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765. You have sent in a petition to Parliament this year, have you not?— Yes. 766. That is your signature, is it ?—Yes. 767. Who wrote this petition for you?—A child of mine wrote it. It is a child that has been at school that wrote it. 768. Now, you say in this petition that Judge Mair was the Judge that adjudicated upon and made the award upon these two blocks—that is, Oruamatua and Owhaoko. You say that Judge Mair made the award on these blocks ?—Yes ; when the division was made. 769. Of course, then, you do not mean that Judge Mair originally made Benata an owner ?— No ; I do not say that. 770. Where was this award made—the division by Judge Mair ?—At Hastings. 771. Were you present or your father ?—Yes ; I was there, carrying out matters for my father and my tribe. 772. In that division, Benata got by far the largest share ?—Yes. 773. Do you say Benata should have had no share, or that he got too much?—l think, myself, with regard to the Oruamatua Block, that Eenata's name ought not to have appeared upon it at all. 774. Hon. Sir R. Stout.] What about the Owhaoko ?—I approve of his having an interest in the Owhaoko Block. 775. Do you think Eenata had too large a share ?—Yes. 776. What share do you say Benata should have had?—l think myself that he should have had a less share in the Owhaoko Block than he has received; but, with regard to the Oruamatua Block, I do not see why his name should have been admitted there at all, or he should have been allowed to have an interest in it. 777. Why did your father not go to the first Court in time ?—Because there were several cases before the Owhaoko case would come on for hearing. We, as it were, received the Gazette with reference to it to-day, and started for Napier the day after. 778. You did not delay starting ?—No; we started the day after. We went night and day to get there in time. 779. And when you came the case was over?— Yes. 780. Now, there is one of the Owhaoko Blocks called a school reserve. Do you agree that it should be a school reserve ?—Yes ; we agreed to that for the sake of our children. 781. You did not agree that Benata was to get it for himself ?—No; we gave it for the good of a school. 782. Now, at this division of the land, did you tell Judge Mair that Benata was not entitled to such a big share ?—Yes ; we stated so to Judge Mair. 783. For whom did Dr. Buller appear? —Benata. 784. Did you have any person appearing for you? —No; we had no counsel on our side. I acted myself in the matter. 785. Did Judge Mair say why he gave Benata such a large proportion ?—He said, in giving his judgment, that why he gave Benata so much was because Benata was a man of influence, and because of a dispute between Te Heuheu and Eenata. 786. Are there any other names in this block that should have been left out? —I think there are several left out that have a claim to these blocks. 787. Did your people or your father authorize Eenata, or Noa Huke, or Te Hapuku, or Maiana, to speak for them at the Court ? No ; I have already stated that the award was made when we got there. 788. Did he authorize any one to appear for him, although he did not get there in time himself? ■ —No ; we never authorized anybody to act on our behalf. 789. And are the people of inland Patea desirous that there should be a new hearing of the Kaimanawa and Owhaoko Blocks?— Yes ; we wish a rehearing for the three blocks. 790. And do they wish that the school reserve should remain a school reserve ?—We think that there ought to be a careful judgment given of the blocks, and let it remain where it is. 791. Did your father have an opportunity of appearing in the Court, or his people?—No; he has never had an opportunity of prosecuting his claim to the block. 792. Mr. Seddon.] You have said there are several parties who should be in the block : will you give us the names of them ?—I might be able to mention some, but not the whole, for it is a very large tribe —the Ngatiwhiti and Ngatitama Tribes. 793. We shall be satisfied for you to name those you know?—Te Bina, Hika Eruini, Heperi, Ho Ani, Moku, Bawiri, Te Oti, Oropoama; and there are many others that I cannot think of. 794. Do you recognize Heperi Pikirangi as one of them ; he is one of them. There are plenty of others that I cannot think of just now. Our tribe numbers altogether, old and young, about one hundred and seventy. 795. The Chairman.] Is there anything else you would wish to tell us about this matter? —Yes; I wish to say a little more. I wish to state that, by the time my father arrived at the Court, the judgment had been given upon the Owhaoko ; and then my father and my tribe asked that there should be a rehearing of the case. The Judge stated that there would be a rehearing granted within two years afterwards —within two or three years. Some of the people's names who were in that application for rehearing were Topia Turoa, Bawiri, Kahia, and Hohepa Tamamutu. Dr. Buller went to Taupo, and asked these people to withdraw that application. He offered Hohepa £5 if he would withdraw the application, and also gave Bawiri £5 on the same score. He gave Topia £50. Therefore, they wrote to the Court, and said that they wished to withdraw their application for a rehearing. When I heard of that, I was very angry with Dr. Buller about it. Tnat is all I have to say in the matter. 796. How do you know all this about the proceedings between Dr. Buller and the three Natives ? —When Dr. Buller brought the statement from these Natives to the effect that they
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