THE HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 912, 3 September 1910, Page 7

THE HOUSE.

TOWN BOARDS AMENDMENT BILL. : The Town Boards Amendment Bill was reported, with amendments, and passed through its remaining stages. . RIVER BOARDS AMENDMENT ';,>;;. "■- ■/.;;'■ BjLL. ...'-;■.' -, ; ■ hi moving the second reading of.tlie River Boards Amendment Bill, The Hon. D. BUDDO stated that an important proposal was in regard to the proportion ■of ratepayers necessary in order'■': to secure an extension of the river boards' boundaries. ■ The Hutt. River Boaidwas an'instance of.'a body which had found- the existing law unworkable. It desired to take in the Taita district, but owing. to the largo number of/absentee owners'thie. task, of getting 'the signatures ; of •. two-thirds of ...the -i .ratepayers ■: was - very, difficult. - The- reduction .of -.- the proportion" to one-fourth ; would do s away -with, .the "/"difficulty. , '- A , .large majority of the'.river boards were- in favour of the proposals. -..' ' : . * Mr.'MASSEY "was of opinion that the Bill'-'was necessary j and-ho was inclined to agree that river boards should be-given-rating powers. ■■ ...--' ■ Mr. BUCHANAN (Wairarapa) said that'he' would, in...Committee, move te amend , the /.-measure'• by extending the time within which compensation might be claimed for damag6; due! to. work done by the. river-boards., : : ■ ■ The. Bill-was then read a .'second time.

ANIMALS' PROTECTION AMEND- ■■■;;;' ;;V:/ ;'ment; : bill. ;,; :. . ...In,moving the second reading of tho. Animals' Protection Amendment ■ Bill, .The ■! Hon. D. BT3DDO said its object, was to ~ remove ■.anomalies for conditipjiß which Had' grown up. since 'the ■'original Act was ,^ a Mr; J?EAEOB (Eatea) ? said; that ho, would move in Committee that, ho oho should be. allowed: to ; carry, a; pea-riflo without'-- a license. ■' ■ :.,. Mr. IPHILLIPPS (Waitomata) spoko .strongly against. Sunday, shooting. . .-, .; Mr.".... WITTY (Eiccartbn) -, : .declared; 'that ;nb;restriction, should be ulaccd- in the way; of ikillingi'liareS,' which iwere really ..vermin. , .-; ; .-"-.-.,j'=-■-.:-.'■ -;>- ->'."•,; '■■■;',' Mr. MELD ,(Otaki) : contended '' that' the protection' "on,: stoatsV^iid., -weasels should; be' • rempv<?3'.-.', i Hβ'. ,1 had'' '-ltiUftd, ; scores.of, the pestsj.-aiid, would "kill, as many- more ,as .h'o/.could.. As.' regards the Wellington Zoo, it was; not;a great. credit to the city; for it w.asa miserable, „ coldi; cheerless .plsco'i,\-,'■■'->t.-'-.,■•.■■'> : ; ; Dr.,• i.TE -RANGIHIROA'■, .(Northern Wairoa); said in the course, of his marks that it was only a : question oj.time when the native game would disappear. The Native differed from the European in -that he. never killed except for, tho pot.; Then again .the natural habitat; of the game was also . disappearing,! ■~ ■ Mr. KAIHAU (Western Maori) said, he felt deeply depressed at heart at a. Bill. of this nature being, introduced. The Bill provided that no one '.inijjlit bo in ■ possession oLhative :gamo or other, .birds later'than seven; days.after the. closo'.of the season. If. the , '. Natives were : not allowed to live' on the,' birds their land produced, what were they , to live on? ..The Government now ■ had most of'the -Maori- lands,; so why; did they not confrno the application of the mfeasure to the lands they, had already acquired.: ■ The only-thing for him to; do'now was.-'td'weep for.: 'his, Maori ■ people!' If the. Bill became law he believed each' individual -might have as many.'as 20 or-30 parcels of preserved birds in his; possession—would it he possible for 'any .personN eat the twenty packages of birds' within ' tho seven days prescribed by "the Act? On the face of it this was a.-ridiculous .prp..vision... ..." .- ■■-;.;;■■;■; "■-. '..-■ "'•' ; ■■•'

Mr.. BUCHANAN (Wairarapa). said, many thousands of pounds .wero saved by. the destruction of rabbits by stoats and weasels. A great complaint was that'the stoats and weasels destroyed fowls and native birds. He had never been able to find that the depredations amongst fowls amounted to anything. Although he had.: Been stoats and weaisels; about bis homestead, he- had. never known of <i single instance of their, molcsti.ng the domestic fowl. Tho great cause of the disappearance of ■native. ■• birds 'was the destruction of, 'native bush. ' The introduction of stoats and weasels had done incalculable good to many of the settlers, ."and. if ■•_ they 'were destroyed'settlers would havo'to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds to keep their stock. The Hon. T. MACKENZIE said that collectors had done more to .destroy native, game;than any other ' cause..'. Ho' kngw .of many instances l , where the' methods of'..scientists were not. commendable. Stoats, and; weasols had undoubtedly destroyed much native bird: life. In tho course of further remarks, Mr. Mackenzie ' mentioned that tho wokas wero now increasing on the West Coast.' '. " . ■ Other members . who spoke wereMwssrs.: Scott (Tiiapeka), Ell (Christchurch. .South), and Parata,. (Southern Maori). ~ .." The Hon. T. BTJDDO,in his reply, me-ptioiied that there was at present legislation prohibiting'youths'.-from using pea-rifles. He went on to say that as a result;of establishing sanctuaries much was being done- to save rare native birds. If huias wore discovered they should be taken to the Little Barrior Islands.' , V ; ■ Tho Bill' was then read .. a second time. ,-, .

NATIVE-TOWNSHIPS BILL, SECOND READING DEBATE'. .' In moving. thfl second reading of the Native Townships Bill, Tho Hon. J. CARROLLsaid that in many centres Europeans had built dwellings and business premises without any title. lii : consequence of this the Native Township Bill of 18EI5 had been passed, and tho Government took a number of areas totalling 3382 acres. Under, the Act of 1902, four additional Native townships were proclaimed. Tho now Bill was to make the leases Glasgow leases. Power was also proposed to bn taken for the Crown to purchase the townships. Then tenants could deal with the Crown, for tho lands would be Crown lands. Freehold Tltlo Should Bβ Given. Mr. HERMES (Tauranga) said that the Crown could have. purchased thu [ township lwida before. Then agaui.

thero was no compulsion on tho boards tu convert tho leases into , Glasgow leases, if they liked they could grant any other kind of lease. That was the weak point in tho Act. It was only by purchasing the lands from tho Natives and giving tho tenants the freehold title that the townships would progress as they should. Ho hoped tho Bill would bo amended in tho direction of allowing tho lessees to buy horn the lessors with tho consent of tho beneficiaries. , There was no provision , in the Bill for future townships. Suppose tho Urewura Country contained, gold, and townships sprung up there,'; how would they be provided for? Mr. .Horrics asked if it was intended to carry out a systematic .purchase of Native townships! Tliu Hon. J. Carroll: Wo are buying the Huia Township now. . ■ .. . Mr. FIELD (Otaki) said that ho was disappointed.'.to find that it \vns proposed to give tho right of, sale only lo tho Crown. Better results would be obtained under tho freehold system. Tho Native owner of l'arata'Township, in his district was prepared to sell, and the lessees wero prepared to buy. Mr. JENNINGS (Taumaruiiui) said that though the Bill was not all that could-be desired it .would nicet the' wishes of tho majority of the pe6ple of Te Kuiti.'and Taumanmui. ]t would give more security to the progressive European trader.. Until the past.two years things were, in. , d chaotic condition. ..-■■-.. ' , Viem of Mr. Massoy. .■ Mr.. MASSEY said the proposals ol the Bill were an improvement on the . ■present'-conditions. That was iiot saying very much. .He hoped that the Crown-: intended to ''purchase some ofthese lands within- ; Native townships, because if they did not it was not much use passing this Bill. Ho went on to say. that there was nothing in the Bill to make; it compulsory oh. a board to give a Glasgow lease to a. European tenant. For a city or town proportythe Glasgow lease was satisfactory. Ho saw no reason why a Native lessor should not' bo allowed to sell to tho tenant provided that.the bargain was straightforward and the.Native was not leaving himself devoid of property. Ho would like to see'a clause tinder > which proposed sales should be referred to the Crown Land Board of tho district to seo •that no injustice was done to tho Na-', fcive r owner.' ■■,-.■',■ . ; ■■.'-.

Strong Opposition from Mr. Kaihau, ; 'itr;' KAIHAU (Western Maori) said he was'not .in sympathy with tho Bill./ Before it had been introduced it,should -have boon referred to tho; Maoris and, discussed, by; them.. The Maoris, were absolutely .tired of listening'.to.thc prop'osMs introduced by the Govornmelit. Hβ was. not satisfied with tho' work of the- Muori Ltmd Board. Thu Maoris were; quite conipetent to manage their own affairs. ■ They would, oppose the •Bill. .-This was the . thin- odgo and the point of .tho .'■ spoar .by ;■ which ■ thtt' whole of, the" , Maori lauds would bo taken away. It behove the Maori members to bo particularly careful'in giving their voto bil the Bill, lest they lost';-their seats.: If. the Maoris took the matter to the Home" Government, it would decide that the House had no' right,to take away the rights , of the Maoris":to -their lands, "■ He. would oppaso tho Bill to" tho end. ■"•■'■■• ■"■■> .; RomarUsby Other Members. ' The HonV A. NGATA. sa'id that, tho danger of exploitation,'of the. Native 'owners had to ..be .obviated.'.. In -'anumber,: of' matters . Mr.'.'' Kaihau was; totally mistaken. Mr. Kaihau wanted to sep, the Native:lands.dealt, with by 'Maori •committees. ■' ."■" ■■■':■■■ ' .' ■ ' Dr.T TB RANGIHIROA (Northern Maori) thought tliero was a. tendency, fto force the freehold on the Maori" peo-' pie. .Tliis was an experiment, and if it. was to-be tried, wliy^should'it not be tried on the European- people. If .it met with -satisfaction with the Euro■pean,_ then , ; let. it be applied : - to the' iilaori. ;,: ' The Maori" had- been experimented on quite enough. ' Mr. PEARCE (Patea) said he know a good deal of the Maori,; and his. experience wont'to. show-that'th'o preseut■day.. Maori had ■. deteriorated both physically, and morally since ;ho.. had: been .sitting/still and. receiving ,, rents. .The;; Maoris, /simply'..-■ waited ; for 'six ; months for; their rents,' loafing--:'abo'iit' tho - racecourses and'the hotels. Mr. .Pearce" proceeded to criticise tho Native Land Boards at some' length. ; Tho Hon. J. CARROLL said the House had-treated his measure fairly, the criticism having been of & . reasonablc; nature." Thero was no failure on" the part of members ■to understand the line's on. which, the Native policy, proceeded, but this did not apply to the European policy.. Tho Native policy had .been- kept on clearly-defined lines. Ho. deprecated the everlasting cry about the '.Maori aristocracy. Could ' anyone ; find ten Natives out. of ' the .48,000; in. this Dominion . who' came under the graduated land, tax? ' ■Mr. Massey: "With £5000' worth of land?"- ." '.•' ' '■;,;■,' . Mr.-Carroll: "No, ,£JO,000."'• It was no argument to allege it; Maori aristo-cracy.,-Takn the AVest poast; some l .Natives received a-few shillings a year, and it was a . lucky man who received £20 a year. '■ This was the aristocrat they were, afraid of. ; . The second reading of the Bill was then agreed to, and, at 2'. a.m. the House adjourned.;

.'.. MR. KAIHATJ ELOQUENT. ' Some refreshing .ideas on. thp ideal Parliament, were expressed last evening by the Western Maori representative, Mr. Henaro Kaihau, who argued that there should' bo a. Government. party and au Opposition party, and the .Maoris should form a third party.'and :look after '.their own interests. If the Government -had any benefits to bestow on the Maori they (the Maori party) would ho there iii support. If they found that benefits were likely to arise through the; Opposition, ■ then why, asked Mr. .Kaihau blandly should they not transfer their . support . to the Opposition. . Why, Jie ''demanded; should ' they, shut themselves out from the benefits to be secured.' When the. Primo Minister got up in the House and explained anything the other .side.'rose and said it was all humbug, /and what was he to do when placed between these two stools? In concluding his remarks Mr. Kaihau promised to bestow further eloquence on the House in tho futuro I when, other Maori measures wero ■brought forward. He , assured members that ho was going to hold his peace no longer. He was at present suffering'a , burden which weighed a .thousand million' tons on his heart. (Laughter.)