The Short Title of this Act is “The Horowhenua Block Act, 1896.”

In this Act, unless inconsistent with the context,—

“The Native Equitable Owners Act, 1886,” and all amendments thereof (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the said Act”) are, for the purposes of this Act, and not further or otherwise, revived and re-enacted.

To enable cestuis qui trustent to become certificated owners of certain portions of the said block, the provisions of the said Act, excepting section eighteen of “The Native Land Court Acts Amendment Act, 1889,” shall, notwithstanding anything in the said Act or any other Act now in force to the contrary, apply to Divisions Six, Eleven (less portion known as the State Farm at Levin, containing one thousand five hundred acres, as hereinafter dealt with), Twelve, and Fourteen of the said block, as the said divisions are more particularly described in the First Schedule hereto.

In exercising jurisdiction under this section the Court shall deal with the claims of the forty-eight persons named in the Second Schedule as if their names had been included in the list of persons registered under the provisions of the seventeenth section of “The Native Lands Act, 1867,” as specified in Schedule Six hereto, as the owners of the said block, and may also limit the interest of, or wholly omit from any order made under the provisions of this Act the name of, any person who, having been found to be a trustee, has, to the prejudice of the interests of the other owners, or any of them, assumed the position of an absolute owner in respect to any former sale or disposition of any portion or portions of the said block, or for any other sufficient reason.

Any order made in pursuance of proceedings under this Act declaring the persons beneficially entitled to the said Divisions Six, Eleven (in part), and Fourteen, or any of them, shall have the effect of vesting such land in the persons so declared respectively to be entitled for an estate of freehold in fee-simple as tenants in common in such relative shares or interests as are specified in, and as from the date of the making of, each such order, anything, in any Act now in force to the contrary notwithstanding; and such persons, and the successors of such of them as are deceased, shall, on the production of such order to the Registrar, be entitled to be registered as proprietors, and to have issued to them a Land Transfer certificate in respect of the land comprised therein; and any existing Land Transfer certificate, and all registrations of dealings thereon in respect of any such land, shall, subject to re-registration of dealings found not to be invalid as hereinafter provided, be deemed to be null and void as from the date of the passing of this Act.

The Land Transfer certificate for Division Nine of the said block, as the said division is more particularly described in the First Schedule hereto, is hereby declared void, and the Registrar is hereby directed to call in and cancel the said certificate and all entries thereon.

All dealings with the said Divisions Six, Nine, Eleven, Twelve, and Fourteen, as the said divisions are more particularly described in the First Schedule hereto (less portion of Division Eleven known as State Farm at Levin, containing one thousand five hundred acres), pending proceedings under the provisions of this Act or the said Act, are hereby prohibited.

The Registrar is hereby directed to issue Land Transfer certificates as follows, namely:—

Any certificate of title to be issued for part of Division Eleven aforesaid shall be subject to the right of the Native owners for the time being of Division Nine aforesaid to fish in such portions of the Hokio Stream and the Horowhenua Lake respectively as are included in the said certificate.

For the purpose of testing the validity of the alienation referred to in subsection (f) of section eight hereof, and also of all dealings the registration whereof has been cancelled as aforesaid, the Public Trustee is hereby directed and empowered to institute on behalf of the original registered owners of the said block, as set forth in the Second and Sixth Schedules hereto, or any of them, such proceedings in the Supreme Court at Wellington as may be necessary for that purpose within six months from the date of the passing of this Act, and every dealing the validity whereof is established by final judgment in such proceedings shall be entitled to be reregistered on any new certificate of title issued under the provisions of this Act for the land the subject of such dealing.

The notification issued on the twenty-sixth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, under the provisions of “The Government Native Land Purchase Act, 1877,” so far as it affects the said block, is hereby declared to have ceased to be of any effect as from the thirtieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six.

The Registrar is hereby directed to amend the certificate of title for Division Three aforesaid by substituting the name of Te Rangimairehau for that of Te Rangirurupuni, where the latter name (which through a clerical error was duplicated in the order of the Court) first appears in the said certificate of title.

The direction of the Court of Appeal to the Native Land Court to determine certain questions in respect of Division Eleven aforesaid shall be deemed to have been superseded by the provisions of this Act, and no further action thereon shall be necessary, or be taken.

All Orders in Council, judgments, decrees, or orders whatsoever now or at any time heretofore affecting the said block shall, so far as they conflict with the provisions of this Act, be void and of no effect.

For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, the Court shall have and may exercise, as the nature of the case requires, in addition to the special powers hereby conferred, all the powers and jurisdiction of the Court under “The Native Land Court Act, 1894,” and “The Native Land Laws Amendment Act, 1895.”

The amount of the payment to be made by Her Majesty to or for the benefit of the owners of any land hereinbefore directed to be vested in Her Majesty as and for the purchase-money for the same shall in case of dispute be determined by the Court in the same manner as is provided by section ninety of “The Public Works Act, 1894,” with regard to compensation payable to Natives for land taken for a Government work.

The interest of any Native deceased in any real or personal property the subject of this Act shall, whether such Native died before or after the coming into operation of this Act, pass to such person or persons as the Court determines to be entitled according to Native custom to succeed to such interest.

No right of appeal shall lie from any decision of the Court under the provisions of this Act.

The costs of the Royal Commission aforesaid, amounting to the sum of one thousand two hundred and sixty-six pounds nineteen shillings and fivepence, are hereby made a charge on Division Twelve aforesaid, and shall be deducted from the amount payable by Her Majesty for the purchase of the said division.

All moneys received by the Public Trustee by virtue of this Act shall be held by him for such persons and in such relative proportions as, subject to the provisions of this Act, the Court determines to be entitled thereto.

The Court in its discretion may receive, consider, and act on the evidence, or any part thereof, taken by the said Royal Commission without calling or hearing the witnesses who gave such evidence.