I—G. Id.

G.—ld

1908. NEW ZEALAND.

NATIVE LANDS AND NATIVE-LAND TENURE: INTERIM REPORT OF NATIVE LAND COMMISSION, ON NATIVE LANDS IN THE COUNTY OF TAURANGA.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Native Land Commission, Helensville, 28th March, 1908. May it please Your Excellency,— We have the honour to transmit an interim report on Native lands in the County of Tauranga. The area covered by the report is 33,160 acres, comprising the lands owned by the hapus of the Arawa Tribe, in the said county. " The Thermal Springs District Act, 1881," did not operate in this district. This accounts for the fact that so much of the original area of Native land has been sold either to the Crown or to Europeans, and that comparatively so little is left to the Maori owners. The lands have been subdivided into very small blocks, but not individualised in the true sense, or partitioned even into family holdings. Thus the Paengaroa Blocks, North and South, are held by hapus or subtribes, and the titles are fairly congested—so much so that it has been extremely difficult to obtain leases since the general removal of restrictions against leasing came into operation In some of these cases the owners have asked us to recommend the incorporation of the small holdings. A small area will be made available for leasing to Europeans or to other Maoris in this way. The blocks recommended for Maori occupation represent lands in actual occupation except in the case of Ngatipahiko and subdivisions, which are virgin bush. The'Tapuika hapu living at Te Puke and Kangiuru have very little land, and the provision made for them, even if their areas now under lease to Europeans are taken into consideration, is not too ample. Most of the lands shown as under lease to Europeans have been only recently taken up, many of the leases being still incomplete. The Maketu Natives own a little land in this county, the bulk of their land being in the thermal springs district in Kotorua County, already dealt with in our Rotorua report. The area set aside for their occupation is small, but, with the lands in the thermal springs district proposed to be reserved, should be ample for their present needs.