Petition of 300 Maoris of Hawke’s Bay, Wairoa, Turanga, and Taupo : presented August 14th, 1873, and ordered to be printed

To the Members of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, in Parliament assembled

[i roto i te reo Māori]

To the Members of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, in Parliament assembled.

The Petition of the undersigned Maoris residing in the Districts of Hawke's Bay, Wairoa, Turanga, and Taupo, showeth,—

1.	That during the last Session of Parliament a petition was presented by Renata Kawepo and 553 other Natives in the District of Hawke's Bay, of which the following is an extract:— To the General Assembly of New Zealand, in Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned Maoris of the District of Hawke's Bay, showeth: That your Petitioners were owners and occupiers of land in the District of Hawke's Bay before the introduction of the Native Land Court, and the said owners of land thought no evil, were not under any law as regards land. That your Petitioners bade good-bye to their old customs when the Native Land Court was introduced, thinking that prosperity and peace would be the result.
2.	That, in accordance with the prayer of that petition, the Parliament did appoint a Commission for the purpose of making inquiries unto the various complaints, and the Commissioners held a sitting in Napier during the months of February, March, and April, and investigated the complaints made by some of the Natives about their lands.
3.	That the time at the disposal of the Commissioners would not permit of their going through the whole of the complaints, and they had accordingly adjourned, leaving the greater part of the complaints unheard.
4.	That your Petitioners thank the Parliament for the consideration shown to them in appointing the Commission, for, although the work has been left unfinished, many things will thus be made known to the Parliament which will show to them that the complaints of the Maori people have not been made without good reasons.
5.	That the Parliament will see what has been the work of the Europeans of this part of the country in leasing, mortgaging, and buying Native lands; they will see the evil ways of the lawyers and interpreters, and will understand by what underhand and dishonest methods the Native owners have been despoiled of their lands.
6.	That Parliament will see how the land has gone for grog and debts to the storekeepers and publicans: how the interpreters, with whom has rested the explaining of the different writings to the Maoris, were bought over by sums of money to the exclusive service of the Europeans: how the Natives, at the time of signing the documents of the lawyers and interpreters, were in all instances without friends who could advise them, or assist them in fully understanding the effect and meaning of what they were asked to sign; and how by these means, and the unfair and untruthful representations of these interested Europeans, the Maoris were induced to sign deeds of mortgage and of sale without properly understanding their full force and effect; and also how, in many cases, high Government officers, instead of advising and assisting the Maoris in these troubles of theirs, have been concerned in the said works, and in promoting the evil designs of the Europeans.
7.	That many cases much worse than those already inquired into, yet remain to be dealt with, and the Maoris consented to the adjournment of these complaints in the hope that Parliament would take further action, and appoint another Commission to finish the work, and give those Commissioners power to decide all the complaints which come before them at once, so that all these matters may be finally disposed of, and cease to be a cause of trouble and ill-feeling in this land.

Wherefore your Petitioners would ask: That another Commission should be appointed to deal with this work, and that power should be given to the Commissioners to give judgment upon each case after hearing, and without delay.

[Here follow 300 signatures.]