&-1

survey, are there good reasons for believing that if they had been made, the removal of the surveyors and the subsequent embarrassments would not have occurred ? 1. Major Brown tells us he had no specific instructions (certainly none in writing) as to quantity, locality, or character of the reserves to be made. He had the general directions contained in Sir I). McLean's instructions to Mr. Parris and himself in 1872 and 1876; he Avas acquainted Avith the general promises made by Mr. Sheehan on the occasions before mentioned; and he certainly had been ordered in general terms to make liberal reserves for the Natives; but it Avas not till after the surveyors had been removed that Mr. Sheehan told him "to bear in mind that the Government had decided to return from 20,000 to 25,000 acres to the Natives on the Plains, from Waingongoro to Wahamoko stream, and up to the mountain" (Mount Egmont). In a speech in the House of Representatives on the 23rd July 1879, Mr. Sheehan said it was understood that Major Brown should be in a position to make reserves to the extent of 25,000 acres; but Major Brown certainly kneAV nothing of it, nor the Natives either, while the survey of the Plains was being made, and the only instructions he had up to that time were of the general kind Ave have mentioned. It may fairly be urged on the other hand, that Sir D. McLean's instructions Avere so wide as practically to give him a carte blanche: and that he could, subject of course to confirmation by the GoArernment, do Avhatcver he liked in the matter. Such, at any rate, was his position up to 15th January 1879, when the sectional surveys were far advanced. At that date he received a telegram from Mr. Sheehan, covering one from Sir' George Grey in the folloAving words : " Before any conclusion is come to regarding '' Native reserves on the Plains, or before any Native is informed by Major Brown I on the subject, I would suggest that the Government should have the proposals before them and consider them. —G. Grey." This prohibition to inform the Natives, Major Brown appears to have interpreted as preventing his even consulting with them upon the subject; and he abstained from any further action about reserves for a period of tAvo months, the sectional surveys going on all the time. When, in March 1879, Mr. Sheehan Avent with him to Parihaka, and ] Major Brown complained of having been stopped by Sir George Grey's telegram, ] Mr. Sheehan told him to do as he thought proper and he Avould be supported < in it. Before, however, Major Brown could take action, the surveyors had] been remoA red by tho Natives. Major Brown says emphatically, in his evidence before us, that " these instructions from Sir George Grey did stop the Avhole thing,' as far as dealing Avith the Natives was concerned." But in a conversation which he had subsequently with Sir George Grey at Taranaki, the latter told him that i he " might have pointed that out, and asked for authority to have it altered ;" to s which Major Brown certainly made no satisfactory reply. We think Sir George J Grey was quite right, both in requiring that the Government should be fully 4 consulted on the reserves, and in his view that Major Brown, if placed at a dis- i. advantage by his telegram, should have remonstrated and given advice, instead i of remaining passive merely because Sir G. Grey's telegram seemed to imply e distrust of him. There can, however, be no doubt that it would have been better if, on so very important a point as the reserves (on which, as will be seen, in our opinion, the whole case ultimately turned), more careful consideration had been given to the subject by the Government, and specific instructions had been given to the Civil Commissioner. To any one Avho has seen the locality, and is acquainted with the position of the existing settlements of the several tribes, it must be evident that there Avas but one right way, namely, that a large reserve should be made at the edge of the forest, including all the villages, cultivations, and present improvements: with a feAV smaller reserves in the open country, such as those for Hone Pihama and Manaia, as well as burial-places, fishing-places, and old pas. If definite instructions had been given to Major Brown to survey and mark off such reserves on the ground before commencing the sectional survey, no misunderstanding could have occurred, for his line of action Avould have been perfectly clear to him and understood by the Natives. It is remarkable that the v—G. 2.

I 1879. Major Brown, Evidence, Q. 655 et sec[.

Ibid., Evidence, Q. 691. Ibid., Evidence, Q. 660.

i Hon. Mr. Sheehan, Speech, ' Hansard, vol. xxxi., p. 184, 23rd July 1879.

Telegram from Sir O. Orey: Major Brown, Evidence, Q. 658.

Major Brown, Evidence, Q. 660. Memorandum of Major Brown, Evidence, p. 49.

Major Brown, Evidence, Q. 688. Ibid., Evidence, Q. 685. Sir Gr. Grey, Letter to the Commissioners, 4th May 1880. Appendix A, No. 16. Evidence, Q. 697, 698.

XXVII