I.—3a

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say " There is so much for you to receive," and that is the only way I get the money. They do not render me any accounts for these other pieces of land. That is one of my complaints. 14. Mr. Jennings.] Does anybody else get these accounts ? —I cannot say. Ido not get them. I have to be constantly running after them for these few shillings, whereas if I managed my own affairs I could do very much better. With less trouble I should be able to get much more rent. 15. Mr. Heke.] I can hardly understand your explanation. Is this the position :In the first piece of land you described to us this morning you say that you own 112| acres ?—Yes. 16. Then, as to the second piece of land, you say you have in another block 33 acres ? —Yes. 17. This, we understand, is a different piece of land to the 112J acres ? —Yes ; I succeeded to it. 18. Now, is this right ? You say that in the third block you have 5 acres \ —Yes ; in the Ngatihawe Block. 19. Are there any other blocks that you are interested in ? —The Mataikahawai Block. 20. How many acres ?—Twenty acres. 21. You are interested in four blocks : in the first one you have 112| acres, in the second block 33 acres, in the third block 5 acres, and in the fourth block, 20 acres ? Is this all ?—Yes. 22. Is the 40 acres that you have leased from the Public Trustee a part of the 112 \ acres ? —Yes. 23. That leaves in the hands of the Public Trustee, and which he leases to other people, 72| acres ? -Yes. 24. Can you tell the Committee what is the annual rental paid to you for the 72J acres ? —I receive for the 72 acres £18 2s. 2d. each half-year. 25. That is £36-odd a year ?—Yes. 26. I want you to understand, Mrs. Thompson, that I am asking you what is the actual rental the Public Trustee pays to you for your 72J acres ?—I got £18 2s. 2d. last half-year. 27. That is £36-odd a year ?—Yes ; but it varies. 28. Is that £36 a year paid to you after deducting commission, taxes, and rates % —Yes ; that is the balance I receive after the deduction of rates, commission, taxes, and so on. 29. Now, what rent have you to pay to the Public Trustee for the 40 acres ? —I pay £16 a year to the Public Trustee. 30. Well, you do not pay that out of your pocket ?—That is deducted by the Public Trustee out of rents due to me for my land leased to Europeans. 31. So, deducting £16 from the £36, that leaves you £20 a year ? —Yes. 32. What is the rental that you get for your 33 acres ? —£3 14s. sd. each half-year. 33. Can you tell us whether this £3 14s. sd. is paid to you after deducting commission, taxes, and rates ? —Yes ; I think so. lam not certain. Ido not get any accounts. Ido not have any accounts showing these things. 34. What rent do you get for the 5 acres % —Bs. 7d. each half-year. 35. And what do you get for the 20 acres ?—lßs. 4d. each half-year. 36. You do not get any accounts, I suppose, in regard to the rent of the 20 acres ? —I do not get any accounts in these three blocks. I have only received an account in connection with the one block. This account I have produced for the Committee. 37. Well, now, what commission is deducted from the rent due to you on the 72J acres ? —About 7 per cent. 38. I understand the prayer of your petition is that you wish to have your land now under the administration of the Public Trustee in your own hands—that you wish to manage it yourself ? — Yes, I wish to manage my own affairs. I wish to manage my land myself on my own responsibility. 39. Your reason for wishing that is, that you think you are capable of doing it ?—Yes. 40. Well, there is one question I would like to ask you. In regard to the majority of the Natives owning interests in the lands on the West Coast administered by the Public Trustee, would you ask that they should receive the same privilege as you pray for now ?—Yes ; I ask that for all Natives in a similar position to myself —that is to say, with the same education and ability ; excluding those that are incompetent and not educated. 41. But with regard to all those who are known to be persons who are not capable of dealing with their land, would you ask that the same privileges should be extended to them ? —Well, I will not presume to say that the Natives are incompetent and incapable. I will not take the responsibility for gaying that. 42. Mrs. Thompson, I presume you know there are a number of Natives interested in the West Coast reserves, who, if this same privilege that you are asking for is given them, would not remain very long in the occupation of their land. They would sell it. Would you give them the same right ?—Why should they not have the right ? The lands are restricted. They cannot sell the land. 43. Would you give these weaker Natives the same privileges that you are asking for ? —I am asking for myself, not for others. 44. There is another matter I want to speak to you about. It is in regard to some of the statements you made yesterday. You said that, with regard to some Natives who have been given licensed holdings by the Public Trustee, they have started to give informal leases, so to speak, to pakehas. And I also understood you to say yesterday that Natives who were desirous of acquiring leases from other Natives ought to be encouraged to do this, and that Natives ought not to be encouraged to lease their places to Europeans. Is that the position ?—No ; that is not exactly what I said. 45. What do they call these licensed holdings ? Mr. Poynton : Occupation licenses. - 46. Mr. Heke.] In regard to these pieces of land set aside by the Public Trustee for the Natives you spoke of yesterday, were they given by the Public Trustee as occupation licenses for these Natives ? —Yes.