The Treaty of Waitangi Part 36

_The Right Hon. Colonel Stanley to Sir W. F. D. Jervois_

DOWNING STREET, _February 2, 1886_.

SIR--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 127, of the 16th December, forwarding a translation of a letter which you had received from Tawhiao in reply to one founded on my predecessor's Despatch No. 39, of the 23rd June, in connection with the memorial of the Maori chiefs. I request that your Government will cause Tawhiao to be informed that I have read his letter in accordance with his desire.--I have, etc.,

FRED STANLEY.

Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois, G.C.M.G., G.C.B., etc.

_The Hon. the Native Minister to Tawhiao_

(Translation)

WELLINGTON, _May 6, 1886_.

FRIEND TAWHIAO--I have been requested by His Excellency the Governor to transmit for your information copy of a despatch he has received from the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies in reference to a letter from yourself. Enough.--From your loving friend,

JOHN BALLANCE.

Enclosure.--Despatch No. 7, of the 2nd February 1886.

COPY OF RESOLUTIONS

The Resolutions herein written were confirmed by the chiefs and _hapus_ a.s.sembled at Whatiwhatihoe on this 4th day of April, in the year 1886.

1. That the Treaty of Waitangi shall continue in force, by which the authority (_mana_) of the chiefs of the Maori people was a.s.sured to them, and which also confirms and guarantees Maori people the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession and control of their lands, and declares that the Maori people shall be maintained in their rights.

2. That the powers conferred by the Act of the year 1852 should be maintained--viz. that a council or councils should be set up, and invested with power and full authority, and that it shall be lawful for Her Majesty to authorise such councils.

3. That the Maori people of Ao-tea-roa (New Zealand) shall act together under the law above mentioned.

4. That the Maori committees, authorised by the laws above referred to, shall be zealous in the performance of their duties.

5. That no wrong proceedings or operations of the Government towards the Maori people shall be sanctioned.

6. That the Native Land Courts Act should be repealed, and that it be left to the Maoris themselves to adjudicate on their own lands.

7. That this _runanga_ (council) shall persist in its efforts to have the directions given by the Government of the Queen to the Government of New Zealand carried out--viz. that the rights and interests of the Maori people shall be guarded and respected. (This resolution was unanimously carried by the _runanga_: "Although the Government of England has nothing to do with the affairs of New Zealand, still the Government of the Queen will instruct the Government of New Zealand to devise some measures whereby justice may be done to the Maori people and their interests promoted, and that the Governor should be questioned concerning these instructions from England.")

8. That the chiefs attending this meeting be deputed to put the question to the Governor.

9. That each tribe should subscribe money for the purchase of a press to print for circulation reports of what are done and said by the Maori people.

10. That power be given to each committee to deal with lands in its own district.

These are the Resolutions that were carried.

King Tawhiao's reply in reference to the Resolutions was: "I thank you for an a.s.sent to the resolutions. I thank you, every one of you, for your discussions upon those resolutions which have been formed by you in accordance with your own wishes. I have carefully watched your discussions. There was but one tendency of all your discussions, which corresponds exactly with the object I had in view in inviting you to this meeting. Be zealous in lifting up and in sustaining (measures for the benefit) of both these islands. Hearken ye! The views held by the English people in England are precisely the same as those held by the Maori people in New Zealand."

_The Hon. the Native Minister to Tawhiao_

(Translation)

AUCKLAND, _April 17, 1886_.

FRIEND--I have the honour to enclose you the reply of the Governor to the resolutions presented by the deputation (sent by you) to His Excellency on the 9th instant. There is one point in the resolutions on which I desire to offer an explanation. In the translation of Lord Derby's despatch made in the Native Department in Wellington some of the terms are incorrectly rendered. A correct translation has been made and handed to Major Te Wheoro. The despatch itself is in your possession, and there can be no doubt of its meaning, which is fully explained in the memorandum of His Excellency.--From your friend,

J. BALLANCE.

To Tawhiao.

_Memorandum from Sir W. F. D. Jervois to the Hon. the Minister for Native Affairs_

The enclosed replies to certain questions submitted to me in a memorandum from several Maori chiefs who waited upon me on the 9th instant with a view of laying before me resolutions pa.s.sed at a Native meeting previously held at Whatiwhatihoe are transmitted to the Minister for Native Affairs for communication to the chiefs concerned.

In forwarding the paper to the chiefs, I request that you will inform them that I was greatly pleased at the loyal sentiments expressed by them at their interview with me towards Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, as well as the confidence they exhibited towards myself as her representative. I also beg that you will convey to Tawhiao, and all the chiefs concerned, how much I rejoice at the cordial feeling they exhibit towards the Government of New Zealand.

W. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, AUCKLAND, _April 14, 1886_.

MEMORANDUM RELATING TO RESOLUTIONS Pa.s.sED AT A NATIVE MEETING HELD AT WHATIWHATIHOE ON THE 4TH APRIL 1886.

Referring to the Resolutions in the order submitted in a paper laid before His Excellency the Governor by a deputation of Maori chiefs on the 9th April: 1. The Treaty of Waitangi vested the _mana_ in Her Majesty the Queen, and secures to the Natives their land. That treaty, in its essential elements, has been faithfully kept by the colony. A modification was made in it by which the Natives obtained the right of selling their lands to persons outside the Government, whereas under the treaty the Government had the sole right of purchasing Native lands. This modification, the only one made in the treaty, was, however, introduced at the request of the Maoris themselves. The rights of the Maori people have been carefully preserved.

2. This appears to refer to section 71 of the Const.i.tution Act, where reference is made to Native councils. It must be observed, however, that the section is not mandatory, as will be seen from the clause itself, and from such terms as, "it may be expedient," and "should for the present be maintained." Local self-government has been extended to the Native people in the form of Committees under the Act of 1883.

These Committees have power to ascertain t.i.tles to Native lands, and to hear and decide civil cases by agreement, and, in fact, may be said to be Courts of Arbitration. Their usefulness is being proved, and a large majority of the Native people appreciate them and are using them. It has been found by experience, however, with regard to t.i.tles to land, that there is often great jealousy of the committees, and that the Natives prefer to have the land adjudicated on by the Land Courts. (This remark applies also to Resolution 6.) If any other form of Maori council than that which now exists is desired under the clause of the Const.i.tution Act referred to, it can only be obtained by Act of Parliament of New Zealand.

No observations are necessary to Resolutions 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9.

7. This Resolution apparently refers to Lord Derby's despatch of the 23rd June 1885, but does not convey a correct impression of the terms of that doc.u.ment. No directions are contained in the despatch. Lord Derby expressly says that "under the present Const.i.tution of New Zealand the government of all Her Majesty's subjects in the islands is controlled by Ministers responsible to the General a.s.sembly, in which the Natives are efficiently represented by persons of their own race, and that it is no longer possible to advise the Queen to interfere actively in the administration of Native affairs, any more than in connection with other questions of internal government." The resolution states that there is an "instruction" contained in the despatch; but there is none. On the contrary, Lord Derby expressly recognises the right of the New Zealand Government to deal with the internal affairs of the colony without interference. The words of Lord Derby, where he refers to the Native people, are as follows: "It (the Imperial Government) should use its good offices with the Colonial Government with the view of obtaining for the Natives all the consideration which can be given to them." The particular request that Lord Derby makes, and it is only in the nature of a request, is "that the Government of New Zealand will not fail to protect and to promote the welfare of the Natives by a just administration of the law, and by a generous consideration of all their reasonable representations." He adds, "I cannot doubt that means will be found of maintaining to a sufficient extent the rights and inst.i.tutions of the Maoris without injury to those other great interests which have grown up in the land, and of securing to them a fair share of that prosperity which has of necessity affected in many ways the conditions of their existence."

The policy advocated by Lord Derby has been and is being carried out.

A proof of this is to be found in the fact that an overwhelming majority of the Natives are satisfied with the administration of their affairs by the Government of New Zealand.

JOHN JERVOIS, Private Secretary.

Signed by order of His Excellency the Governor. Government House, Auckland, 14th April 1886.

In the Court of Appeal of New Zealand.

TAMIHANA KOROKAI AND OTHERS _v._ THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL