No. 72, Session I.—Petition of Jonathan Brown.

The petitioner states that he had made an agreement with certain Natives for the purchase of a block of land belonging to them in the District of Tauranga, but that, in consequence of a resolution of the Native Affairs Committee passed in 1878, the Natives are prevented from completing their agreement. He prays that the restriction upon alienation recommended in that report be removed in so far as the land agreed to be purchased by him is concerned.

I am directed to report as follows:—

That the Committee see no objection to the removal of the restriction of the alienation of this block, as it appears that the Natives concerned are willing to complete the title, and are possessed of other lands in their own right; and they beg to recommend the Government to act accordingly.