(The Editor Poverty Bay Herald.)

Sir,—In your leader last night you are not fair to the Administration Act of 1886 when you say that under it "a man with small means would have absolutely no chance of obtaining an acre," and when you clearly imply that under it the land would not pass through the Crown, Section 29 expressly provides that the Commissioner shall dispose of the land "in accordance with the provisions of the Land Act 1885, or of any Act passed in substitution thereof, and he (the Commissioner that is) shall have all the powers of a Land Board." And section 33 prohibits private persons from acquiring land direct from the Natives. A man of small means could of course acquire through the Commissioner, just as he could from a Land Board. These are the strong points of the Act, and its virtues ought to he acknowledged. Its weak points are:—(1) the voluntary character of its provisions—Natives need not have come under it unless they liked, might keep rloof as long as they liked; and (2) the powers given to Committees to direct the Commissioner as to land to he dealt with, and the terms on which the same might he disposed of. Not-withstanding, in my opinion it was by far the best scheme embodied in legislation upon the lines of Native Committee manage-ment. Its weak points really only spring from an evident desire to act justly to the Natives, and to carry them along with the forward movement. If there is to be com-promise at all il must be in the same direction though in my opinion Native Committee management in any shape or form will only and in smoke, if nothing worse.—I am, &c.,