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may determine the land on which the school is erected as belonging to Hetaraka Wakaimua, and award it to him, or some one else. Let us deal first with the question as to who are the owners of the land, and then approach the question of having a school. That is all I have to say Numia said, —Let me first offer my greetings to you. Salutations to the leaders of the present Government! lam very glad indeed that you have come to this part of the country In times past all that came to us was a report that you were coming. Now you have arrived amongst us, we, the tribe of Tuhoe, those who are assembled here, rejoice at your having come. The number of people about this place will be something like three hundred. Many have gone inland. Letters were sent to Whakatane asking you to come here, and pleasure was expressed in the open place this morning at your having come amongst us. We listened to what you had to say as to the reason why you came here, and your request that we should lay before you the matters which concerned us most. You also mentioned that you had travelled throughout the Island and listened to what the Natives in the different parts of the colony had to say, and you also urged upon us not to withhold from you anything we had to say to you. You urged upon us to lay now, at the present time, before you all these matters we have to touch upon. In consequence of what you have already said, it is meet, according to the usage of the people here, that I should stand up and express their views upon these points. I may mention to you that a meeting of the Tuhoe took place in March that is past, and they mentioned there their desires and views. That matter was disposed of and dealt with at the meeting held in March. That meeting began its work on the Ist of February and continued till the 4th of March, when it concluded its business. I will now let you know what transpired at that gathering. I will lay before you what was transacted on that occasion. One matter that was determined was the territorial boundary of what land was to be surveyed under command of the Government, and internal surveys within these boundaries would not be consented to at the present time, and that searching for gold would not be agreed to by them, and that the sale of their land would not be acquiesced in by them, and the laying-off of roads through their land would not be agreed to, and that the leasing of their lands was also to be prohibited, that committees should be established, and that the duty of these committees was to deal with troubles that might arise in reference to their lands. These were the matters decided upon at that meeting. I may further explain to the Government what else took place at that meeting. The people who attended it are dwelling under the authority of the Government, they are dwelling in peace , they will not depart therefrom and take up the course followed in former times, they will pursue the road that leads to prosperity Now, this is a separate matter I am going to speak of—that is, in regard to the land. They—l am referring to the meeting—wished to retain within their own hands the administration of the affairs relating to their lands. The lands that are already surveyed are not included in the remarks I am now making. I should explain why the meeting has taken up this position. This is the explanation I have to give Lands that get under the control of the Government are simply squandered away , those who have possessed land become landless, they are those who are supported by the Government. I should not conceal this fact from the Government, and that is the reason why I lay this matter before you, so that you can investigate it. The people belonging to the tribe that is now before you, arc, of all people in the country, the greatest strangers to European customs. Many of the ancient customs abandoned by other tribes are still held by them. Hence it is that I again express my gladness at the Premier being amongst us to-day to hear the subjects that are being laid before him. That is all I have to say in reference to these matters. There is another point I wish to refer to, and it is in reference to what the Premier said this morning when he invited us to lay before him our grievances. This is one particular grievance we have, and it is one of the particular grievances referred to by Makarini with reference to those men who are liable to be arrested at any moment—l mean the trouble in connection with the surveys. The desire is that those people should be brought before you, and that that particular subject should be dealt with. Perhaps I should cease here m laying before the Premier the particular subjects to be dealt with by this gathering, I will return now to what Mr Carroll said to-day I may explain to you, my friend Mr Carroll, that these are the particular subjects agreed to by my people —these matters already mentioned by me. They have watched what has taken place with regard to the tribes outside of us , we see that others of the Native race are now in a landless condition —that their lands have all passed away to the Government. These lands have passed away because they desired the Government should have control of them. It is not that the Government obtained these lands unfairly from these people, hence it is that my people wish that the control of their own land should remain with themselves. I may explain to the Tuhoe the course suggested wheieby prosperity and wealth may come to them. The people of Tuhoe do not agree; they think that there may be temporary prosperity, a temporary enjoyment thereof by dealing with land. You are an advocate of progress. Very good, but the people do not believe in a temporary prosperity There is the reaction to be taken into consideration. People like myself, who are upholding the Government, are strong in our endeavours to get the people to consent to the advancement that is pointed out to us, but the bulk of the people of Tuhoe look at what has taken place in the past—they do not agree with us. They see in other parts of the country Natives struggling and passing away they give away their land without any good coming to them. There is King Tawhiao, he is administering his affairs according to his lights. The Arawas are also looking in the direction they desire and so it is with all the tribes —working in their own respective directions. Again, I say Tuhoe are extremely pleased at seeing the Premier and Mr Carroll. That is all I have to say The Premier Again I speak to Tuhoe. Again I say to Tuhoe that, as head of the Government, I am pleased that they have so far put their grievances before me in such a way that I can reason with them. Though I differ with the opinions expressed, still, lam very pleased to have heard them. It is only by appealing to the better feelings of mankind, whether Natives or Europeans—by reasoning like sensible men—that we can arrive at a just conclusion in the interests of both nations, and it is by reason, and not by force, that I hope before I leave this place to prove