NATIVE LAND.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1586, 1 November 1912, Page 6

NATIVE LAND.

NOT A POLICY. MEASURE. ■ ,/..■ BUT ONE Ot IMPORTANCE.; . .The Hon. \f. H. HEEBIES "moved that the Native Land Amendment Bill be committed. Ho sfiid that he' did not intend .to, deal with-'rNatiye land policy! in general until next session. This Bill had been gone, through very carefully by the Native Affairs Committee. It represented the wisdom;.(of : the' tohungas of the. Housed :■■ .'"v.- ' '.'■'. ' ". ■ '-'■' - . ■Mγ.-Wilford: 'When.do you propose to laiseihe salaries of the Native Land Court judges?. : . :■.-. . Mr. .Hemes: That is a matter that can bo': discussed on the . Estimates. The honourable gentleman wjll ,find when he gets the Supplementary .Estimates that some of the salaries have •'been : raised now. He went on io explain the Bill in detail. He said that one. clause, in the Bill proposed for certain, purposes to change a Maori' into a 'European. It allowed a Native to go to the Native Land Court, and if ho, could satisfy the Court that he .was competent to manage his affairs, he would be given authority under the law to do so. '■'Mr. Wilford: They i will shed their property if they do. : . Mr! Herriea said this would be no great calamity. The Maoris would still be in a position to make their living,, as:'did. Europeans who were not oa the laid. . The clause would apply, to a very large class of' Natives who were quite fit to conduct their business with Hundreds of Maoris we're quite equal . to the average European. . ' Sir is. Sceptical. The Hon: Sir JAMES CARROLL : (Gis- ■ borne) said it seemed to him to be.the aim of the Minister to put the Maoris on the same footing as pakehas, but there were impediments, to, such a .scheme. He was sceptical as to .whether it- would be in tile interests,of/Maoris:;to become as ■Europeans. > Every , , effort ■ should, be, made to encpurage-arid help-the'Maori, asaEutopean settler was helped'.fiiiancially to develop; and work Ihis land and so become a /producer. Ho would ■asksthe Minister to. consider this phaseof the'Nativo problem: :■.-If "the .Native were given equal facilities with-.tho; pakeha.then, no claim could be justly or validly made in opposition to Maoris. He commended .the' Minister and the Committee on'having applied themseives thoroughly to the -study of the Bill, and on having safe-guarded the interests of the Natives. ' ■ : Mr. T. M. ,WILFORD (Hutt) said he hoped the Minister would.make it clear that the Bill would not be retrospective in its operation! The power to be given to Natives to deal witti their,lands would result, ■he feared, in NJieir parting with all their lands. The Bill as a whole was probablyinot regarded as likely to settle the Native problem; it was intended merely to remedy abuses which -had crojped.up. ■ ':• ' ' ' . Cheap Money for'the Maori. ..Dr. TE RANGIHIROA (Northern Maori) said the Bill had been carefully considered by ' the Native Affairs Committee, and he' did not propose to obstruct its passage, although lie did not altogether like the Bill." It was not, however, a policy measure, its object being' merely to make the machinery of the 19(W Act.run more smoothly. He was.a little doubtful about the T.ropisnl tn niako Maori? equal with pakehas under the law. but nfter all it would rest with the . Natives themselves as to whefliPr they would avail, themselves of it. Tin Iwmed that when the Minister brought down a policy Bill he would mnke provision in it wherebv. the Governnient would endeavour to give to .Maoris the pdvantagp of cheap money and practical instruction and pdncntion in faTtnitig,N?o. that they might use themselves the remnants nf. their land. . If a Mnori hadmorp thiiii he could use. by all lrean? let it bo thrown onen to closer .'otHpmnnt. but t-loser settlement should be for the Mjiori first of al). The Hon. T)r.. POMARE/sftid time, wns when the Maojii the p"akeha, nofe thihi' fit chanted-■ Mr. <V. VI. Thomson: Be disagreed .with you, (liidfi't.he?- . ' .- ... Dr.. Pomaw: Yes, disngress with us yet in a different wav—when he wants onr land. He hoped if would be loti!? before the 'Maoris would be totally absorbed by the Euronean, but this "must )* the inevitable fate of the Maori. For tho present Hip Maoris were under strange ilishbilittas niuler the law, and tin* Bill would •jivo tliope who wei - e fit to exercise theiv leeal ritthts their, opportunity to emannirate themselves. He dec'larWl that the House, and the leprislation it had passed, had for<«d S{aoris. into the jiofitioti of 'bcvni? landlord*. He would not mind paring land tax if he'ircr* firen the same risMft sa BJk«ißs.ea%e4, - •'

Putting on More Patches. .Mr. C. K. WILSON (Tauniamnni) enid tho Naiive in this country reminded him ot wi old bicycle tiro—patched fom end to end. And now it whs propositi by tho Hill to ndd a few more patches. Tho legislation hod no doubt -been passed to help tho Native peoplo, but it bad in fact done them a great wrong; They wero prevented from taking up Ilia respousibilitins'of citizenship which they wero nnximis to take' up. So tho ikico was in danger of desolation, and it should bi';tlio duty of Parliament to preserve the reminmt; ol tho Native face. A very gross injustice had been done to tho country ii connection-with Nntivo townships. Tho .Treaty of Waitaugi gave the Natives tho right to soil theii , lands, but although double and treble tho Government valuation had been offered to the Maori owners of township hinds tho board had,refused to allow the snlo. Dr. To liniigihiroa: Not ji word in the Bill about townships. Mr. 'Wilson: I know tliero'ie not, but there should be. Ho went on to contend that tho refusal to authorise, the' , -gale of Native township lands hampered both the European residents and the Native owners, who at present only got a pittanco of rent for their lands. -■ 'Mr. J. A. YOUNG (Waikato) said tho Bill was important in that it went a;step towards assisting the Maori to progress, ahd to exercise the samo rights and privileges as the palceha. Ho commended tho Minister for tho Bill; and he hoped it •was only the forerunner of other useful legislation concerning, tho Native ques-' Hon. . ' ■■'■■•. The House went into committee on the Bill at 0.50 a.m. There were at.that time eleven members in tho House.. ■. The Bill went through committee without debate. .. Speech by the Minister; ■' , Tho Hon. Yf. H. HERBIES, moving the third reading, replied to criticisms made on the second reading debate. He.said he would oppose strenuously all confiscatory proposals regarding Native land. What he hoped to do was to preserve the balance evenly between the two races. He was very glad , to hear from the member for Northern Maori that he approved of this Bill becausa there was no,.cpmpulsion in it. In future Bills also, he would try to avoid compulsion. Tho honourable member would agree, however, that compulsion was necessary in some partial- ■ lars; there must be compulsory .partition, and compulsory succession orders. He thanked honourable members for tho reception they had given. to,the Bill. The rating question was not concerned , iii the Bill. It was not. a rating Bill but a Native land Bill. But when the Europeanising clauses, were in operation the rating question'would soon be a thing of the past. His idea was that Euroneanising would encourage all j'oung Maoris to become educated. -It would give .them something to look forward■ to .which they had not now. The end of Native legislation was the mingling of the,-two /races and he believed that the foundation of this work-had, been livid that/evening. \ ■ '..:' TOWN BOARDS?" ■• ■ The' Hon. W..H.' HERRlES'm ; bved.the second reading of the Town Boards Amendments Bill; .He said'.thaf.'it'gave the "'Minister-- for : Internal'"Affairs' power to/set: up i a'commission to . deal : with objectors to . the constitution' of- a town board.' It. dealt also with'-, the .merging of town board areas which became incorporated in the territory of other local Mr- *G. W. RTJSSELL (Avon) said that a scientific: system of local Government would do away with the need for town districts. He '.hoped that- the'. Government v;ould bring down a Local Government Bill next'session and' iidopt the sj-stem of-having only-one-local body in eabh district. . • •• ':■'■" , ... Mr. HEBRIES said that piiljt:a Govern,men,t. tfith a majority of about fifty, could, abolish the,small local bodies! . '' Mr. Witty: And then you could not do. it- ' ' ; ■ ■ , .' 3[r. Russpll: Til* question-is that , it is the rig Jit thintr. to do? . .... , Mr. HERRIES said., that sometimes it was' not possible to get others.to. agree, as to what was the right thing to 'do. The Government, intended to deal ,with Local Government-next session. . .''■', The second reading was agreed to. PUBLIC DOMAINS. . / . The Public Reserves and Domains Amendment Bill, which enables, small domain boards to purchase additional land oh terms was ahbread a second titiie. OTHER BILLS. The Hon. R. H. RHODES'.moved the second reading; of the' Ellesmere Lands Drainage Amendment Bill, : the , main' vision of which was to add. a section to the endowment of the Ellesmere Lands Drainage Board on the fringe of Ahiiriri Lagoon. ■ The Bill was read a second time on the voices. ' ' . ... .. •'• - ■'■-■ '■ . The Hon. F. M. B. FISHER. (Minister for. Marine) moved. tli6 second reading of tho Westport Harbour Amendment \ Bill. The reason for tho Bill, ho said, was that the board had hitherto been a nominative body, and the Bill < had j been brought down in response to tho .wishes of tho cijiwns that they should, be allowed to elect their owji local harbour' board. ' ■ ■ ■ ,- The,'Bill was read, a-second time on the voices. ; '" v , ']'■..- THE LOAN 81LL. ;.'.. . I The Aid • fav Public .- Works! .and Land Settlement Bill was introduced by Governor's message, and read a. first time. •In reply to .Mr. G. _W. ,-Russell, the Minister for Finance said it! was proposed under the Bill to empower, the Government to raise the loan of .£1,750,'000 forecasted in tho Budget. . ,■. ... The House rose at 1.50 a.mi '