a—4a.

1874. NEW ZEALAND.

AUCKLAND TEN PER CENTS., (REPORT ON THE PAYMENT OF THE).

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by command of His Excellency. No. 1. Major Heaphy to the Under Secretary, Native Department. Sir,— Wellington, 29th May, 1874. Pursuant to instructions received from the Hon. the Native Minister, I proceeded to Auckland on the 25th of March last for the purpose of paying the Native sellers of tho blocks mentioned below, the sums that had accrued to them as " 10 per cents." of the proceeds of land sales.in accordance with the terms of the respective deeds of cession. The sums that had thus accrued up to the Ist April, 1874, were, — £ s. d. Uponßemuera ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,348 9 10 Paioterangi ... ... ... ... ... 609 14 6 Hikurangi ... ... ... ... ... 1,653 7 2 Pua-ta-hinga ... ... ... ... ... 432 10 0 Ruakaka ... ... ... ... ... ... 473 16 10 Mangawhai ... ... ... ... ... 419 13 2 Hunua ... ... ... ... ... ... 889 18 7 Total ... ... ... ... £5,827 10 1 There was a similar contract entered into with the sellers of the Piako Block, in the Thames district, but no land had been sold there. The contract under which the liability for payment of " 10 per cents." occurred was contained in the following words : — "It is further agreed to by the Queen of England, on her part, that there shall be paid for the following purposes, that is to say, for the founding of schools in which persons of our race may be taught, for the construction of hospitals in which persons of our race may be tended, for the payment of medical attendance for us, for annuities for our chiefs, or for other purposes of a like nature in which the Natives of this country have an interest, 10 per cent., or ten pounds out of every hundred pounds, out of moneys from time to time received for land when it is re-sold." The only payments that had ever been made out of the 10 per cent, fund (which had been kept separate at the Treasury) were the following:— 1862.—Construction of Orakei Bridge ... ... ... ... £538 17 5 „ 586 10 0 ~ Unaccounted for ... ... ... ... ... 20 0 0 Total ... ...£1,145 7 5 The Orakei Bridge was built in 1862, to connect the peninsula of that name with Remuera, a suburb of^Auckland. The largest Native settlement in the district was at Orakei, and the sellers of Remuera consented that a large portion of the cost of the bridge should be charged against the " 10 per cents." Unfortunately, the records of the transaction and all the vouchers for the disbursements save one were lost at the sinking of the " White Swan " steamer. Memuera. At the meeting held with the sellers of Remuera, I placed the accounts before them, and explained the nature of the charges for the bridge. The absence of the papers made it very difficult to make clear the circumstances that had occurred so far back as 1862. The charge for the bridge amounted to £1,125 7s. 5d., and the total money that had accrued, to £1,348 9s. 10d., of which sum it was very desirable that about £400 should be appropriated for school and hospital purposes. Thus, if the bridge were paid for, the Natives would have nothing to receive. But the result of careful inquiry revealed that the other section of the Ngatiwhatua Tribe living on the West Coast, between Manukau I—G. 4a.