Humb. 19.

175

THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
Published by Authority.

WELLINGTON, TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1870.

G. F. BOWEN, Governor.
To David Forsyth Main, Esquire, Member of the
House of Representatives, and Thomas Cass,
Esquire, Greeting:

WHEREAS one George Hempelman, of Akaroa,
in the Province of Canterbury, and Colony of
New Zealand, in the year one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight, presented a petition to the House of
Representatives of the said Colony, praying that a
portion of land or other compensation might be
awarded to him in respect of certain claims to land
alleged to have been acquired by him under an
agreement with divers aboriginal natives of New
Zealand, but no relief was then granted or recom-
mended by the said House of Representatives in
respect of the said petition: And whereas it is
alleged that the said George Hempelman has no
sufficient claim for compensation or relief in respect
of the matters mentioned in the said petition, and
also that he has waived and abandoned such claim:
And whereas the said House of Representatives
having again, in the year one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine, taken into consideration the matters
aforesaid, did, on the twenty-sixth day of August,
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, resolve
that the claim of the said George Hempelman should
be submitted to a Commission, or Board of Investi-
gation, during the recess, and that the Report of the
same should be laid before the General Assembly
during the then next Session :

Now know ye, that reposing great trust and
confidence in your ability, I, Sir George Ferguson
Bowen, the Governor of the said Colony, with the
advice and consent of the Executive Council thereof,
do by these presents authorize and appoint you,
the said

DAVID FORSYTH MAIN, Esq., and
THOMAS CASS, Esq.,

to be Commissioners to hear and receive, on oath
or otherwise as you may think fit, the evidence of all
such persons as shall be able to give evidence before
you, or any or either of you, touching the premises,
and generally to inquire as to the said claim of
the said George Hempelman and the alleged aban-
donment and waiver thereof, and the expediency
of awarding to him any land or other compensation,
and to report your several proceedings and opinion
touching the premises; and for the better discovery
of the truth concerning the premises, I do by these
presents, and with the like advice and consent, give
unto you full power and authority to call before you
all such persons as you shall judge necessary for the
purpose of making the said inquiry, and with the
like advice and consent I do enjoin you, within two
calendar months after the date of this Commission, or
as much sooner as the same can conveniently be done,
(using all diligence,) to certify to me, under your
hands and seals, your several proceedings, and your
opinion touching the premises. And I do, with the
like advice and consent, order that this Commission
shall continue in force, and that you the said Com-
missioners, or any one or more of you, may proceed
in the execution thereof from time to time, and at
any place or places, although the same be not con-
tinued by adjournment.

Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir
George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand
Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of
Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor
and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her
Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its
Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the
same; and issued under the Seal of the
said Colony, at Auckland, this fifth day
of April, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and seventy.

Approved in Council.

HENRY D. PITT, Capt., R.A.,
Private Secretary
(for Clerk of the Executive Council).

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!