No. 35 of 1881.—Petition of Wiremu Hoete te Keepa and 12 Others.

Petitioners state that they are relations of Wiremu Hoete te Waero, deceased; that Te Waero was owner of Paparoa, and warned the then Governor, Sir G. Grey, and Major Newton not to pay money for that block, as it was his land; that this was agreed to; that two years afterwards the Governor asked him for the use of the block, to place pensioners upon, but that the "mana" of Te Waero was to remain upon the roads; that part of the arrangement was that there should be a Native reserve of 200 acres; that the Natives built whares and resided on the reserve; that in 1863 Te Waero claimed payment for Paparoa, and was told to wait till the Waikato war should be over, and then to talk about it; that for several years Te Waero and the petitioners kept applying for a settlement, but without success. They apply for compensation for the block, which, they say, contains 20,000 acres, is worth £10,000, and is held entirely by Europeans.

I am directed to report as follows:—

That the Committee, having carefully considered the history of this case, conclude that the petitioners have no claim.