No. 13.
Mr. A. Mackay, to the Under Secretary Native Department.

Sir,—

I have the honour to inform you that on reaching Christchurch I proceeded to Kaiapoi for the purpose of adjusting, if possible, the outstanding question of the Moeraki claim, and also to parcel out the land on block 4 to the 15 claimants mentioned in Mr. Buller's report. Owing to the inclement state of the weather on Tuesday, I was not able to meet the Natives until Wednesday morning. After explaining to them the object of my present mission, there followed an angry and clamorous discussion among them on the merits of the Moeraki claim, and the unanimous decision was, that I should not be permitted to sub-divide the unallotted portion of the reserve, neither would they admit the Moerakis. I explained to them clearly that the decision on this point would not be left to their option; that the Government had admitted the justness of the claim in question, and had fully decided that it should be satisfied.

With respect to laying off the land for some of their numbers for whom no provision had been made, I was not particularly bent upon that, if they opposed it. The Natives who had no land to locate themselves on, and who, they had stated, were living in indigence for the want of the land, would be the persons that would suffer by this mistaken opposition and not the Government; the Government were most anxious that all should be sufficiently provided for, but if they chose to obstruct the wishes of the Government they had no right to complain, and, moreover, I considered their present conduct as most ungracious; they had been soliciting the Government for sometime past to send an officer to adjust their grievances, and now their request was acceded to, they conducted themselves in this unbecoming manner. Finding that all I could say made no impression on them, I left them with the understanding that I should return again on the following day, although at the same time I had but little hope that I should succeed; in fact they told me when I was on the point of leaving that I need not return again, that they would not listen to anything I had to say, nor would they permit me to come upon the land.

On visiting them the following day I found them very little improved in their demeanour. After discussing various matters they recommenced the Moeraki question, and went over nearly the same ground as on the previous day. One statement they made, and which they appear to imagine seriously damaged the Moeraki cause, is, that at the time the money was paid them by the Provincial Government for the road through the reserve, £30 was set aside for Matiaha's share, which by the intervention of the Government, he was not allowed to receive, on the ground, as they assert, that Matiaha had no right to share in moneys produced from Kaiapoi reserves; hence they avert they have been led to suppose that the Government at that time ignored the Moeraki claim. This I stated to them must have been an error, as it was entirely opposed to facts; the Moeraki claim was one of old standing, and made when the Tuahiwi reserve was first decided on; the original intention at that time was that the Moeraki share of the reserve should be 1000 acres, but owing to the unwillingness of the Moeraki people to remove from that place, Mr. Mantell was constrained to award them 500 acres in that locality. This was rather beneficial than otherwise to the people of Kaiapoi as it gave them 500 acres in addition to the area they were at first intended to have. With respect to their statement that it was quite a new decision of the Government, I could assure them to the contrary, that the area of the reserve was based on the numbers of the Natives, Mr. Mantell was given to understand belonged to the locality, the intention being at the time to allot to each individual an average of 11 acres. On being told that 287 was the number of the Natives stated to Mr. Mantell as being resident on the Peninsula and at Moeraki, some of them immediately went into a calculation to see how far the statement was correct, and seemed better satisfied when they found it to be so. This seemed to have the effect of convincing them as to the date of the Moeraki claim more than anything else I had said to them. After a short discussion a number of those who had had no land allotted to them came forward and asked to have land set apart for them as they had no means of support. Some of them it appears had been foolish enough to employ a Surveyor to lay off allotments in No. 3 block, to which they now want to prefer a claim; this I gave them to understand could not be allowed until the Moeraki claim was satisfied, and, if they had been foolish enough to spend their money in employing a Surveyor to lay off the land before they knew of the position of their allotments, the fault was their own, that I could not say now where they could get their land, as the block the Government had intended for them appeared to be already appropriated and parcelled out by Mr. page 111Buller to various individuals who are named in his report as occupants for the detached clumps of bush, under present circumstances, therefore, they would have to wait until it could be decided how much would remain after settling the Moeraki claim.

On visiting the Natives again on Friday, they appeared to be in a better humour and more inclined to listen to reason. It oozed out after a while that the reason of their opposition, in a great measure, was owing to the impression that the Government purposed awarding the Moerakis 500 acres, independently of the area already allotted to them by the sub-division. This I explained to them was not the case. Mr. Buller, in his report, stated that seven Moerakis had been admitted and the Government had agreed that the area allotted to them would be deducted in considering the Moeraki claim; they then stated that Mr. Buller had admitted more than seven Moerakis and proceeded to enumerate them, when it was found on comparing their statement with the names in the list given in Mr. Buller's report, that 12 was the actual number admitted, viz:—Allottees on lots 12, 13, 18, 36, 61, 71, 76, 77, 78, 80, 103, and 107. This statement was confirmed by Mr. Stack, who stated that these men were bona fide residents of Moeraki who were present at the sub-division, but who had never resided at Kaiapoi since. By this therefore it appears that the extent of land already apportioned to Moerakis amounts to 170 acres exclusive of the block of 26 acres (?) awarded to Matiaha, if the last named block is to be included it would leave about 304 acres remaining to Moeraki. I, therefore, informed them that if, on further inquiry, it could be proved to the satisfaction of the Government that these men were bona fide Moeraki's, in that case the claim on their behalf would be proportionately reduced; with this they seemed very well satisfied, and stated they only now understood the true state of the case, they had always imagined hitherto that the Government intended giving 500 acres to Moeraki, without considering the area already apportioned to these people out of the reserve, that, now the matter had been clearly explained to them, they were content to let matters take their course, and would offer no further obstruction to the wishes of the Government on the question, but at the same time they expressed a hope that, if it was proved on actual surrey there was no more land than would satisfy the Moeraki claim, that the Government would be pleased to consider the claims of those residents who were unprovided with land. I thereupon suggested to them the advisability of their furnishing me with a list of those who had no land, in order that I might bring the matter before the Government; on this they informed me that Mr. Stack had been furnished with a list. They also wished to know who was to pay for the survey and the Crown grants for those individuals who had no land, and also as to what the Government intended to do in the matter of the price of land they asked for as an addition to their "Urupa," and what was to be done about the strip of land the Europeans were desirous of acquiring to secure a frontage to the road. With respect to the first question, I informed them that, as the land was all open and had already been marked off into blocks, I could undertake the sub-division of it if they were agreeable. Concerning the issue of Crown grants, I presumed that they would be issued on the same conditions as those under which Mr. Buller's allottees had received theirs. Respecting the question of the "Urupa," I informed them that from all appearance a portion of the land they asked for was really their own, but the settlement of this would have to be deferred until after I had seen the Provincial Government. With regard to the last matter it was proposed to allow them to sell the land along the road, it being considered that this course would be the most advantageous to their interests; to this they expressed themselves well satisfied. This terminated the proceedings, which, on the whole, may be considered to have ended satisfactorily.

With regard to the apportionment of block 4 to the 15 claimants alluded to in Mr. Buller's report, I would beg to inform you that the land is not available for the purpose, it having already been allocated to 13 individuals, one of whom is dead. It is on this block that the detached clumps of trees stand, mentioned in Mr. Buller's report, and has apparently been allotted to the present occupants on the same principle as the other bush parcels.

It would, therefore, be unfair to attempt to dispossess them until the conditions of their occupancy are fulfilled. On referring however to the list of names of the 15 claimants mentioned in Mr. Buller's report, I note that three of these men are now in occupation of this block, viz:—Mohi Patu, Hakopa Hutai, and Wirihana Piro; they therefore might have farms allotted out of it to them in severalty, this would leave three less to provide for. Of the remainder, sir have died, and, with the exception of two without issue, there remain only six of Mr. Buller's claimants to be provided for, and 14 fresh claimants named in Mr. Stack's list, two of these I fancy will be found to belong to Moeraki, in that case they would come in with the rest of the Moeraki claimants. Supposing that those whom I have enumerated can be provided for as mentioned by me, it will still require between two and three hundred acres to give sufficient area to provide for the remainder. No. 3 block is computed to contain about 360 acres, and the triangular block at the north-eastern extremity about 50 acres. This would give an approximate total of 410 acres, provided the statement made by the Kaiapoi Natives is correct, that 170 acres have already been apportioned by Mr. Buller to the Moerakis, to which may be added the block recently granted to Matiaha; it would therefore still leave about 200 acres to be acquired to make adequate provision for those who have no land. As far as I can say at present, I think it will be found rather difficult to find a sufficiency of such land as would meet the wishes of the Natives anywhere in the neighbourhood of Kaiapoi. It is possible that some small blocks might be found on the Peninsula that would answer the purpose. Should it be found impracticable to acquire suitable land in either of these places, would the Government object to purchasing land in the neighbourhood of Moeraki, if good land could be procured in that locality? If this was approved of, the land might be made over to the Moerakis if they were agreeable, by which arrangement a large portion of the reserve at Kaiapoi would be available for partition to the landless Natives belonging to that locality.

I think it very improbable from all I can learn, although the Kaiapoi Natives are now pacifically disposed towards them, that the Moerakis will ever come to reside on their land at the Tuahiwi, as the page 112same objections still exist as were adduced by them to Mr. Hunter Brown in 1865, viz., that the greatest portion of land awarded to them is a swamp, and another reason is that they would have no firewood. It would, therefore, appear, taking all things into consideration, that it would be quite as advantageous for the Moerakis, if good land can be procured in the neighbourhood of their reserve, that a certain area might be parchased for them in that locality. It appears to amount to the same thing in the end and can make no material difference, provided land equal in character to their share of the Kaiapoi reserve could be obtained in the neighbourhood of Moeraki, whether the Government purchases land on behalf of the Moeraki or Kaiapoi residents, as this must necessarily be done in either case to provide for the deficiency.

Should objection be taken to the foregoing suggestions respecting the Moerakis, there is another mode that would enable them to reap the advantages to be derived from their land at Kaiapoi, provided they did not care to occupy it, and that is to permit them to lease it; this would probably give them greater satisfaction than any other plan which could be adopted. Matiaha, I hear, as far as he is concerned, is disposed to adopt this course with it. If it is decided to allow them to lease it, it would not be necessary to go to the expense of sub-dividing and allotting it individually, it might either be leased in its present shape, or cut up into farms of 25 to 50 acres each, and offered to European tenants by public competition, for this purpose therefore their assent might be obtained to bring these portions of the reserve under the provisions of "The Native Reserves Act, 1856."