Land Court Judge In Cook Is

Cook Is.

Captain W. M. Bell Appointed

THE appointment of Captain William Moody Bell as Judge of the Native Land Court in the Cook Islands was announced in July.

Captain Bell, who has been Resident Commissioner at Niue Island since 1931, joined the New Zealand Military staff as a sergeant instructor in 1905. In 1912 he was regimental sergeant-major of the 3rd Auckland Mounted Rifles. He receiv ed a commission in the Army Service Corps and became a Lieutenant in the New Zealand Staff Corps in 1916. Dur ing the Great War he served as Camp Adjutant at Trentham and later with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. From 1919 to 1923, Captain Bell was aide-de camp to Colonel R. W. Tate, Adminis trator of Western Samoa. He was then appointed Resident Commissioner at Savaii.

It was reported in the “N.Z. Herald” on July 15 that Mr. H. Tai Mitchell, chairman of the Arawa District Trust Board, and a leader in native affairs in the Arawa district, had been offered, but refused, a position as Judge of the Na tive Land Court under the Cook Islands Administration.