Referring to the Resolutions in the order submitted in a paper laid
before His Excellency the Governor by a deputation of Maori chiefs on
the 9th April: 1. The Treaty of Waitangi vested the _mana_ in Her
Majesty the Queen, and secures to the Natives their land. That treaty,
in its essential elements, has been faithfully kept by the colony. A
modification was made in it by which the Natives obtained the right of
selling their lands to persons outside the Government, whereas under
the treaty the Government had the sole right of purchasing Native
lands. This modification, the only one made in the treaty, was,
however, introduced at the request of the Maoris themselves. The
rights of the Maori people have been carefully preserved.