THE NEED OF THE HOUR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1166, 17 June 1911, Page 7

THE NEED OF THE HOUR.

y "„ n,! p [\ nt tho Mining working farmers who hav. the bad luck *o iare started on Native lease,. Natve ml Jl th9 .™"»proTed value and 5 par cent, with a revaluation for the The Q °™rwn«t Advances Nik™ i\ De P"t»>™t will not lend on Nitije lease, so that no help can' be. ELneS taW; 1 * «& Coasted try is to be of anyuso as a farming Place we must get the freehold of a fl native lease does not. produce as much u tho freehold. Put as do all th" rerical reason* brought forward by our pre^en .omeono^hewill^^X ho takes what h» can ret 'mi m ,v These landless people Mute? re °Uh W ienure.onTy require to look down tb» advertising columns of any „ 3n ,r to *eo that their cry of 'C\,s e»M won't. Ktt any land" is f a ,s• " th.y cm not only get moro land thin skilled iarmers. Tanners, always' ret '"M/'w ttej" want one. Theland<lm who. have not had an apprenticeship .to farmmr would not bo successful S »»rea», and th« land would suffer • *'";, tko ioMers of Na'tivy i MS!S in Ut north w M t, and what the country siould demand, is that all holders of Itta leases have* the option of getting tht freehold. Wo want fh e Government to resume all Native. ]ea«o aroas, «nd put the leaseholders on occupation _wit.li right of purchase. The writer has employed (he wilv Kaiwhak-i Maori or Native interpreter o'f the north Ho beats a Philadelphia or Auckland lawyer. H« 13 mostly all charges, bill of cost, and little, or no work done. Wo have chased tho owners of Native areas to secure their signature; wo have had to pay tip to the cost of fencing the land before it was ever a Maori lease, a tenure not fit for sheep to feed on'. W* have our Native Department of taikoa Himi blocking the settlement of the north, wasting the cash of strugglng farmers in securing Native areas, a waste which is responsible for numerous cases of hardship and semi-starvaliou to the bold pioneers of Native areas. Government must do all dealings with tho Natives. Jf settlers wish to start on unproductive waste Nativo land, let Government secure the land, pay tho Natives 5 per cent, on unimproved value. They have been so pampered by successive Governments that tho best plan is now to build'a glass house for. them. They do not want to get on to their land. They don't value it, and never will mako anything runtil they have learned its value in that school of hard toil and adversity which has made Britain's rulers. The pampered people of this world must give place to those who, by patient toil through long years of hardship, game to convert tlio waste Native' lands to rich productiveness. The land is the people's and tliosc who work it are the rightful owners, and must, to make this Dominion rich, have the

right.to call the laud their own, and hare the curtain knowledge that tlicj' can leave it to those of their children who wish to bo farmers. As tho laud comes into better cultivation and produces more, tho areas of farms must decrease.

Wo want Government to eliminate Taihoa, or waif-a-whilc. Get to work now. Kccuro all Aativo arras, setllo them tiiidei freehold with working farmers or families game to go out and hack and 'chop their living out of the lama bush.

Tho present Government has been asked by tho Farmers' Union Conferences repeatedly to settle all Native land now useless to the Dominion, the Natives, and our intending settlers, and open all Native lauds to settlement. Our Government of tho last decade has borrowed heavily. We must, settle all waste lands, (,'ivo tho freehold tenure to all land workers. Thus only can we attract successful farmers with capital from other lands. Wo have a big debt to pay—Tallica won't do it. Kapai te Korero; fcakino to mahi. 0 Nga Ngati Taihoa, (Native Department). The fertile north is mostly waste land left to the blackberries, hawks, rabbits, and Californinn thistle. "iY"hilo Hirai Karo is saying Taihoa the weeds are spreading; tho national debt is increasing, and our immense areas of unoccupied Native land remain unproductive. Can the people of this Dominion not see; are they blind or ignorant? The writer has been from the Bluff to Three Kings, and all who know will verify above truths—l ani, etc., G. H. MACKENZIE. ' SHORTER ROUTE TO KARORI. Sir—lt is a truism that there- ar« generally two opinions on every matter under the sua—negative and positive. This appears in politics, iu religion, and oven in scientific questions. At first, it holds good. Zoroaster's religion consisted in the sharp line of cleavage between tht good and the evil; and in tho Christian religion wo have God and the Devil. It is not surprising, therefore, to read in your morning's paper that a deputation waited ou flu.- Karon Boroush Council last night objecting to raising the question ot a better service to Karori. What is surprising is that Keason was a long way beliind Denunciation objecting to a committee having bean set up to inquire! It was so far behind that it was difficult to quite make it out. Dismay at tho setting up of tho commitlee overshadowed it. Still, using a strong glass, one is able to discern its opinion - (1) Expenditure not to be increased. That is to say that alter a house is built no decent access should be provided to it because it will add to the cost.

(2) Karori Borough can't spend money outside its boundaries. If this is so, the deputation could have told its lady members that, especially on account of the inclement weather, they could have stayed at home, no object b:ing g»ined by attending the meeting. (3) Ihat the JS.MOO subsidy is inadequate, as over 600,000 pennies per annum will bo diverted over Kelburne; in fact, most of the traffic. This seems a good advertisement in favour cf the route, saving as it will a half-penny each trip and a quarter of an hour of time. It will, in lad, bo too popular at the expense of the longer route to which by this time ratepayers have been so accustomed that they get out and walk.

Little Keason toiliug behind Dismay nor.- became so exhausted that it was with the greatest difficulty I could make out something about a ride for 31 chains for nna penny, comparing unfavourably with a ride of 52 chains along present route for one penny. I feel it is unfair to take, advantage of its manifest weakness. We have all, however, heard of the cabby who takes his fare a long way round in order to make a charge to which, when objection is made, remarks on the length of the journey and the time it has taken as more, than equivalent.

Reason now collapsed, and was- overtaken by Indignation in the person of Mr. Dasent asking that the ratepayers be consulted before any step was taken. May I ask whether this is the same Mr. Dasent who, whsn Mayor, used both his deliberative and casting vote to block this question being 'submitted to the ratepayers? However,' the question gave the' worthy Mayor a fine opportunity for indulging in a little heroics. He and those two or three 1 councillors who think with him and enjoy a long rido round a wide circle to their homes remind mo of the old nursery rhyme, . Here we go round tho mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush; Here we go round the mulberry bush, All in a summer's morning. In conclusion, sir, I am not interested li; tho Kelburr.e-Karori Tramway Co., or Kelburne; neither am I a member of any syndicate in Karori.—l am, etc., SHORT ROUTE. A RAILWAY GRIEVANCE. Sir,—ln writing to you lam doing it for the, purpose of showing your readers how matters connected witn the management oi labour are conducted on tne West-port section of the New Zealand Railways on "this branch. They seem to havo a mania for importing men here trom Nelson, and discharging them shortly after they arrive. One glaring injustice to a surfaceman imported troin .Nelson was perpetrated the other day. This man, by. order, removed here witn his family and all his belongings, and was only on about three weeks when he was discharged, and a single man put in his place. In this case the married surfaceman's fare back to Nelson had to be subscribed by the people, who knew the particulars of tho case. Within the last twelve months .there have been six or seven cases much similar to the one above stated. I do not put the blamo on nay one man, for there are a lot of other irregularities which tho Railway Department should be, if it is not, aware of. This is recognised by statistics as being one of the uest-paying lines in the Dominion, and I think it behoves the Department to exercise their powers and make inquiries into the local management of tho maintenance branch of this section. I cannot understand how energetic heads of a Department can bo unaware of this existing state of matters. If they are, they must bo devoid of the sense of duty which they owa to the people whoso servants thoy are. In tho first place, the' line is in such a stato that' any ordinary intelligent person walking along and taking the least scrap of notice would be at a loss to understand how the enginemen do not make more complaints than they do, or go out on. strike as a protest. It has often been remarked by pcarngers on this section, that tho journey brings to their mind a vivid recollection of a°trip on the" Afahura or Mapourika. In conversation with a driver. I mentioned the state of the line to him. He acknowledged that I was right; he also remarked that the state of the metals was a big factor in reducing speed. I asked him' why he did not report it to the authorities? He replied by saying: "A do not like to, for fear of creating discord." In conclusion, I may state that I think tho Department should exercise more discretion in tho appointments they make. I do not know whether it is political induenco that put some officials where they arc, but I am sure it is not their ability. A man that can neither write, read, nor spell-well, should not be placed in a position where these accomplishments arc essential. Ihe daughter of an official should not bo allowed in her capacity as secretary to her illiterate father to know matters which are not public property, and when lie is awaj to another district write "plen?o explains to the employees of tho Railway. Department, over whom sho has no official jurisdiction. Thanking you »" "^V^XI?"- - I nm, etc., DLS&uSTM). AVestport, June 2. "UNDER A LIBERAL GOVERNMENT." Sir,—Mr. A. 11. Cooper, secretary to the Butchers' Union, has taken up his pen to protest against the administration of (lie Government labour Department. In the course of his remarks (in your issue of June 8) he says:—"l think it nearly time the workers of the Dominion realised how they are being hoodwinked by the so-called Liberal-Labour Government'." With your permission I would hang a few remarks on this corner of Mr. Cooper's letter.

In the first place, I would ask: Who«« fault is it that the workers do not realise how they are being hoodwinked? And I will answer the question by saying it is the fault of the parly Mr. Cooper belongs to. He should know that every Government holds offico for the

purpose of having a good time till it gel's kicked out. For twenty years tho trades union secretaries have had tho management of labour affairs, and what is the result? their record is a parody on labour, and now they are reduced to the expedient of doing an occasional haka in order to intimidate, the Minister for Labour into doing his duty. And talkin;; of hoodwinking, it is only a week or two since the Secretary Party made a presentation to Mr. Tregcar as a tribute to tho administration of his Department. As part of a secretary's stock-in-trade, abuse of the Department is played out. No spirited union, though it may (ridicule it, troubles about attacking the Department nowadays. After twenty years wasted in conferences, deputations, suppers, and place-hunting on (he part of our prrss-dubbed "Labour leaders" it has been left for the shearers and miners to take up the running. Some of the unions are in a scandalous condition owing to neglect by their secretaries "who, instead of attending to their duties, spend tho time in pushing their own interests and hunting for notoriety. Such persons are exploiters of tho worst kind. The doctrine of Mr. Cooper's party is "go for sixpence rise in wages, and put your secretaries into Parliament."

As a political force the Trades Councils may be said to have gone "bung." Ihera is one redeeming course still left them, and that is, not to play dog-in-the-manger. Mr. Cooper's letter is most humorous in view of the hoodwinking his haka-dancing friend is mixed up with in connection with the Labour Department. If he is not acriuaintcd with tho facts he probably will be enlightened when Parliament' opens.—l am, etc.,

A. B. ADAMS. June 10, 1911,