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good to your petitioners," and that "they would not accept the same in payment." They then say that one Williams took up the cheque " in the presence of Mr. Gill, saying, ' I will get it cashed and return with the money to-morrow ;' and he then left the room with the said Mr. Gill." Kaiuka, the principal witness, says, in evidence, that he did not instruct the drafter of the petition to say that the cheque had been thrown upon the table and rejected, but that Williams, in the presence of Mr. Gill, took the cheque from the hand of Uru te Angina. The interpreter of the petition from the Natives, and acting on their behalf (who is an interested party also in the petition), acknowledges that he is not clear as to whether Kaiuka objected to this portion or not. Now, in the petition of Uru te Angina in 1884 it is stated that, when Mr. Gill had paid over to him (Angina) the cheque, Mr. Gill left the room, but that Williams remained and addressed your petitioners. The tears dropped from his eyes like the rain as he told your petitioners that God was good and so on. After this, Angina says he gave the cheque to Williams. In Kaiuka's petition of 1884 he says, " Then Mr Gill wrote the cheque for us, the balance—viz., £5,411 Os. 7d.—and asked us who will take this cheque? -We replied, give it to Uru te Angina, to the old man." Upon the petitions of 1884 this Committee, in the following year, recommended that Government should see if Williams (who had become bankrupt) could be prosecuted either civilly or criminally. The question now, however, assumes a new phase. The petition now before the Committee no longer sets Williams down as the sole principal in a swindle, but accuses Mr. Gill as a participant. The petitions of 1884 show that at that time it was no part of the charge that Mr. Gill had in any way contributed to the loss; and the very full evidence now taken shows most conclusively that the conduct of Mr. Gill throughout was not only beyond all suspicion of unfairness, but that he had shown the utmost consideration to the grantees, and had even warned them to be particularly careful as to the disposal of the final payment for their land. But here comes in a new phase : since the Committee reported last year the Natives put themselves into communication with certain Europeans, in apparently the following order: Thomas William Fisher, butcher and storekeeper, Waitotara, Charles Eichardson Bayley, licensed interpreter, Ha wera, and George Victor Bate, commission agent, Hawera. After various negotiations it was agreed that these three persons should, on behalf of the grantees, prosecute the claims against the Government. Accordingly, a memorandum of agreement was drawn up and signed on the 27th May last between Bate and the Natives. By this Mr. Bate agreed (1) to provide the necessary funds in the first place; (2) he was to deduct from the sum recovered all the disbursements incurred in such prosecution; (3) out of the balance he was to deduct one-half as his remuneration or commission in the said matter, and to pay the other half to the grantees. Mr. Bate also took power of atterney to act for them. Though Bates's name is used, the evidence of all three Europeans concurs in the fact that they were to equally divide the proceeds. These facts are established beyond dispute : — 1. Mr. Gill paid the money by cheque, in the presence of all the grantees, to Uru te Angina, at the request of the grantees themselves. He offered to give six cheques, but they preferred to have only one. 2. Mr. Gill immediately after payment left the room and did not return, and was entirely ignorant of the fate of the cheque until complaints came to the office afterwards. 3. In the petitions of 1884 there are details that show that Williams only was blamed by the grantees at that time. 4. The petition now before the Committee distinctly charges Mr. Gill with aiding in a fraud, but the principal petitioner, the man upon whose information the petition was drawn, says that he distinctly drew the attention of the interpreter (Bayley) to misstatements which were not rectified. Bayley himself says, in reference to throwing the cheque upon the table, and Kauika objecting to the statement at Hawera, when there to sign the petition, " I am not sure whether he did not say something about it. He did not seem quite clear in his own mind about it." And again, "He said he was not sure about it." There seems no doubt that this hardening of the petitioners' apparent position arose from European influence. 5. The three Europeans, namely, Bate, Bayley, and Fisher, for mere gain to themselves, have contributed largely to the discontent of the petitioners, and assisted the latter to prosecute a claim which the petitioners themselves knew to be unfounded. The Committee consider that petitioners have no claim whatever upon the Government. They would add that Europeans who aid in unjust demands of this kind deserve severe censure, and especially where sordid motives are the sole actuating impulse. The Committee would call the attention of the Government to the fact that both Williams and Bayley are licensed interpreters. 21st July, 1886. ■

[Translation.] No. 121.—Pukapuka-inoi a Piki Kotuku me etahi atu, E ki ana nga kai-pitihana i roto i te tau 1875 ka hokona c ratou tetahi poraka whenua kia Wiremu Wiremu i kiia i taua wahe kaihoko whenua ia na te Kawanatanga. Aite 28 o nga ra o Tihema 1880 ka kite a te Kira i nga kai-pitihana a i muri iho ka, hoatu c te Kira he tieke mo nga moni c £5,411 os. 7d. a i mea a Wiremu mana c wahi te tieke ma ratou. Heoi rnauria ana eia te tieke haere ana. Eki ana ratou kahore rawa tetahi moni o roto i taua tieke i riro mai i a ratou o taua wa iho ano a taea noatia tenei wa. E inoi ana ratou kia whiriwhiria tenei take. Kua whakahaua ahau kia ki penei: Ite tau 1884 i tono nga kai-pitihana ki tetahi ora i pera ano hoki a Uru te Angina i roto i tetahi pitihana o taua tau ano. A i roto i te pitihana c takoto nei i te aroaro o te Komiti c whakaatu ana i te hoatutanga a te Kira i te tieke mo nga moni c £5,411 os. 7d. kite hunga no ratou te whenua a i rukea c tetahi o ratou te tieke ki runga i te tepu me te ki kahore c paingia c o koutou kai-pitihana a ekore hoki ratou c tango i taua tieke hei utu mo taua whenua. E ki ana hoki ratou i tangohia ake te tieke c Wiremu i te aroaro o te Kira me te ki mana c wahi 4-—I. 2.