NATIVE LANDS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 561, 16 July 1909, Page 9

NATIVE LANDS.

DIFf-ULTIES IN THE WAY OF THEIR UTILISATION. "A LOT OF TOMMY-ROT." (By Telegraph.—Speoial Correspondent.) Auckland, July Id. A sidelight on the extraordinary manner m winch disabilities aro placed in the way of the disposal of Native lands undor tho present Govomment was given to a "Herald" reporter to-day by Mr. G. A. Jackson, engineer to tho Waitemata County Council. His story shows, the need for drastic roforms in connection with the Native Land Court. "Native lands,"■', said Mr. Jackson, "arc not getting surveyed as they should bo. I can give you a case in point. As far back as July 5, 1905, I received instructions to survey a certain block of laud at Otanako in the King Country, which tho Native owners wished to lease to an applicant under J the Government's conditions I had to commence the work within one month and finish 'it withm nine months When I went to get my information so that I could start the survey I found that the descriptions, of the boundaries as given out by the judge of the Native Land Court wero very indefinite imd obscure It was impossible to understand thorn sometimes. Wo can by going on to tho ground gather from such of the Natives who had been in Court what the j'udgo was 'driving at,' and carry oat the work accordingly. To try and do this in the instance i am referring to, I went down to the particular block of land at my own expense and endeavoured to fix matters up, but when I got thero I'found that a whofo Nativo village wbs involved in this subdivision and that the description of the boundaries should have been most carefully worded to enable a propor survey to be mado. When I found that 1 could not possibly do the work my only course was to'apply to the Native Land Court to reopen the case This I did. Then I had to apply to get my authority to make tho survey extended, and I was granted a six-months' extension, from November 8, 1907. Later I received notice from the Survoy Department that my i authority had lapsed, so I had no more standing in tho case, and could mot complete tho work. ] spent about £20, and had to lose that, About the end of May last I received notice through the Gazette that the case was set down for hearing before the Native Land Court on June 9, 1909, at Auckland The Native owners of the block received a similar notice, and camo up from -tie King Country to attend the Court. However, though I was the applicant, I had, as I say, no standing owing to the cancellation of my»authority six months before, so I did not attend the Court, and the case was struck out. The Maoris had to go home again and 'grizzle' sfter being brought to Auckland at their own exponso for no result. In the meantime the original applicant for the land had become disgusted and had gono away. Tho position now is that the particular block of Native land which the owners wanted to lease, and for which they had a prospective lessee in 1905, has to lie as it is until somebody else wants to lease it. When that hippens the Maoris will have to look for another surveyor rash enough to undertake the job, , and the samo process will have to bo repeated." Mr. Jackson declared that this was not an isolated case, and that in half the surveys of Native lands undertaken by surveyors they found that tho orders from tho judges wore "a lot of tommy-rot." That was the reason why so many of tho Native land survey! could not bo done.