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Our prayer to Parliament is now made because we desire to raise again the discussion about Himatangi, and the money collected by Dr. Featherston, with the intention, as he said, of paying the same to the Maori owners of the land upon completion of the sale to Government. Our hapu did not agree to Dr. Featherston's purchase. This Himatangi Block was then brought before the Court at Otaki, when half the block was awarded to the Government. We objected to this, and petitioned Parliament, whereupon the decision of the Court was upset, and we were awarded the whole block of 11,000 acres, because our claim was a just one.
As soon as we found that we had been set right about the land, then we asked the Government to pay us the back rents and interest thereon, in accordance with the promise made by Dr. Featherston. We have already petitioned Parliament three times, and this is now the fourth, the Hon. Mr. Mantell being our friend and supporter in this matter.
Last session the Council decided that the said money should be paid, but the Government withheld the payment.
The money, together with the interest thereon, would now amount perhaps to £1,500.
The Government offered us £60, which we refused to accept, because we saw that the Government accounts were not correct. We do not know who took the money, for we did not receive one single shilling. If we had received the money it could be proved by Government papers. We heard that the reason why the Government had been so determined in this matter was because Mr. Alex. Macdonald said that Parakaia te Pouepa had no right to this lease, but that Nepia Taratao was the person who placed Mr. Robinson on the land; also that Nepia Tamaiti and his hapu, and Ngati Parewahauwaha, had taken part in the sale to Dr. Featherston. It is only lately that we have heard it stated by Mr. Alex. Macdonald that he was labouring under a misapprehension, for Mr. Robinson himself says that Parakaia was the principal person interested in the lease. We therefore think that it would be manifestly unfair to allow us to suffer through the statement made by one mistaken individual.
It is now our wish that Mr. Alex. Macdonald should be questioned before your Committee about the statement made by him, and also that Mr. Robinson (who leased the lands) and Dr. Buller (who was Dr. Featherston's assistant in his negotiations) should also appear before your Committee.
May the Parliament consider the justice of this case, and not regard the large amount of money concerned. If the matter is not settled by this Parliament, we will continue to petition from year to year, and it will finally end in justice being done.
Your petitioners will ever pray.
From us who sign here on behalf of these hapus: Ngatituranga, Ngatirakau, and Ngatiteau, who are the right owners of the land.
Ko ta matou inoi tenei ki te Paremata, he tono na matou kia torohia ano te korero o Himatangi, ara mo nga moni reti i kohikohia e Takuta Petatone i runga i te kupu nei ka whakaputaina mariretia e ia aua moni ki nga tangata nona te whenua ana rite te hoko ki te Kawanatanga. A ko to matou hapu kaore i whakaae ki te hoko a te Petatone. A whakawakia ana taua whenua a Himatangi ki
No to matou kitenga kua tika matou ki te whenua ka tahi matou ka tono ki te Kawanatanga kia whakaputaina nga moni o te reti o mua, he mea kia rite te kupu a te Petatone mo nga initeriti i whanau mai i roto i aua moni i nga tau maha kua pahure ake nei. Na ka toru taenga o ta matou Pitihana ki te Paremata, ko te wha tenei. Ko to matou hoa nana tenei korero i whakaara ko te Matara.
Na i te tau kua pahure ake nei i tino whakaaetia aua moni e te Kaunehera, a kaiponutia ana e te Kawanatanga.
Huihui aua moni katoa me nga initeriti ka tae pea ki te kotahi mano e rima rau pauna.
Homai ana e te Kawanatanga e ono tekau pauna, a kaore matou i pai atu. Kua kite hoki matou e he ana nga kaute a te Kawanatanga. Kaore matou i mohio i riro i a wai ranei aua moni, kaore hoki matou i tango i te herengi kotahi. Mehemea kua riro i a matou aua moni e kore e ngaro i nga pukapuka a te Kawanatanga. I rongo matou ko te take i pakeke ai te Kawanatanga ko te kupu a Riki Makitonore kaore a Parakaia te Pouepa i tika ki tenei riihi, engari na Nepia Taratoa a te Ropitini i whakanoho ki taua whenua, a i uru a Nepia Tamaiti ki te hoko a te Petatone me tona hapu katoa me Ngati-Parewahawaha. A no muri nei kua rongo matou ki te kupu a Riki Makitonore i pohepe noa ia ki taua korero, kua ki hoki a te Ropitini ko Parakaia ano te tino mana o taua riihi. Koia matou i whakaaro ai, kaore e tika kia raru noa matou i runga i te korero pohehe a te tangata kotahi.
E hiahia ana matou kia haere atu a Riki Maketonore ki te aroaro o to koutou Komiti kia pataia ia mo tena korero. A kia pataia ano e taua Komiti a te Ropitini te Pakeha nana te riihi, me Takuta Pura ano, ko te hoa hoki tena o Takuta Petatone i runga i ana whakahaere mo te whenua.
Heoi, kaua te Paremata e whakaro ki te nui o tenei moni, me whakaaro anake ki te tika. A ki te kore e oti i tenei Paremata, ka tuku pitihana ano matou, a pera tonu i nga taua katoa, a ko tona otinga ka taua ano ki te tika.
A ka inoi tonu matou.
Na matou tokotoru ka tuhi nei o matou ingoa hei mangai mo te iwi, ara mo nga Hapu nei e toru e tika ana ki taua whenua, ara mo Ngatituranga, Ngatirakau, me Ngatiteau.
This petition is by the representatives of the owners of the Himatangi Block, Manawatu, and asks for the payment of certain rents impounded by the late Dr. Featherston during negotiations for the purchase of the Manawatu-Rangitikei Block, a part of which rents, accruing on a lease of the said block to Captain Robinson, it is alleged were due, but not paid, to the owners. Interest thereon is also claimed.
Your Committee report that in 1864 the late Dr. Featherston, acting as Land Purchase Commissioner, impounded the rents due and payable under all the leases of land comprised in the Manawatu-Rangitikei Block, negotiations for the sale of which were going on.
That among these leases was one to Captain Francis Robinson, the land included in which was nearly conterminous with, and of the same area as, the Himatangi Block, and that the amount of rent due under the lease was at the date of the completion of the purchase of the Manawatu-Rangitikei Block £500.
That the present owners of the Himatangi Block under Crown grant are the same persons, or their representatives, who were formerly owners thereof according to the Native custom, and that the lease to Captain F. Robinson was signed by members of the hapu by authority and on behalf of the said owners under Native custom.
That the said owners did not agree to the sale of the said Manawatu-Rangitikei Block, and that their rights and claims therein were excluded from the purchase.
That the rents under the lease to Captain F. Robinson were, up to the date of their impounding by the Land Purchase Commissioners, paid to the said owners under Native custom.
That on the 17th October, 1869, Dr. Featherston, the said Land Purchase Commissioner, convened a meeting at Rangitikei for the payment of the impounded rents, and, as previously determined, distributed the whole of the amount, together with interest, a total sum of £4,699, to the tribes of Rangitane and Ngatiapa and the three hapu of the tribe of Ngatiraukawa, namely, Ngatikauwhata, Ngatiparewahawaha, and Ngatikahoro.
That the hapu of the petitioners are not included in any of the three hapu paid by Dr. Featherston, but constitute three independent hapu of the tribe of Ngatiraukawa; that they were not represented at the meeting of the 17th October, 1869, and received none of the rents.
That the receipts for the moneys paid on that day, now filed in the office of the Minister of Native Affairs, account for the payment of the whole estimated rents and interest, including the £500 due under Captain Robinson's lease, excepting only £66 still to the debit of the account in the Colonial Treasurer's books, but that no name belonging to the hapu of the owners of Himatangi is on any of the receipts.
That, in conference with the Government of the day on the proposed Bill for restoring the Himatangi Block to its owners, an offer was made by Dr. Buller, acting for the petitioners, in consideration of the return of the land, to waive claim for accrued rents, and that the Bill, as
That these words were in Committee struck out from the Bill, the Hon. Dr. Pollen, then Minister of Native Affairs, saying that it was desirable to "dissociate" the claim for rents from the real object of the Bill.
That, though the justice of petitioner's claim to Himatangi was recognized by the preamble to the Act, the restoration to the land was not achieved without many efforts, some expenditure, and the incurring of considerable liabilities by petitioners.
Your Committee therefore recommend that the claim for accrued rents and interest should be discharged in full by the Government, and that the propriety of reimbursing the expenditure and discharging the reasonable liabilities incurred by the petitioners in this matter should be considered in a liberal spirit.
He pitihana tenei na te hunga e whaitake ana ki Himatangi Poraka i Manawatu, e tono ana kia utua etahi moni o nga reti i tangohia e te Petatone i te mea e whakahaere ana ia i te hoko o te Poraka o Manawatu Rangitikei. Ko etahi o aua moni reti e kiia ana i tika kia utua i runga i te riiha a te Ropitini i taua Poraka kaore ano kia utua ki nga tangata e whaitake ana ki taua wahi. E tono ana hoki kia utua te moni itareti i runga i aua reti.
E mea ana to koutou Komiti i te tau, 1864, i te mea e tu ana a te Petatone hei Komihana hoko whenua i herea e ia nga reti o nga whenua i roto i te Poraka o Rangitikei-Manawatu, i te mea e whakahaerea ana te hoko o taua takiwa.
Ko tetahi o aua riihi na Kapene Paraki Ropitini mo tetahi whenua ko nga rohe e ahua rite tonu ana ki nga rohe o Himatangi, e rite ana hoki te rahi o aua whenua, ko nga moni o taua reti i te wa i oti ai te hoko o te Poraka nui o Manawatu-Rangitikei i tae ki te £500 (rima rau pauna).
Ko enei tangata e whai-take nei ki Himatangi i raro i te Karauna Karaati, ko aua tangata ano ko nga kaiwhakakapi ranei o aua tangata i whaitake ra ki Himatangi i raro i nga tikanga Maori. Ko taua riihi kia te Ropitini i hainatia e etahi o nga tangata i whakaritea e to ratou hapu i whai take ra ki taua whenua i raro i nga tikanga Maori.
Kahore i whakaae te hunga e whaitake ana ki taua whenua ki te hoko o te Poraka o Rangitikei-Manawatu, wehea ketia ana o ratou paanga i te wa i hokona ai taua Poraka.
Ko nga reti o te riihi a te Ropitini i utua tonutia ki te hunga i whaitake ki taua whenua i runga i te tikanga Maori i mua atu i te herenga o aua reti.
I te 17 o Oketopa, 1869, i karangatia he hui e te Petatone Komihana Hoko Whenua kia tu ki Rangitikei, kia utua ai e ia nga reti i herea e ia, a utua ana e ia i runga i te huarahi kua whakaritea e ia, tukua ana aua moni me nga hua tae aua ki te £4,699, ki nga iwi o Rangitane, Ngatiapa, me enei hapu o Ngatiraukawa, ara—Ngatikauwhata, Ngatiparewahawaha, me Ngatikahoro.
Ko te hapu o nga Kai-pitihana kaore i uru ki nga hapu e toru i utua ra e te Petatone, engari he hapu ke ratou nei no Ngatiraukawa, kaore hoki etahi o ratou i tae atu i te 17 o Oketopa, 1869, ki taua hui kaore hoki ratou i tango moni o aua reti.
Ko nga pukapuka i te tari o te Minita mo te taha Maori e whakaatu ana i te utunga o nga moni katoa o aua reti me te £500 hoki o te riihi a te Ropitini e £66 anake e toe ana kia utua, engari kaore he ingoa o nga tangata o Himatangi i roto i nga pukapuka whakaatu i te utunga o aua moni.
I te wa i whakaritea ai ki tukua he Pire hei whakahoki i Himatangi ki nga tangata e whai take ana, i whakaae a te Pura te kai-whakahaere mo te taha ki nga Maori kia kaua e utua aua moni o nga reti i te mea ka whakahokia taua whenua, ko enei
Ahakoa te whakaae o te rarangi matua korero o te Pire ki te whaitaketanga o nga Kai-pitihana ki Himatangi, na te tohe ano o nga Kai-pitihana, me te pau o a ratou moni katahi ano ka hoki te whenua kia ratou.
No reira ka tono atu to koutou Komiti kia utua katoatia e te Kawanatanga nga reti i herea ra me nga itareti i runga i aua moni, kia ata whakaarohia hoki e te Kawanatanga i runga i te ngakau aroha me te ngakau nui mehemea ranei e tika ana kia utua nga moni a nga Kai-pitihana i pau i runga i ta ratou whakahaere i o ratou take.