816

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

It is pertinent to this inquiry to remark that the result of the election was said at the time to
be mainly due to the active exertions of Mr. John Lundon, a gentleman whose name occurs
with great frequency in the evidence taken by me. In 1873, owing to the resignation of Mr.
McLeod, another election took place in the district. The candidates this time were Mr. John
Lundon and Mr. John Williams, the present member. There was a third candidate, whose
name need not appear here, for the contest, which was close, lay between the above-named
gentlemen, Mr. Williams being elected by a small majority. It may here be remarked, by way
of parenthesis, that Mr. Edward Marsh Williams, the brother of the successful candidate, filled
at that time and up to a recent period the office of Registration and Returning Officer for the
Mongonui and Bay of Islands electorate. Mr. John Lundon, the defeated candidate, does not
appear to have accepted his defeat as final. On the contrary, with the view apparently of again
contesting the seat at some future period, he seems to have determined that the electoral roll
should become more favourable to himself. Accordingly, during the registration period of 1874,
he caused many electoral claims to be filled up and made, mostly by Maoris and half-castes, who
were supposed to be adherents and supporters of his own. And, notwithstanding many dis-
couragements, efforts such as these have been persisted in and continued by Mr. Lundon up to
the present time. These continued efforts, which appear only to have been intensified by a
second defeat, seem at an early period to have spread consternation and dismay among Mr.
Lundon's opponents. Most of the claims preferred by Mr. Lundon's Maori friends were made
on freehold qualification, the freehold in all cases being held in common by a number of
persons. It was therefore determined to test the validity of that qualification, with the view of
checking the action taken by Mr. Lundon. Accordingly a test case was selected in 1876, to
be argued before Mr. Lawlor when holding his Revision Court at Russell, in that year. The
case selected was that of Hone Mohi Tawhai, a chief who claimed in respect of a freehold of
sufficient average value, and under Crown grant, but held in common between himself and
seven other Natives. After argument by Mr. Carleton on the one part, and Honi Mohi on
the other, Mr. Lawlor decided against the validity of the claim, and ordered Honi Mohi's name
to be struck off the roll. The decision thus obtained was promptly acted on. The Registration
Officer, Mr. Williams, took the earliest opportunity of objecting, in his official capacity, to
many of the Maoris already on the roll, and to almost all the new claims made by Maoris, and
in nearly all cases the objections were based on Mr. Lawlor's decision.

That decision was sustained by Mr. Lawlor in the succeeding year (1877), all the objections
being held to be fatal to the claims. Those claims were, however, renewed by Mr. Lundon, and
fresh ones added. During the registration period of last year no less than 373 Native claims to
be placed on the electoral roll were preferred at his instance, and by means of his exertions. In
that batch of claims too, it has to be observed, a new qualification (the household) made its
appearance. These claims, up to a certain point, met with the usual fate—that is, they were
objected to by the Registration Officer. But on this occasion Mr. Lundon and some of his
Native friends determined to procure legal assistance, and sustain, if possible, before the Revision
Court, the claims so objected to. About this time also the Government were strongly urged by
Mr. Lundon and others to dismiss Mr. Williams from the office of Registration and Returning
Officer. The reason given for the request appears to have been that, being brother of the sitting
member, he would be apt to show partiality, and had, in fact, shown it already. The Govern-
ment, it seems, were not unwilling, several months before the time at which the Revision Court
was held, to call on Mr. Williams to resign; but, as a matter of fact, the request was not made
until the 4th of June, the day previous to the date at which the Revision Court was to sit. Mr.
Williams at once complied with the request so made, and called the attention of the Government
to the fact that numerous objections had been made, and would have to be determined on the
following day. Mr. (or Captain) Baker was therefore at once appointed to be Registration and
Returning Officer, in place of Mr. Williams, and attended the Revision Court on the 5th of
June in that capacity. Mr. Tole, a gentleman of the legal profession, and a member of the
House of Representatives, was also present on behalf of certain of the Maori claimants. On the
claims being called on for revision, Mr. Tole raised the preliminary technical objection that
Edward Marsh Williams, Registration Officer for the Mongonui and Bay of Islands Electoral
District, had then no legal existence, and that consequently the objections made by him fell to
the ground. Mr. Lawlor, the Revising Officer, at once ruled that Mr. Tole's objection was fatal,
and ordered the whole of the names objected to, including, as they did, dead, absent, and dis-
qualified persons, to be placed on the roll for 1878 and 1879. The new Registration Officer, Mr.
Baker, it may be remarked, remained in the Court inert and speechless during the short discus-
sion between Mr. Tole and the Revising Officer.

In reference to the first decision of Mr. Lawlor, I have now to point out that there are, in
the Bay of Islands electorate, three classes of title to land held in common by Maoris who have
claimed to be placed on the electoral roll as freeholders—first, land held under Crown
grant; second, land certified to Native owners under the Native Land Act; third,
land certified to a tribe. In regard to the second and third classes, I think that they may
be dismissed as not being freehold of a sufficiently definite character, as regards individuals,
to confer a right to the franchise. The first class, or land held under a Crown grant,
is, I apprehend, in a different position. The position of the owners in a Crown grant I
believe to be that of tenants in common, taking (save in exceptional instances) in distinct