THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIVE POLICY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1811, 10 April 1888, Page 4

THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIVE POLICY.

Owing to the remarkable reticence of I j Ministers, who appear determined to ' keep the most profound silence as to j i their intentions, the colony is up to this j moment m complete ignorance as to the \ proposals to be submitted to Parliament ; at the how rapidly approaching session. Indeed we do not remember any recess daring the past twenty -five years which hssbeen signalised by such remarkable taciturnity on the part of Ministers for the : time being, and begin to wonder whether it is because they have nothing to tell that Major Atkinson and his colleagues have adopted the role of Indian sachems, or whether the sphynxlike "mystery m which they conceal their intentions is due to a dislike to expose them %o. the. searching light of public opinion. The only exception hitherto m thi&:Ministry of Mutes is the Hon the Kative Minister, who has taken the Colony into his confidence as to the Native legislation to be submitted, but if the policy he has propounded is a fair sample of the proposals of the Goternment, then we should be inclined to think, that the disinclination to submit too much of their policy to the country is the real reason of the silence of his colleagues. For there can be no question as to what will be the effect of such measures as he has promised to endeavor to have passed. We are told that it is intended that the " Native Lands • Administration Act " shall be repealed, and that a new Bill will be brought m " for dealing with native lands introducing practically what will amount to giving the Maoris power to deal with their own lands, to shut them Up or sell them as they please." There is here no hint whatever of any intention to provide that it shall not be possible for the natives to divest themselves altogether of landed estate, and so to Secure that they shall not become pauperised dependents upon the bounty of c pakeha, nor is there apparently to be any pre-emptive privilege accorded to the Crown, and if Mr Mitchelson is correctly reported, his intended policy is to remove every safeguard which the Legislature has erected and to expose the Native people to the tender (!) mercies of the land sharks. That is a policy that will be immensely popular with, the host of Pakeha-Maoris who m jears gone by have despoiled the Native peoole, and have caused them to barter ! away their lands for rum, but it is one which we are certain will prove infinitely disastrous to the Maori race, and scarcely less so to the colony at large. For although the Kati res know to-day the value of their lands better than they did years ago, yet they will inevitably fall a prey to the unprincipled manoeuvres of unscrupulous capitalists who will speedily acquire enormous estates, and so effectually check the progress of settlement m the North Island. We do not for a moment accuse Mr Mitchelson of having the deliberate intention of bringing about this state of things, but that it will come about if his policy is given effect to, we hare not the smallest doubt. He is misled, that is all, but it is to be hoped that he will not be able to mislead others or that ditch, -of misfortune which waits to swallow up the blind leader of the blind will surely engulf both him and his followers. His object no doubt is simply to remove all disabilities from ihe Maori, and to be able to say that his Government has abolished all racial distinctions, but he is playing into the hands of others who are watching the game with very different motives. Lest it be thought that we are ourselves deceived by party predictions, let us append what the " North Otago Times" —a strong supporter of the Atkinson administration — has to Bay upon the subject, and to which it is unnecessary for us to add a word : — " Have any of our readers any idea of the real facts underlying this chatter about legislation to enable the Maoris to manage their own affairs, and more especially the talk about repealing the Native Land Administration Act ? If they have they will be somewhat apt, we think, to regard the speechifying at the ' great Native meetings ' as so much consummate humbug — not at all the result of bona fide Maori opinion, but of plans laid by pakeha Maoris m the interest of and at the instigation of land-sharking Europeans. We unhesitatingly state that such is our own deliberate conviction ; and if our readers will look carefully into the " Hansards " for last session and read there what took place m the Legislative Council with regard to the Native Land Administration Act Eepeal Bill they will, we think, also be of dm* opinion. That Bill was introduced m the Legislative Council, and piloted through that Chamber by the AttorneyGeneral, Sir F. Whitaker ; but though he succeeded m carrying its third reading, such iacts were elicited m connection with its passage as led to its not getting through the House of Representatives or even into it. The Native Land Administration Act of 1886 made it impossible for is uropeans to buy land from the Maoris except through the medium of the Government, acting as trustees for the Natives m the matter. This of course practically put a stop to the nefarious business or the European land sharks ; m other words, to the downright robbery of the Maoris. A considerable number of worthy persons, however, either before or after the passing of the Act of 1886 entered into some of those miscellaneous transactions with the Natives to an extent affecting nearly a million acres of land, but which transactions could not be completed m the face of the said Act. Accordingly the Government, with the obliging readiness of a political pander, introduced its Native Land Administration Repeal Bill, which was to remain m operation for less than a year, and the sole object ojf which was to enable the political Jandgrabbers aforesaid to complete the illegal purchases they or their agents had made from the Maoris. However, like the famous Sir Boyle Eoche, the Hon Mr Shrimski * smelt a rat — nay, saw it floating m the air ; ' and he therefore moved that there should be laid on the table of the Legislative Council certain papers which he ingeniously surmised would show who were interested m those precious landgrabbing transactions. After some dilly-dallying the Attorney-General consented, and the lists of the persons interested m the passing of the Bill were laid on the table of the Council. They evidently did ' a tale unfold ; ' m fact, they just set forth the old, old story ; of European dealings m Native lands. : Indeed, m the euphemistic yet ex- I fremely significant language of theY

Hon Mr Buckley, ' they were instructive as showing how far honorable gentlemen might probaby desire to get something done for themselves,' What more need be said ? Enough, surely, has been said to throw considerable light upor> the kind of dealings m Native land to which the present Government appears to be all too willing to lend itself ; enough, too, to suggest the identity of the real inspirers of the stuff recently telegraphed as having been spontaneously spoken at ' great Native meetings' m the North Island. We hope, however, that far more than that may result from the study of those j Native land transactions, and that public opinion m the south may be so quickened as to lead to the frustration of nefarious schemes which result m the Maoris being robbed on the one hand, and, on the other, m their lands falling mto the clutches of persons who act the part of monopolists, or who only sell at prices which render the lot ot the purchasing small settler an exceedingly hard one."