." 0 2 7 in the accounts of the several reserves ... 712 3 December 31.—8y balance in Commissioner's ■ deposit account ... ... ... ... 314 1 £10 17 8 _ , £10 17 8 Cash in Commissioner's Deposit Account: 1869. £ s- A. December 31. —Rent due to Wi Te Ahoaho (see Reserve B) 4 12 1 December 81. —Rent due to owners of No. 20 Reserve ... ... ... ... ... 5 15 3 December 31.—Deductions for expense of management ... ... ... ... ... 314 1 £14 1 5 E. Parris, New Plymouth, March 2, 1870. Commissioner for Native Eeserves. Examined and found correct, Edward Hill, Examiner appointed under " New Zealand Native Reserves Act, 1856." Wellington, March 14, 1870.

No. 9. Major Heaphy, V.C, Commissioner of Native Eeserves, to the Hon. the Native Minister. Sir,— Dunedin, 29th May, 1870. I have the honor to enclose a report on the Natives Eeserves of the Province of Hawke's The substance, in extenso, of the report was contained in the interim report of April 14th, 1870, already before you. The present report is intended as a part of the general report for printing. The appendix and ma.ps are in the possession of Mr. Didsbury, for lithographing. I have &c, The Hon. tho Native Minister. Charles Heaphy.

Enclosure in No. 9. Eeport on the Native Eeserves in the Province of Hawke's Bay. 1. In reporting on the condition of the Native reserves in the Province of Hawke's Bay, it may not be irrelevant to allude to the degree of social advancement which the Natives of that locality have manifested, and the practical loyalty for which they have been conspicuous. 2. They appear to be remarkable for habits of order, their villages and paddocks are the best kept, and they possess the greatest amount of material wealth of any tribe in New Zealand. At Omarunui they assisted the settlers in crushing out the rebellion of the earlier Hauhau fanatics, and at the Mohaka they suffered heavily for their allegiance to the Queen's Government. 3. The advent of the white settlers was the commencement of their prosperity, which increased as the settlement advanced. 4. The chief cause of their prosperity was unquestionably the circumstance of their preserving to themselves a large extent of good land, while selling or letting blocks for our settlement. They parted with the hilly, pasturage country, and much good cultivable land, but they kept large areas of the rich plain where their cultivations lay, and a sufficiency of grass country to afford them a large income from rents. The action of the Native Lands Act in individualising the titles to these lands conferred a benefit on the owners by the security that it gave that improvements made by the existing owners would be enjoyed by his descendants without being liable to the rapacity of the chiefs or the intervention of the tribe, but it was not unattended by disadvantageous effects, which had not been provided against.