THE NATIVE QUESTION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 50, 22 November 1907, Page 5

THE NATIVE QUESTION.

WHAT THE MAORI REALLY WANTS.

(Bγ One of the Race.)

It.has beori-promised,by tho-Government that :the .extreme importance of tho- Natir.-> Land Question, shall receive dup recognition .this session.;b> the pnssiiig of : legislation tor tho removal of anomalies;and the simplification of-the-laws relating, to Native affairs. Too much, publicity'cannot bogiven to ■ tho opinions, of people who arc in intimate association -with-'Native', matters, aiid : who nr? by'reason of,that intimacy, conversant with every aspect of the;question from' tho Mxori point of view. It" is unfortunately tho practice, torviißw the 'Maori -. European spectacles,, and ; to ignore' the. question' as seen' by the 'Maori, thus 'fostering '-injustice to'the Native who-is most''nearly, dohcerrio 1: A Man but. Treated as a Child. •. . ; •.The Maori, reposod. BUJEoient tnist in tho good faith, of the' pakeha by. accepting wiuiout' demur- : ,thc provisions contained' in' the ,treaty -of .IWuitangi,: which : invests ;.in the .Maoris all the rights .'and ' privileges:, enonjoyed by British subjects, and aifords protection ,in the 'exercise. 6t- those rights and privileges. : The treaty which was signed on iVlay'iil, 1840; is-in : the■ nature 'of a civil contract, .binding jipon : the ■Natives ' and - Crown alike', whereby the sovereignty, of tho .islands, was handed, over to Queen' Victoria and her successors div condition that the .Natives', were created British subjects with the right of , ownership of. their viands,. and to 'do .with., them, as they pleased. .: The shadow of the land, was given to Qii&h Victoria; the. substance'to. remain w,ith} them: lii the observance of the criminal-Jaw.Un' tliii recognition- 'of by-laws' enforced 1 by" local .bodies, m the. contraction of debts and the recovery of the same by' civil .process, the Maori is placed, upon'an'equality with tW European and is hem responsible for any such breacji of these, ordinances' and',■ enactments;. .The Maori is equipped with an education which places him on an-equality .with his ..pakeha brother, yet. ho is considered' by the ing chamber.much;in/.the light of a : child..r"r an imbecile, or a"person'physically and, mentally unit, who should not- be permitted to work and.manago,his own lands without the -imposition- of "costly arid ".unjustifiable reetric'tjons,! ';. ;; .-; ; .... ..-.-..-■I ' •:■ :■■ Heavily Handicapped. . \ . , 'The European who-is a landowner seeks to' make.money out. of..that land,-and lib suffers under no disabilities that. prevent ■ him from obtaining alivelihood from 'his property' Tor himself and .family. - .On; the-other hand, 'it' a Native desires, to put his holding tersonie' practical use, of lease or. mortgage, •insuperabledifficulties are placed in" his'way, ,, in 1 ho is- forced into-:a costly process that is rapidly impoverishing the Maori:race.: /He cannot borrow money from a,Government Deapartment until the land has been leased, arid he'is-obliged to search for a' suitable lesse*. It is true he can borrow, from private individuals .or-firms, but-the land-is subject to tho restriction that it. is unalieriablo '<y sale,: mortgage or lease, a circumstance which depreciates.-the security-'arid renders' the terms;of the transaction disadvantageous to the Maori. .; . -•-... t.

Tlie Way; of the Maori tand Board, i ■ 'To happen as a principal in-any land transaction whatsoever-the Maori. Has'; to , ' lodge '.an application with the Maori Land Board and .as • that -leisurely ■ body ■ sits' on., the average three .or four times a year only, and some,times i S . n qt in session., for/six months at k ■stretch;, the; delay. and . the subsequent loss are quite conceivable: When the Board do's tackle the application it,institutes a length? and tedious .set of. enquiries required by law , . ■Hj.'s Board: is permitted to-deal only .with the S u rp i"n r? (1 ? f * tllc , a JP.l loa,ll ;>- and it directs ?P°. I" l . l ..;P r c'e of i.ts ,( lariguld ''energies' to'.'an inspection-.of;j;he Jitl6 ,to' discover if.' the applicant; has other :lnnds toTprbvidV for his ; support.independent,,of the property sought to. be-operated-mon,. and,to find out if the consideration deSred'to'be obtained for the .land is adequate on/the basis of the Goverimont. valuation. - The* Board also enquires what the applicant is going to do 'wlj,n tho money, and hnvmg reluctantly exhausted its inquisitorial powers the extremely gradual .tribunal' either, recommends or; refuses to recommend, to the Native Minister, that the lands under review be' sold, leased .orniorsgaged. But the funeral'process is only half through,'the application and.the rocomnicni-ation,-are. translated to the sphere of the Native Department, and tho Minister in his turn- holds an inquest on the application. Entangled in Red Tape. ; . . . The, whole process of enquiry is repeated evidence'is called if necessary; the Minister's under-strappers,' on behalf of the Minister enter into lengthy' correspondence with all concerned. ■;■ The Minister-probably consults his cplleagues, and the application is .struck raot in the Muiistor's office, enmesheil in a contused entanglement of red tape. The repiration of-which time, if the application: lias failed to justify.itself in .the. ministerial eye, the. Board sanction .lapses and the whole droary business has to be repeated. It is .considered a quick not to-say rapid transaction,.if twelve months anlyi elapse between the lodgement of the-application'and the re;ceipt or the iuonoy r sought.to ,be obtained <,ri the land. It i sof common occurance to find applications drifting around between' Board and Minister for'two or .three years-, and mortgages have been known to occupy wio : earnest ■ attention .of both' tribunals for a : period'of fiveyenrs. 'Life is not too sh'ort for .that.sort of,thing.- As the cost'of these transactions before; the Maori Land Board . has to be. paid by the applicant, who is also , placed at' a considerable expense while waiting on the respective doorsteps of'the Board and . the Minister, the Maoris who havo tho misfortune to possess unhegotiable land are boin'g rapidly impoverished, ' and a simple sum. in arithmetic will show. how long "it would .take to absorb .the whole oftheprbperty/under. such costly, circumstances. It not infrequently fjappens that when tho applicant receives his cash he handles it merely topass'it on-.to'someohe'-elsc.''' Whilst heis waiting-for the . decision of tho Board and the Minister he has to live and runs up bills with the tradesiiian. He also, borrows from his friends, and' from , lenders on personal security'at excessive rates of interest,''and all of the people have to be paid. ': . ' '

What Is Wanted. What is desired is the simplification of the. cumbersome .and ruinous process at present' employed in .the management ' of the surplus of the Natives. .The duplication: of , enquiry- by-the Board, and , the Minister is-entirely unnecnessary,:. ami. either the Board's decision, should be final and the Minister should dispense with his'enquiry or the Board should be abolished, and the Minister alone go into the 'merits, of the. application. • There is another and simpler alternative,'and that i\. to place the Maori on an equality .with the pakelia -in the matter of land transactions, and obviate the necessity for .any enquiry at. all,, lut with that aspect of the question it is not at proßent proposed to' deal. The Maori; Land Board is composed of a' Judge and two (somotimes three) associates; and it is probable that at a low estimate the six Boards operating in the Dominion cost the people lir salaries arid travelling expenses, between-£7OOO and £8000 a year, , ami'it-wo add, to,' this- the .losses maintained by tho Natives through.the unnecessary labours of tho BoardsJ the desirability of .abolishing those judicial excrescences Will be rc'cdgnisßC. b.V'afty person: who is in the full enjoyment of'his senses. The Na-tive Department' itself is-nn.abomination.to tho Maoris and a source .of unnecessary expense to the taxpayer. It has outlived its usefulness, if it lias over been of tiso, and no Government legislation will 1 be effective which fails to make provision for. a complete overhaul of this, department.