Enclosure 1 in No. 8.
Memorandum re Mr. Tole's Complaint concerning the Opouteke Purchase and the Claim of Te Haurangi and Heta Te Haara thereto.

The circumstances connected with the above matter were duly reported by me in my letter to the Under Secretary, Native Office, dated 12th February, 1876,^* under the heading of "Mangakahia Lands." I will, however, add the following remarks in reply to the statements contained in Mr. Tole's letter:—

Mr. Tole states that there were "three claimants who appeared before the Court, namely respectively Heta te Haara; Haurangi, and Mare." Such was not the case. Heta te Haara was present in the Court the whole time the case was being proceeded with, and never in any way made the slightest claim to the land, either for himself or on behalf of any one else, although the Judge several times asked whether any one objected to the unanimous desire of all present that Kamariera te Wharepapa (who is called Mare by Mr. Tole) should have his name alone inserted in the memorial of ownership. It was at this stage of the proceedings that Te Haurangi came forward and stated that he had no objection, but that a portion of his land was included in the survey, and he was quite willing that Te Wharepapa's name alone be in the memorial, provided that he (Te Wharepapa) pay him his share of the money when the land should be paid for. So far the statement is correct, and Te Wharepapa agreed to do so; but Heta te Haara took no part whatever in these proceedings, although present all the time, which he has since admitted to me, in the presence of Mr. Kemp, on my reminding him of the fact.

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It is also true that the Judge told Te Haurangi to mark off the piece he claimed, and that a pencil line was drawn across the plan of the land by the Interpreter of the Court at the direction of Te Haurangi, and not objected to by Te Wharepapa, who was looking on at the time. I do not myself, however, consider that such a line could give any correct idea of the actual portion which To Haurangi really claimed, for it was not a line describing any natural features such as usually form boundary lines of Maori claims, nor was it even a straight line from any point known or described by name to any other point similarly defined, but an arbitrary straight line crossing the plan, which itself showed no distinctive features, neither Te Haurangi or Te Wharepapa, being Maoris, having any idea on what scale the plan was drawn, or what proportion the one portion had to the other. At the same time whatever interest Te Haurangi may have been entitled to, Te Wharepapa did admit that he had an interest, and he, without any persuasion on the part of Te Wharepapa (as is incorrectly stated in Mr. Tole's letter), but after consulting with others of the Natives, voluntarily informed the Court that he was willing to leave the matter in Te Wharepapa's hands on condition that he got paid for his portion. It is true that the portion so marked out on the plan by a pencil line does contain 8,775 acres, as shown afterwards by the separate areas having been calculated, but there was no mention of area at the time, and I do not believe for one moment that either Te Wharepapa or Te Haurangi himself had the most remote idea that such an extent was included, nor do I myself rely on such a description as giving a correct view of the boundary line between the two parties in the case of Maori claims.

Mr. Tole remarks on the fact of such a length of time having elapsed between this settlement and the actual purchase of the land so as to preclude the claim being reheard. This was, no doubt, unfortunate, and weakened my hands in effecting a settlement between Te Wharepapa and Haurangi; but the reason was that the then Agent was not in possession of funds at that time to enable him to complete the purchase, and before he obtained the necessary funds the Natives had dispersed. He (Mr. Brissenden, who was the Agent at the time) went to meet the Natives at Kaihu as soon as he was in possession of funds, but did not settle with them on that occasion because they were not all present, Te Haurangi being one who was absent. The first opportunity there was after that of meeting them was at the Kaihu Court in January last, when the matter was closed by me, as related in my report above referred to.

Early in January, namely, on the 6th, I met Te Haurangi at Ohaeawai. I then informed him that I had appointed to meet Te Wharepapa and the Mangakahia Natives at Kaihu on the occasion of the sitting of the Native Lands Court, advertised to be held on the 27th January, and warned him to be present, as I intended to settle for the Opouteke Block. Heta te Haara was with him at the time, and said he would try and be there too) if he was well enough. This was the first I knew of Heta in the matter, and he did not then prefer a claim.

On my arrival at Kaihu on the 27th January I met Haurangi, who handed me a letter from Heta te Haara and Ihaka te Tai, of which the following is a translation:—

"Friend,—

"Ohaeawai, 24th January, 1876.

"Greeting.—This is a request from us to you about the money belonging to Peita te Haurangi. Do not pay it there, but give him ten pounds; take the greater portion to Auckland.

"Ihaka te Tai, and "Heta te Haara.

"To Mr. Preece, Kaihu, Wairoa."

On reading this letter, I asked Te Haurangi whether this was his desire; he replied, "Yes." I told him it entirely rested with him, as I did not know Heta in the matter. He said Heta had written the letter with his knowledge and consent. On proceeding to settle the purchase of the block, I told Te Wharepapa that I should require to retain for Te Haurangi the amount of money in proportion to the area marked off on the plan. Te Wharepapa said he intended to deal fairly, but that the amount claimed by Te Haurangi was out of all proportion to his interest, and that it was a matter which he alone was responsible for, and that I had no right to interfere; that the money would all be taken to Mangakahia, and there be dealt with by the whole of the persons interested.

I endeavoured in every way in my power to effect a settlement of the matter between them, and assembled them and others together to discuss the question. In this discussion, I must say that To Haurangi made out a very poor case for himself as to the extent of his claim to the land; yet, notwithstanding that, I did my best to get Te Wharepapa and the other Mangakahia Natives to settle with him there and then, but they insisted that it was a matter, entirely between them and Te Haurangi, and Te Wharepapa refused to sign the deed unless I paid him the amount of the purchase money.

Mr. Tole refers to the matter as an "arrangement which was come to by the parties and recognized by the Court." Such it was "by the parties" and between them, namely, Te Wharepapa and Te Haurangi, and that arrangement relating not to the land itself, but to a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the same; the nature of which arrangement will be found in the records of the Court; and on the evidence of that record, I presume, Te Haurangi has a legal claim, against Te Wharepapa, independent of any sum I have paid him, provided he has not already settled it, as I am informed he had done before he ever saw Mr. Tole. When I found I could not get the matter settled between Te Wharepapa and To Haurangi, and as it was a matter of dispute as to money between them, Te Haurangi having no legal right to the land, but having, as I considered, a good remedy at law as against the money, if Te Wharepapa failed to settle with him, I, on giving the matter careful consideration, and after consultation with Mr. Kemp, who was present on the occasion, decided that my only course was to pay Te Wharepapa the amount of the purchase money agreed on in fall, and to settle with Te Haurangi to wave his claim, as far as the Government were concerned, for a stated sum, reserving to himself the right to sue Te Wharepapa for whatever he might be entitled on the agreement between them, in any competent Court if he chose, if he could not effect a settlement with him. He was at first adverse to doing this, but after a time came to me of his own free will and intimated that he was willing to accept what I had offered him, namely, £100 in full satisfaction as against the page 123Government of any claim he may have had on the land or its proceeds. He at the same time said that, as regards his claim against Te Wharepapa, he would get Heta te Haara to use his influence to settle that. I accordingly, before settling with Te Wharepapa and the Mangakahia Natives, paid Te Haurangi the sum of £100 in the presence of H. T. Kemp, Esq., Civil Commissioner, explaining the matter fully to him, and getting his signature to a voucher for the amount, and explaining to him the contents of the same.

On my paying the amount, he returned me £90 to take to Auckland, as requested in Heta to Haara's letter, which I took, and at the same time wrote a letter to Heta fully explaining the matter, and telling him I had, in accordance with his letter, and by the consent of Te Haurangi, taken his £90 to Auckland, to be handed over when demanded.

I read this letter to Te Haurangi, who said it was right and took it. Attached is a copy of that letter together with a translation of the same.

Mr. Tole states," They, (alluding to Heta te Haara and Haurangi) spoke on the occasion of the completion of the purchase both to the Native Mare and the Native Land Purchase Agent who was paying the money, reminding them of the agreement arrived at in the Court and sanctioned by the Judge, but Heta and Haurangi were in turn reminded that the time for a rehearing had passed," &c. The fact is, Heta te Haara was not within a hundred miles of the place at the time, nor had he been there for eight months previously. Nor, did I remind Te Haurangi that the time for a rehearing had passed, but Te Wharepapa did; nor was this discussion at the time of the payment of the money, for the whole matter had been discussed for several days, and I had settled with Te Haurangi the day before I paid the money, although I gave him the opportunity of again preferring his claim to Te Wharepapa, and the others when the money was paid to them. The payment to Te Haurangi was made on the same day as that to Te Wharepapa, but during an earlier part of the day.

About the end of February, Heta Te Haara and Te Haurangi came to Auckland. I was very busy with some Kaipara Natives at the time, and, as they said they were in no hurry, I appointed a day to meet them at Mr. Kemp's office. During the interval I noticed them several times having long conversations with Mr. J. A. Tole and John Lundon, about the town, the latter of whom seemed to be acting as interpreter. When I met them at the appointed time and offered them the £90, they both refused to take it, and Heta told me he either had seen or intended to see Sir George Grey on the matter, and that tie whole purchase would be upset. There was, however, no indignation shown by either Heta or Haurangi in the matter; they certainly declined at first to accept the money, which" being their own property (I only holding it in keeping), I left it where I had tendered it to them— namely, in Mr. Kemp's office—and said no more to them on the subject, leaving them to exercise their own judgment in the matter. However, on the 6th March, seven days before the letter of complaint written by Mr. Tole purporting to be on their behalf, they of their own free will asked Mr. Kemp for the money and it was given to them.

Prior to this and to their visit to Auckland, they had, I am given to understand, accepted a sum of money from Te Wharepapa, through Mitai Pene Taui, as a satisfaction of their claim on him; so it seems to me they came to Auckland for no other purpose than to draw the £90: at the same time not losing the opportunity, when it offered while they were here, of getting more if they could.

I find, as a rule, when Natives are really dissatisfied on any matter that they are quite equal to the task of writing direct to the Hon the Native Minister; nor are they slow in doing so, without seeking the aid of a solicitor with whom they are not acquainted. At the same time they are equally ready to revive a settled claim, if encouraged by any one to do so.

I do not myself believe there is any dissatisfaction in the minds of either Te Haara or Te Haurangi on this matter; in fact I was in the same steamer with them on their return North after they had taken the money, and they seemed perfectly satisfied, and on most friendly terms with me, and never once alluded to the subject; and I am of opinion that in the amount they have received they have got fully as much, if not more, than they would have been found to have been entitled to had their case, or rather the case of Te Haurangi (Heta having made no claim whatever), been heard in detail in the Court. At all events I had no option but to deal with the legal owner, and treat Te Haurangi's claim as an equitable one, entitled to some consideration under the circumstances, and did treat with him without using any undue, influence or persuasion, but in a fair and open manner, and closed with him, apparently to his satisfaction, and at all events with his consent, as Mr. Kemp will, I think, vouch for, he having been present during the whole transaction. I may or may not be chargeable with want of judgment in closing difficult Maori negotiations, but during a career of twelve years as a Native Land Purchase Agent, Sir George Grey and Mr. Tole are the first who have ever charged me with being guilty of improprieties in connection with my business. However, I can afford to let the matter rest on its merits.

I have seen Paora Tuhaere and asked him what he knows of this matter? His reply to me was, "That he was requested by Mr. Tole to accompany him, with Heta te Haara and Te Haurangi, to go and see Sir George Grey, and on then arrival there, Sir George Grey asked him what he had to say: he replied that he knew nothing of the matter; on which a conversation took place between Mr. Tole and Sir George Grey, in English; and that after that interview, Mr. Tole requested him to accompany them to Colonel Haultain's office: he did so, but with a view of inquiring about the Maunganui and Waipoua deeds, taking no interest whatever in this matter. The deed relating to the purchase of the Opouteke Block has not yet been referred to the Trust Commissioner, it being in the hands of the Inspector of Surveys, awaiting particulars of the linkage of some of the lines, which he was not at the time able to furnish me with, a surveyor having gone to the block to re-chain them. This, however, does not affect the boundaries, which were cut long ago but has delayed the transmission of the deed, so that the. Trust Commissioner will have an opportunity of making the "most searching inquiries" desired by Mr. Tole, and equally courted by myself.