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Wednesday, 13th September, 1911. Paeroeokd I'lKiiiANw sworn ami examined. (No. 15.) 1. The Chairman.'] Where do you live? —At Otaki. 2. Have you any knowledge of the paper that forme the subject of this inquiryl —Yes. •'!. Are you prepared to give evidence in connection with this paper? -I have evidence to give m relation to that paper in so far as this. that. 1 can speak about the first occasion when I took part in matters in reference to this Mokau Block. i. Save you any interest in the lands thai arc included in this Block? —No, but my wife has. •"). You have volunteered to give evidence—you were not called by the Committee nor by Mr. Massey: is that the position? —lt was because some of yon people decided thai you would call upon me to come and make a statement before you. (>. Did vnnr wife, who is interested in this property, ask you to come?—T will answer that in this way : (hiring the month of .Tune I went to Mokau 7. .Answer the <|iiestion with a simple " Yes " or " No," if you can, please?— Yes, she did. 8. Are yon prepared to make any statement to the Committee? — Yes. T will go back to the period that 1 attempted to speak to you about just now, when I sad I had been to Mokau during last June, and I will tell you what took place there, so that you may see for yourselves that there is something in the matter which justifies me in coming here and saying what I have to say. 9. T do not want in any way to stop you, but would ask you to give your evidence as concisely as you can?— When I got to Mokau during last June I found the old people assembled together. They were sitting there for the purpose of lamenting the fact that their land had passed away by sale: and they said that their desire was that their land should come back to that they should regain possession of it light from the const to its furthest limit inland. When the Board came and sat there 10. linn. Sir J. Carroll.} Did the Hoard sit at Mokau?—Yes. The Board laid down certain proposals in reference to acceptance by the owners of payment for the Mokau lands. 11. The Chairman.] Who were present what members of the Board? —I cannot say what the name of the European was. 12. Hon. Sir J. Carroll.} The Board was never at Mokan? —This man may have come there simply for the purposes of handing over the money, but I was under the impression that he was the Board ;he came there as the representative of the Board. Some of the old people then present, including the old man Te Oro, expressed themselves as all of one mind in their intention to hold on to the land, and they would not agree to the sale. After that these Europeans who I said just imw were a Board—the people who had come to offer the money—went away back to Auckland, and from there they sent a sum of money to Mokau, to the Mokau Post-office, the owners being advised that they could call at the post-office and draw their individual shares of the money. Afterwards word was received at Mokau that if the owners declined to accept this money which had been sent there in payment for the land, that money would be taken back again by the persons who had sent it, and the Government, or whoever it was that was acquiring the land, would take the land for nothing, and the owners would lose both the land and the money. Some of the owners drew their share of the pnrchase-nionev, lint the old people and a proportion of the younger ones declined to draw any money, and up to the present time they have not received any. 13. The Chairman.] Who was it that said if the Natives would not agree to sell the Government would take the land from them and they would get neither money nor land?—lt was a woman from Taranaki who came up there, by name Rangi Auraki. Subsequently to that the old people consulted together and decided they would send a telegram to the Chairman of this Committee. 14. I received it. The purport of that telegram was to ask the Chairman to allow them an opportunity of stating to the Committee that they were not willing to sell. Did they receive any reply to that telegram) —T am unable to say. 15. A reply was sent, to the Natives at Mokau? —That would be probably after T had left, on mv way back to Otaki. 16. Won. Sir •/. Carroll.] What did you come here to trive evidence on? —T have come here for the purpose of telling the Committee of the desire of the people who wish to hold the land and not to sell it. and various other matters in connection with the sale of the block. 17. We do not want you to go rambling all over, the country. You came here at your wife's dictation : whai did she tell you to say to the Committee?— She asked me to state to the Committee the injury which had been done to herself and her friends and relatives. 18. Why did she not come herself? — I cannot reply to that. 10. Tlir Chairman.} Did your wife accept any of the monev?—Yes, through ignorance. Mr. Massey: T might explain, by way of putting the witness on the right track, that lie informed me that he was one of the four delegates appointed by the Mokau Natives to represent them at the meeting at Te Kuiti. I think that if the witness would start at that point lie would tret on very much better. 20. The Chairman.} What happened at Te Kuiti? —I had better perhaps commence by explaining how we were authorized to go there. We were appointed by the owners of the land at Mokau to oppose the sale and to retain the land. 21. Was it by a majority of the owners of the land, or by a section of the owners—the Te Whiti-ites?—The people were divided at that time, but a majority of certain of the people were in favour of retaining the land. 22. Can you state how many were in favour? —T could not. The names will all be found in the summons which was issued by Mr. Bell for the purpose of attacking the lease. 23. Tell us what happened at Te Kuiti? —When we got to Te Kuiti we persisted in our original attitude of opposing the sale. On the second occasion of the Board sitting at Te Kuiti