The, following appears in the Speech of His Honor the Superintendent on opening the third session of the fourth Provincial Council of the Province of Wellington, 26th April, 1867.

"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council,—

* * * * *

"When I last met you, I announced that I had entered into an agreement with the various tribes claiming a title to the Manawatu-Rangitikei block, by which I hoped to set at rest the formidable land dispute which had for several page xcvi years threatened the peace of the Province. After intimating that at the great native gathering at Takapu, on the banks of the Manawatu, I had formally accepted the cession of the disputed block to the Crown as the only means of finally and for ever removing the cause of strife, I informed you that the final deed of surrender had yet to be executed, that it would require to be signed by between one and two thousand claimants, and that several important questions had yet to be settled—namely, as to what tribes the purchase money was to be paid, what proportion each of the tribes should receive, and what chiefs should be appointed to receive and distribute the money. It is satisfactory to me to be able to state that the deed of cession has been duly executed, nearly seventeen hundred claimants having signed it, and that the questions just adverted to have been finally and amicably settled.

From the detailed minutes of the proceedings, which will be laid before you, you will observe that at the Parawanui meeting in December last, probably the largest gathering of natives ever held in this Province, the six tribes claiming to be more or less interested in the land, after long and angry discussions, failed to come to any arrangement as to the division of the money, and then appealed to me for my opinion on the subject, distinctly guarding themselves from being bound to adopt it. While anxious to evade the responsibility of deciding a question which, by the terms of our agreement, rested with the sellers—a responsibility which I had from the first declined to undertake—I, nevertheless, felt that the alternative was one of peace or war, that if the meeting should break up without the completion of the purchase, the rival tribes would at once assert their conflicting claims by force of arms, and that the whole of the West Coast district would be speedily plunged into a general Native disturbance. To prevent, therefore, any further complication of the question, and to aid those chiefs who were really anxious, at almost any sacrifice, to preserve the peace, I at length submitted a proposal to the meeting, which though at first violently denounced by the Ngatiapas, was ultimately unanimously accepted by all the tribes concerned as perfectly fair and equitable. Chiefs were then appointed by the sellers to receive the respective shares, and the distribution of the money was left entirely to the Natives. I stipulated, however, with the Ngatiraukawa chiefs that a liberal sum out of their share should be set apart for the outstanding claimants of that tribe, and this was accordingly done. Since the payment of the purchase money, upwards of one hundred and fifty of these (mostly remote) claimants have given their consent to the sale and signed the deed. There is, however, still a small number of Ngatiraukawa dissentients to whom, in the event of their persisting in their refusal to accept the sum set apart for them, it may be necessary to make an award in land to the extent of such claims as are admitted by the sellers.

page xcvii

The question of reserves is now in course of settlement. The Ngatiapa and Rangitane have accepted the portions allotted them, and the Ngatiraukawa reserves will be defined as soon as the claims of dissentients have been satisfactorily adjusted. The back rents, amounting now to between two and three thousand pounds, which were impounded by me in order to prevent hostilities in 1863, are still unpaid, as I have been anxious to get all the minor details of the purchase arranged before re-opening a question not altogether free from difficulties, though not of a very formidable nature. And I here must bear testimony to the great patience and forbearance shown by both the Ngatiapa and Ngatiraukawa chiefs with respect to this matter.

After nearly four years of constant anxiety on this subject, it affords me no small gratification to repeat my assurance to you of the final and peaceful adjustment of this, our only native difficulty; for, in spite of all that has been said and written, I do not hesitate to assert that the Manawatu-Rangitikei purchase, while from its very nature, and the magnitude of the interests involved, probably the most laborious one ever undertaken in this country, is as complete and satisfactory a purchase as could have been effected from the Natives under the peculiar circumstances of the case. My chief difficulty has been caused by a few designing Europeans, who from selfish motives have, by intrigues with the Natives, and misrepresentations in the newspapers of the colony, endeavoured to foment tribal strife and frustrate the purchase—attempts which, had they been successful, must have entailed upon the Province, and upon the Natives themselves, the most calamitous results.

I feel that I am entitled to say that in no previous land purchase has so liberal a price been paid, or such ample justice done to all the Natives concerned in the transaction.

The thanks of the Province are due to His Excellency's Minister's for the readiness with which, in compliance with my request, they advanced (in anticipation of the sale of the land purchase loan) the funds required to enable me to meet my engagements with the Natives. And I venture again to express a hope that the Council will, knowing how much the successful issue of these long pending negotiations is due to Mr. Walter Buller, bestow upon him a substantial recognition of his valuable services.

The Small Farm Association will naturally be disappointed at the slowness of these dealings with the Natives."