Page image
Page image

1.—12

66

1933. Is this dissatisfaction with the Public Trustee caused by interference of the Europeans, or does it originate with the Natives themselves ? —This dissatisfaction originated with ourselves entirely ; it has not been caused by Europeans ; it has been caused by persons such as I have mentioned —by giving me 26 acres and my brother, who has an equal right, only 5 acres. 1934. Do you know any one else in the hapu who received too much : did Tuke receive too much, and, if so, do you know how it is that Tuke came to receive such a large share ?—I know that he was the only person in the house with Rennell when the arrangement was made. 1935. Mr. Rennell] Do you not belong to Waikato ?—No. 1936. Do you mean to say that you belong to Hapotiki only ? —To Hapotiki. 1937. Your father was?—My father was a white man, from England. 1938. You say you know all about my subdivision of the interests: where were you at the time ?—I was living on land at Matangarara—on the land which you were subdividing. 1939. Why did you not come to the meeting, seeing that I advertised the meeting to be held ? —I received no notice. 1940. Is it not true that you would not look at the notice when it was sent to you, and that it was returned to me through the post-office ? —I never saw any notice. 1941. Who is the head of the hapu of Hapotiki?—Ngahina and Moerewarewa. 1942. Do you not know that Ngahina spoke to my Assessor the day before the meeting, and told him that the Natives had held a meeting and decided not to attend ?—I never heard that Ngahina made any such statement. 1943. Hon. the Chairman.] Who was the Assessor ?—Te Kahui. 1944. Mr. Rennell] Do you remember the Native Land Court at Hawera, were all these cases were gone into before Judge Wilson ?—I know of the Court sitting at Hawera : I had a case before Judge Wilson. 1945. Do you know that a blind Native stood up and said that he yvas at the meeting, and heard all these matters discussed ?—I did not hear that. 1946. Do you know that Judge Wilson, in giving his judgment, said, "The objection that sufficient notice was not given is contradicted by the facts that have been established by the evidence " ?—All I know is that my agent, Kuini, explained to the Court how I had been treated, and Judge Wilson said that a wrong had been done to me. 1947. Do you know that Judge Wilson followed my definition of interests exactly for the Hamua Block ? —I am not speaking about the Hamua Block; I am speaking of the Hapotiki Block. 1948. Did you apply for a subdivision in the Hapotiki ?—I did. 1949. What did the Judge say ? —Judge Wilson made a subdivision, awarding me 50 acres, and my brother 50 acres. 1950. Has the land been cut up ?—He marked it on the plan. 1951. Have you got the order?—No; the order has not been sent to us, because the surveyor has not cut up the land. 1952. What was the average of land per head in the hapu lands you applied for?—l cannot say what each person got. I only know what I and my brother received. 1953. ■ Are you not aware that you have 3 acres more than the average by getting 26 acres— that is, 3 acres more than the average of the shares in the block ? —But then, you only gave my brother 5 acres. 1954. You say that Tuki and I were in the whare together when this matter yvas arranged : how do you know ? were you there? —I was not there, but I heard you were there with Tuki. 1955. Tuki only?—Tuki, Kahui Ngaruru, and Wikitoria. 1956. Do you know that Judge Wilson's subdivision of the Hapotiki Block was appealed against immediately it was known? —I know that. 1957. Do you know that the Premier was appealed to on the subject ?—I did not hear so. 1958. You do not know that there had been great objection made to Judge Wilson giving 50 acres to these people ?—I never heard that the Natives were angry at our getting 50 acres ; they were angry for another cause. 1959. But you did know there was a good deal of dissatisfaction about this decision of Judge Wilson's ?-^No.' 1960. Who were the ones to get 50 acres each ?—I was one, Kuini was another. 1961. Who is Kuini?—She is the daughter of Rangipupu. 1962. Do you know that Rangipupu was paid for all his interests there in that list in 1867?— Who paid ? 1963. By the Government ?—I never heard so. 1964. Do you not know as a fact that he (Rangipupu) was an absentee ? Hon. the Chairman: What is meant by an absentee? Mr. Rennell: A person not residing on the land, but only visiting there—it might be only once in a lifetime. Witness : It is true Rangipupu was not living there, on this block; but he was never out of mind, or lost to us. 1965. Where was he?—He was at Otago. 1966. Do you believe that a person out of the district residing at Otago was entitled to 50 acres?— Does not Mr. Rennell know that this man's mother and his younger relatives were all living on the land, holding to the fire which kept his right alive ? 1967. Can you give us the name of another who received 50 acres : w 7 as it Wharepa ? —Yes ; he received 50 acres. 1968. Where has he lived the greater part of his life?—At the Chatham Islands. 1969. Did he not murder his wife there? Mr. Sinclair objected to tho question on the ground that, even if the suggestion were true, it would not affect the man's right.

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert