Report on Petition of Ngatiwhakatere and Ngatitutaiaroa Tribes.

The petition refers to five blocks of land near the District of Manawatu, and the petitioners complain that only the names of fifty persons are on the certificates under the law of 1873, asserting that there are 250 owners. They further object to the land-purchasing operations of Mr. Booth, a Government servant, and object to payments being made to the fifty persons whose names are on the certificate, as well as to the insufficiency of the price proposed to be paid.

I am directed to report as follows:—

That the statements of the petitioners refer to matters which should receive the attention of the Government.