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A compendium of official documents relative to native affairs in the South Island, Volume One.

No. 5. — Mr. George Clark to Mr. Commissioner Spain

No. 5.
Mr. George Clark to Mr. Commissioner Spain.

Nelson, 7th September, 1844.

Sir,—

I have the honor to inform you that it is not my intention to offer any evidence in opposition to the claims of the New Zealand Company to the several blocks of land in this district which are delineated on the plans produced in Court, and signed by me, with the exception of Wairau, to which I shall presently refer.

I am induced to follow this course because, upon questioning the Natives, I find that their statement agrees with the evidence of the Europeans who have been examined in your Court. You are aware that upon Colonel Wakefield stating to me his desire to settle the question with the aborigines rather than have any cause for future disputes, and for the sake of insuring a good understanding between the two races, I considered that £800 sterling was ample compensation for their most scrupulous demands. This sum Colonel Wakefield immediately placed at my disposal, and I have subsequently paid over to the Natives, in your presence, £510.

In consequence of the absence of the majority of the Natives at Massacre Bay during the investigation in your Court I reserved the remaining sum of £290 for their use, and at the request of some of the chiefs of that district, with the concurrence of yourself, I proceeded to Massacre Bay, accompanied by your interpreter, Mr. Meurant. All these Natives, with the exception of one individual, admitted having received compensation from the late Captain Wakefield for their respective claims, but those of the Motupipi Pa positively refused to accept of the sum I had awarded to them, though the other Natives expressed their willingness to take it. I felt it more prudent to withhold the payment altogether until I had obtained the consent of all, especially as I could only consider it in the light of a gratuity and not as a matter of right, so far as the Natives of Massacre Bay are concerned.

Under these circumstances, I presume that the proper course to be followed will be for me to lodge the £290* in the Union Bank of Australia, to the credit of myself, as Protector of Aborigines for the Southern Division, leaving it for His Excellency the Governor hereafter to determine in what manner the money shall be disposed of for the benefit of the Natives in the event of their still refusing to accept of it. I shall feel obliged if you will witness the payment of it into the Bank.

With reference to the district of the Wairau, I deemed it unnecessary to examine any witnesses on behalf of the Natives, the Principal Agent of the Company having brought forward no evidence on the subject; in fact, the absence of Te Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, and the tribe claiming that district, rendered it impossible to call Native testimony.

I have, &c.,

George Clark, Jun.,
Protector of Aborigines.

Mr. Commissioner Spain, Nelson.

* This amount was subsequently paid to the Natives of Massacre Bay in October, 1845, by Mr. Fox, the Agent of the New Zealand Company.