The Native Reserves Commissioners to the Hon. the Attorney-General.

We have the honour to submit for your consideration the following question having reference to a certain class of land reserves in this district, and to solicit your opinion thereon. It refers to those reserves which were given to certain Native tribes by Colonel McCleverty, acting on behalf of the Governor of New Zealand, in consideration of their having ceded to Her Majesty's Government numerous cultivated grounds within and in the neighbourhood of the Town of Wellington, and of which reserves plans were handed over to the Natives at the time that the several negotiations took place.

We are doubtful whether reserves of this class come properly within our control under the provisions of "The New Zealand Native Reserves Act, 1856," and the difficulty has presented itself in a recent case, the particulars of which are as follow: In the year 1847 the Ngatiawa Tribe surrendered to the Government all their cultivations on the Karori, Kaiwharawhara, Harbour, and Lower Hutt Districts, receiving as compensation Town Acres Nos. 633–635 and 637, Wellington, together with other lands as set forth in the deed of agreement. On the 28th of January last we granted a lease of half of Town Acre No. 635 to Mr. John Moore for a term of fourteen years, at £7 per annum, subject to a covenant to erect thereon a house of the value of £150. We were induced to take this course from the consideration that nothing had hitherto been done by the Natives with a view to the improvement of this reserve, and under the conviction that a lease of the nature described above would tend to enhance very considerably the value thereof. It nevertheless produced much dissatisfaction amongst the Native proprietors, and called forth a letter of remonstrance signed by nine of them, a copy of which is enclosed. In consequence of this they were invited to a conference with us on the 6th instant. They objected to the lease on the ground that it has been executed without their knowledge or consent, and took exception moreover to some of the terms thereof.

For our future guidance, therefore, we have the honour to request your opinion on the following point, viz.: Has the Board full power of management and disposition over reserves of this class under the provisions of "The New Zealand Native Reserves Act, 1856," or does the law vest that power in the Natives, in whose names and for whose benefit such reserves have been made?