182

Europeans to violate it openly; either act
upon it to the full or not at all." This
law was made to prevent disputes between
Europeans and Natives, because the tenure
under which land is held by both parties is
so different, that unless individual Eu-
ropeans were prevented altogether from
dealing with Natives for the sale or lease
of lands held by them in common, disputes
must constantly occur, and lead to quarrels
and dissensions, perhaps to bloodshed.
Every European knows exactly the extent
and boundaries of the land that belongs to
him, and no one disputes this title. Some
have more land, and others less; but each
one possesses his own without dispute: he
can use it as he likes, and if he chooses to
lease it, he can oftentimes get, in propor-
tion to its value, a good yearly rental.
This is the right way to hold land, as the
experience of many countries and ages
show. The Maori plan, on the contrary,
where land is held in common by many
owners whose rights are not clearly de-
fined, long experience shews to be bad,
and such an one as prevents the improve-
ment of the country; for who would like
to improve leased land, where there may
be a dozen masters or owners for one little
piece, and where it is not even well known
who with these owners are. The
Government do not wish to prevent the
Natives leasing their lands, and getting
large rents if they can from Europeans,
when they are agreed first among them-
selves who the Native owner of each por-
tion is, and when the extent and bounda-
ries of his land are known by a map, so
that it might not occasion disputes by and
by; but they do not like the way land has
been held by some Europeans against the
law, because it must, in the end, lead to
disputes between Natives and Europeans
that would be no common law to de-
cide upon: besides, they see that in many
cases the rents for large tracts of land
would be paid to the Chiefs alone every
year, and that in the course of time, as has
been done in other countries, all the money
for rents of the lands that originally be-
longed to the Chiefs and their people in
common, would be taken by the Chiefs
alone; and the common people would not
only get no money, but would be deprived
of the right of using any of the land from
the number of horses and cattle that would
occupy it. Therefore the Government see
great evil in this system and do not like
it; hence the law I am now writing
about.

Na, e ta ma, kia rongo mai koutou. I
whakaputaina tenei Ture i te tuatahi kia kore
ai he kakari a nga Pakeha a nga Maori; ina
hoki, kaore o rite ana nga tikanga tango
whenua ana pururi whenua a tahi a tahi.—Ina
hoki, kua kitea notau atu, ki te tukua nga
Pakeha katoa kia hoko ranei kia reti ranei i
nga whenua o te Maori, ka nui haere te
kakari me te raru me te he,—a mate noa atu
he tangata;—ta te mea hoki, ki ta te Maori,
he tekotino tou nona te kainga Kotahi, a na
Konei i ara ai he kakari, me tona maha nga
tenei. Tena, ki ta te Pakeha, Kaore ona
pamatanga; ekora hoki tetahi tikanga pena o
puta, ina hoki, ka matau ia ki tona kainga;
no marama rawa ki a ia te rahinga o itinga
o tona Kainga, me ona rohe Katoa; kaore
mii hoki rohe o rite ana e tika ana, Koia ka
tangata tahi atu hei ki te tou, ka tuku;
Ahakon hoki nui noa atu te whenua o tetahi
Pakeha, a he iti to tetahi, na ko te matauranga
ki nga rohe o rite pai in ki te tuku, ka tuku;
noho marire ai te Pakeha ki runga ki tona
wahi, Koi a ia anako te whakaaro mo
kau. Na, e ta ma, heoi anake te tikanga
whenua e pai ana, e tino tika ana; kua whaka-
setia hoki tenei e nga whakapaparanga katoa o
Ngatimana, e nga iwi ke ano hoki o ia whenua
o ia whenua e whai ana mai e whakauru ana
ki te Pakeha. Te kitea tikanga whenua a te
Maori, ara te tikanga nei, no te tokomaha te
whenua, kotahi ahakoa itia, na, e he ana tenei
tikanga, mana hoki ka kore ai o kitea nga utu
pai e ora ai nga tangata. Ina hoki, ki ta te to-
komaha, he kupu ke ta tahi, he kupu ke ta tahi,
mo nga rohe, ma konei heki he kakari; a he
ki ke ta tahi ta hakari, mo te rahi ki tera tangata
ki tera tangata, ma konei hoki he kakari; a
he tohe ano e, ma wai anake e what kupu to-
kinga rohe, ma konei e putu, ai he kakari, e tika
konei hoki he kakari. A tenei hoki, ko wai
koia e pai ana kia hoko ranei, kia reti ranei, kia
noho tumau ranei i runga i te whenua he toko-
maha oha rangatira? Ae, ahakoa whenua peku
ka tekau noa atu pea ona tangata i he tono
hei akiski hei taunaru ki tona kainohio.
Taukiri! kurareraru noa iho ona whakaaro,
ko wai ranei tana e rongo ai; kei a wai
anake ranei o taua tokotini te tikanga mona.
Koia ka kiia ai, e ka he tenei tikanga. Na, e
ta ma, ekore te Kawanatanga e pai araia kia
whakakoretia te tuku a te Maori i ona whenua
i runga i te reti ki te Pakeha, kia ai ai he utu
mona, kia ora ai hoki ia i tona oneone; otira,
erangi kia kiten ki mua rawa, kai rite rawa
hoki, (he mea ia kia tika ai,) ko wai ianei te
tangata nona ia; me te kia riritia hoki, kia
tuhia nga rohe, kia taatitia, kia kore rawa ai e
maranga he kakari a ko atu mo ia wahi. Engari
ki te tikanga geti pnku utu huna nei, kua wha-
katikangatia e etahi Pakeha, ke kia riritia hoki, kia
ana, no te mea hoki he takahi Ture tenei, ko tona
timatanga he at, a ko tona mutunga he kakari, he
whakahakenga toto. Ehara i te mea ma te
Maori anake tenei dakari, e tika ana, engari
maori nei ki nga rohe ki nga utu, erangi pea ma
raua ko te Pakeha a ko atu, a ka kakari raua
kaore he Ture tahi hei whakawa, kahoro he
tikanga hei whakakore. E ta ma, e aku hoa,
tirohia o koutou tenei. A, tenei ano hoki
tetahi, E kite ana te Kawanatanga, na, ko
nga utu reti whenua nui, utu otaoia ranei, na,
ka riro anake i te tino tangata, i te tangata
kotahi, mana ma te kotahi anake o tango; a
ahakoa pea, tera o makore mai inaianei he hiki-
kine pi tenei ki tenei o ona tangata, a ko atu
ka puritia katoatia mana anake anake. Katahi