Translation of Acts.

I will now detail some minor objections that have been made to other parts of the system, and would first refer to the necessity of instructing the Natives more fully in the various laws that have been made for guarding their rights and interests, and for protecting them from imposition and injustice. For this purpose a mere translation of the Acts in their technical phraseology would be of little assistance; but a summary digest, such as that in respect to criminal law by Sir W. Martin, should be prepared, and, with the Acts, be largely circulated among them. And not only should these enactments be explained to them, but they should be clearly informed of the corollaries that will certainly follow the Crown titles for their lands, such as road rates, land taxes, liabilities for fencing, &c., matters of which at the present time they have little or no conception, for it has not been the special duty or the interest of any one to enlighten them, but which will surely come upon them some day; and, as they seldom have funds, they will be compelled to sacrifice some of their lands to meet these demands; and, if they are not forewarned and prepared for this, there will arise dissatisfaction and bitterness against the Government and Legislature, whom they will accuse of having cruelly deceived them.

Dr. Shortland and others have recommended that each Judge should have a district assigned to him, within which his work should be confined; and amongst the chief reasons in favour of such a plan it has been urged that the Judges would thereby acquire valuable political influence among the Natives of the district, and more knowledge in land matters than any of themselves; and also that they would know the character of the people better, and whether their statements could be relied on. But I think that the objections to this plan have greater weight. If the Judge is to possess political influence, he would be bound to exercise it in the direction approved by the Government of the day, who only can determine what is required for the preservation of peace and for the civilization and well-being of the Maoris, and thus he would become a Government agent, which is not the position a Judge should occupy. His functions should be simply judicial, for he must be guided in his judgments only by strict evidence; and if he does not keep aloof from the Natives who have claims before the Court it will be almost impossible for him to preserve his character for impartiality. The Maoris are a peculiarly suspicious race, and it is difficult to prevent them from discussing their claims if they have access to the Judge. The Ngatihaua objected to Mr. Fenton's sitting on the Aroha case because he had resided so much amongst them and knew them so well; and one of the principal chiefs of the Ngatimaru complained that he had seen him talking to Te Raihi, a chief of the opposite party, whilst the case was going on, and, though told that he was not sitting on the case, the other replied that that was no matter, that he was the chief of the Court, and should not listen to statements made privately. The Arawas also objected to Mr. Smith's sitting in a Court held in their country, as they said he knew too much page 46about the people; and Hemi Tautari, though content with his own Judge, says that "many Natives would prefer a stranger to investigate their claims." So that, on the whole, I believe the present system had better be maintained.