Respecting Purchase or Lease of Native Reserves.

I have the honour herewith to transmit the copy of a letter which I have received from his Honour the Superintendent of this province, enclosing the copy of a notice which he informs me is about to appear in the Provincial Gazette, declaring all purchases and leases of Native reserves to be illegal under the New Zealand Constitution Act, 15 and 16 Vict., c. 72. I also enclose a copy of my reply of this date, requesting that the publication of the notice may be deferred pending the receipt of your reply to this letter.

• 2. The clause of the Act of Parliament upon which his Honour's view is founded is the 73rd, which enacts that "it shall not be lawful for any person other than Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, to purchase or in any wise acquire or accept from the aboriginal natives land of or belonging to or used or occupied by them in common as tribes or communities, or to accept any release or extinguishment of the rights of such aboriginal natives in any such land as aforesaid, and no conveyance or transfer, or agreement for the conveyance or transfer, of any such land, either in perpetuity or for any term or period, either absolutely or conditionally, and either in property or by way of lease or occupancy, and no such release or extinguishment as aforesaid shall be of any validity or, effect unless the same be made to, or entered into with, and accepted by Her Majesty, her heirs or successors."
• 3. I cannot concur in the view which his Honour takes of the clause above quoted, as it appears intended to apply only to land the Native title to which has not been extinguished, and that Native reserves within purchased districts would not have been contemplated as coming within its meaning. His Honour, however, contends that the title of the aborigines to reserves is not extinguished, but that they are left in precisely the same situation as if they lay outside tho exterior boundaries of the blocks. If that were the case, however, I cannot see how they could be secured by the Crown to particular individuals or families, to the exclusion of others who, prior to the purchase, had an equal right to them.