Oct. 1.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2699

Extract from a Speech made by the Prime Minister (Hon. J. G.
Coates) on the Second Reading of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Bill, on Monday,
the 28th September, 1925, re Proposal to set up a Royal
Commission to investigate Confiscated Lands.

THE Native tribes of the northern part of New Zealand
have for many years given expression in various
ways to a general sense on their part of unjust treatment in
the confiscation of large parts of their territories following
upon the Maori wars. In some cases that expression has
been by representations to His Majesty's Government in
England, and in a larger number of cases by petitions to
the New Zealand Parliament. Their appeals to His Majesty's
Government have been necessarily met by the reply in each
case that the matters complained of were entirely within
the authority and jurisdiction of the New Zealand Government and Parliament. But that recognition by His Majesty's
Government of our exclusive authority upon the subject has
long appeared to me to involve a duty upon this Government
to afford opportunity to the Natives to ventilate the
grievances they allege before some tribunal willing to give a
patient hearing and qualified to offer recommendations to
the Government and Parliament from that point of view
which we have long been willing to adopt where the rights
of our Maori fellow-subjects are affected. Since (after the
retirement of Sir William Herries) I became Minister of
Native Affairs, I have felt a personal responsibility in this
matter. The difficulties of selecting persons to constitute
such a tribunal, and the even greater difficulties of precise
determinations of the order of reference have been obvious;
but I cannot reconcile myself to further delay. It is the
intention of the Government to appoint a Royal Commission,
constituted as I have indicated, directed to allow the Natives
the fullest possible hearing, and to make recommendations
to the Government and to Parliament.

"The failure to obtain consideration in the past has been
due largely to the ill-advised attempts by the Natives' advisers
to rely on the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi. The obvious
answer to that claim is that such reliance is propounded on
behalf of men who repudiated the Treaty, and with the
Treaty the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, which was
the basis of the Treaty. But the Treaty is in no sense an
element in benevolent consideration of the question whether
the extent of the territorial confiscation was just and fair
under the circumstances of the warfare and the action taken
by Natives and by Europeans. That question can be
temperately and fairly considered after the long lapse of years
since the confiscations. There is a minor but important
part which in some cases constitutes a fully admitted grievance,
efforts to remedy which have been made from time to time
under special legislation. That part of the subject is the
inclusion of the property of loyal Natives within the confiscated areas, a necessary result of the intricate relation of
individual to tribal rights under Native customs. That part
also it will be the function of the Commission to attempt to
deal with fully and satisfactorily. The intention of the
Government is to enable a complete investigation of the whole
subject, and thereby to ascertain what injustice (if any) had
been done in the past, and then to provide such remedies as
will remove the sense of grievance from the Native mind."

Subsidies to Public Libraries in Country Districts.

Education Department,
Wellington, 25th September, 1925.
NOTICE is hereby given that the sum of £3,000 has been
voted by Parliament for distribution to public libraries
in country districts.
The distribution will take place about the 1st March, 1926,
and no claim will be entitled to consideration that is not sent
in due form and received by the Secretary, Education
Department, Wellington, on or before the 25th January, 1926.

1. A library to be entitled to a subsidy must be public
   in the sense of belonging to the public, and of not being
   under the control of an association, society, or club whose
   membership is composed of a section of the community only;
   and if it is within a borough a reading-room where the books
   may be read, and containing newspapers and periodicals,
   must be provided for the public free of charge; in addition,
   it must not be situated in a borough, town, or town district
   the population of which exceeds fifteen hundred. The receipts for
   the year from subscriptions, donations, and voluntary contributions must not have been less than £2, exclusive of moneys
   received from endowments, or from Government, or from
   Borough or County Councils, or for special building purposes,
   or as rent, hire, or consideration for the use of any room, or
   building, or land belonging to the institution, in respect of
   none of which will subsidy be allowed. The net proceeds of
   concerts, lectures, or other entertainments on behalf of the
   current expenses of the library will be regarded as voluntary
   contributions. The number of members subscribing to the
   library during the year must not have been less than eight,
   each of whom must have paid the subscription for at least
   six months. Libraries established during 1925 may make
   applications for a grant, and each case will be considered on
   its merits. A subsidy will not be given to more than one
   library in the same town.
2. In the distribution of the vote a nominal addition of £25
   will be made to the amount of the income of each library
   derived from subscriptions, donations, and rates, and the vote
   will be divided according to the amounts thus augmented;
   but no library will receive credit for a larger income than £25—
   that is, in no case will the augmented amount on which distribution is based exceed £50.
3. The whole of the subsidy must be expended without
   delay in the purchase or loan of books for the library.
4. It is particularly enjoined upon the authorities in charge
   of the public libraries concerned that a due proportion of the
   books purchased shall be books having a permanent value—that
   is, books of more than merely passing interest.
5. Application to share in the distribution must be by
   means of a statutory declaration by the Chairman, or Secretary, or Treasurer of the institution on behalf of which it is
   made, and must be accompanied by a statement of the
   receipts and payments of the institution for the year ending
   on the 31st day of December, 1925, and such declaration must
   be on the form provided for the purpose.
6. Copies of the form of application may be obtained from
   the Secretary, Education Department, Wellington.
   C. J. PARR, Minister of Education.
   Sitting of the Native Land Court at Opotiki on the 19th October,

7. Registrar's Office,
   Rotorua, 19th September, 1925.
   NOTICE is hereby given that the matters mentioned in
   the Schedule hereunder written will be heard by the
   Native Land Court sitting at Opotiki on the 19th day of
   October, 1925, or as soon thereafter as the business of the
   Court will allow.
   [Waiariki, 1925-17.] T. ANARU, Registrar.
   SCHEDULE.
   APPLICATION FOR ASSESSMENT OF COMPENSATION.
   No. 31. Name of applicant : Minister of Public Works.
   Name of land : Opape 6G, 6H, and 6J. Nature of application : Assessment of compensation for land taken for a road.
   No. 32. Name of applicant : Minister of Public Works.
   Name of land : Opape 5D, 4D 3, and 4B. Nature of application : Assessment of compensation for land taken for a road.

CROWN LANDS NOTICES.
Land in Nelson Land District forfeited.
Department of Lands and Survey,
Wellington, 23rd September, 1925.
NOTICE is hereby given that the lease of the undementioned land having been declared forfeited by
resolution of the Nelson Land Board, the said land has
thereby reverted to the Crown, under the provisions of the
Land Act, 1924.
SCHEDULE.
NELSON LAND DISTRICT.
LEASE No. R.L. 800, Section 7, Block VI, Kongahu Survey
District. Formerly held by Catherine Christina Adamson
(deceased). Reason for forfeiture : Non-compliance with
conditions of lease.
A. D. McLEOD, Minister of Lands.
Timber in North Auckland Land District for Sale by Public
Tender.
North Auckland District Lands and Survey Office,
Auckland, 23rd September, 1925.
NOTICE is hereby given that written tenders for the
purchase of the undermentioned milling timber will
be received at the North Auckland District Lands and Survey
Office, Auckland, up to 4 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday, 4th