No. 55
Memorandum by the Chief
Commissioner.
Recommended that Mr. District Commissioner Johnson should be informed that the arrangements he has made with the Natives for the withdrawal of their opposition to the sale of the Kaiawa Block are very satisfactory.
The claim adduced by Pohe, as being derived from one of his ancestors, whose rights or occupancy according to Maori custom cannot be substantiated, is so vague and unsatisfactory that it appears no compensation should be made to Pohe, inasmuch as that Chief failed to produce any evidence of his having a valid right of ownership over the land, after a careful investigation which I made when he was last in Town. In fact the impression left on my mind by Pohe was that he was endeavouring to extort money from Te Tirarau or the Government for a claim, the justice of which he could not substantiate. A right of ownership within 20 or 30 years should be proved by Pohe to enable him to make any claim.
Under all the circumstances of the case, I recommend that this Block, which is so much desired by the Nova Scotia settlers, should be proclaimed in the usual manner.
Donald McLean,
Chief Commissioner.