A PLEA FOR THE MAORI.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 692, 17 December 1909, Page 10

A PLEA FOR THE MAORI.

POLITICAL DISABILITIES.

(Br "A Pakeha..")

• In The Dominion of Tuesday, last, December 14, I notice the Nevi Zealand- Parmers' Union had presented a petition to Parliament praying for legislation for granting to '■ the • Maoris tho. same political and local government privileges as arc held by the pakeha. This petition has.' been reported upon'. by the Public' Petitions Committee, and they find that, as it involves a question of policy, they have no-recommenda-tion to make. It is a rcmarkabloand striking fact, while the Farmers' Union has just, becorao alive to tho.injustice and.wrong that is being imposed upon, tho Maori people, tlio Maoris . themselves have limo and again do-, ploijcd tho political inequality under which they grievously suffer. For many years tho Maori raco has laboured under political disThey- havo beon treated as children by. tho State. They havo been regarded as being incapable of managing their own affairs. The State has acted the part of a-wet nurse,, and has administered bitter aloes to the pap.| and sickened and disgusted the Maori. peoplo : because of- the State's wretchedly bad, clumsy, and expensive, nursing. .

Hampered in His Land Dealings. •Every session of Parliament tho Maori and his. disabilities, and tho, matter of his being hampered in his land dealings, has been obtruded for consideration.. It is not necessary to trace hero tho history of the many enormities that have blackened the story, of the Stato's dealing in Maori land. Nor can the Government of the day be absolved from disregarding its duty to the Maori people. last year no fewer than'4ooo Maoris presented a petition to Parliament, in which it was set forth that tho Maori people o£ New Zealand "are being oppressed by the laws which are made by your honourable house in regard to our lands ind our possessions." Tho nioro intelligent of the, Maori, people. are not .only realising that untold hardship is now being imposed upon them, but they realise. that they aro sinking down towards a condition of ultimate .'destitution.. What is,..the complaint of tho < Maori? Why does he want to have the same legal and political privileges with regard to his land as tho pakeha:? Why .does he want, to throw, off tho yoW of oppression which hangs so heavily upon him? The Maori is not the child of Nature that he once was. Tho Maori realises that lie has become as civilised as tho pakelia,' as capable.'as well-educated in, many'instances, and quite, as shrewd by nature as the pakeha. In eyery.way he is now quits capable of conducting his. own business.and managing his own aflairs as the European. . v..-

Wants-to be Industrious. This is the plea' of the Maori. He seeks only'that which ho is entitled to obtain— namely, the light to control and to administer the lands, tho goods, : and tho. property w'hich has been in'possession of his people from time immemorial. ■The Maori wants to be industrious.. Ho does not want to bo left behind in the race of progress in this Dominion, and his natural and legitimato desire for advancement is finding expression to-day in his- endeavour, through the Legislature to: control his own lands irrespective of State interference, and interference that is enormously expensive, and.not infrequently both absurd and irrational. The Maori-has nowadays 1 no,"liiana" over, his own property. Maori land law is different from' pakeha land law. Tho pakeha.can get the market .value' for''Ms land, the Maori has'to take in many, instances .what the Government gives' him. Only a year or two ago/ at Wanganui, the Europeans offered, tho Maoris. 255. per acre for a block of• 60,000 acres. The .Government, with its powerful machiuery,. proclaimed over the block, and,'acquired-this vast, estate of 'the Maori at 10s. an acre...Thus.in this one single, transaction .the State in.: effect deprived 'tho Maoris interested of. nearly ,£45,000. \ But, apart altogether, from this, the machinery of Mativoland purchase and sale is:far'too.,tedious and expensive; .:W. ,i;\. .-.:. V. ;.:i.... .',,? •

Suggested Ref6rm's,;Y> .':>; ■■ .'■' . i ' ; ;..' i • We have Ma'ori Land. Boards and .Ntytivo, Land Courts, tho offices-of which, combined, cost,-1 understand, about: .£23,000' per annum. The;.' : reforms suggested by the Native. Land Commission are inadequate, and of little good from a Maori viewpoint. •'■'. Under tho proposed new legislation, the position would be improvcd'in many ways, but not in tho?ifirst essential ; of : all ■ ■ Native land . legislation; < namely,. Uio'giving of greater freedom to the Maori of, dealing, with-his own lands. It .would. bo! better to abolish the boards and tho Native Oteco entirely. They are a constant menace to tho Natives, ,'who have . only one Nativu Land Court with right to appeal to tho .Appellate Court. Under tho present,'laws, the board's decision is': subject to ratification by Cabinet, but it is plain that this' would put.iar too much p'mverjn the hands of-tho Minister of tho day.-: As it is, too much is being-left to Cabinet,' and inordinate delay is ' a consequence. Resides, as there is no appeal from tho Minister's decision, the question, suggests itself: Would this' power not bo subject to übuso? Tho: safe-courso for tho Maori is that the Native. Land Court should bo. retained; with right, of appeal, 'above. mentioned, to the Native/Appellate- Court.' it is hot so uracil _to tho costliness of tho administrative machinery ,that the Native;raco takes so great an. exception.'Tho-gravamen, of his complaint rests, in tlio fact that tho Maori, is not allowed to deal with his land in the-same way as the, pakeha.. frequently, as in the notable, instance mentioned, - tho Government exercises ■ its, right, of .purchase, and . entails loss ; to the Nutivo owners. It. may be . contended that the gain in this respect accrues to the pakeha; but tho pakeha would not-allow, the Government to take land from him without paying a fair price. Yet this has been notoriously-tho chargo the Maori is making against the Government.': ~.

Settlement Retarded^ Tho Maori's, land is of little use to him seeing he cannot deal with it' himself,- and the .-.progressive settlement of Native, lands is hampered and. retarded-because of this disability on the part of the Maori to deal with his.own property. Besides tho members of the Maori Land' Boards are appointed by the Government, they prescribo the Native land, to bo purchased, tliey assess its value, determine the price, and tho Maori landowner is practically at'their mercy. No pakeha ■ would stund this. -Ho would want regularly appointed ono; for each side,: and nn\ umpire to decide the case' of dispute. -No .snoli-.'courso''of/procedure' is conceded to tho Maori," and the wholo,administration of Native lands requires to be remodelled so as to allow the Maori that greater freedom in dealing with his own property ho' so much desires.. J?o say that the Maori is incapable is a mere subterfuge. Why'does tho Nativo Minister continuously cry "Taihoa" when ho ought to bo clearing away the obstacles that ic in tho path- of Nativo land reform, audi helping forward his own people.