MAORI LANDLORDISM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1801, 14 July 1913, Page 4

MAORI LANDLORDISM.

, Ltfß -IJf THE TAEANAKI BACKblocks, A STEIKING REVIEW. ' SETTLERS. BLED BY IDLE NATIVES. Rural conditions in the back-blocks of Taranakf are vividly described in the folwwing letter from Mr. C. Gray, of Motunui, Waihi, in Northern Taranaki:— , Although there aro .many questions ■_ affecting _ the- physical and economic, conditions of the 'general ', life of the farmer, it does not rlquire any- extraordinary powers of reasoning, and only a. small amount of practical experience to know that, after giving- every man the freehold of his home.jthe ji<iramou,nt requirements of the settler are good roads, together with cheap money" easily .procurable. By roads I do not mean the familiar type of mud tracks'' which haro served the dual purpose of road and water canal in this part of Tfliranaki for the past quarter of a century or more, but roads well formed ' and metalled. The settler wants, and as a producer of about 20 per cent of tho country's _ requirements, has a right to expect, fair treatment in easy transit for his for himself and his family tor the markets.; It is absolutely impossible to "describe the deplorable condi- ■ tionsiitnder; which many of;,the pioneers of th'ei vcouritry have .to live'in the heart of tlie'ibush, when years ago they took up land under .promise of good .roads, by the Government. ' ■ How have these promises been ;,kept.?..,-In many cases-'by the formation:' of a four or 6ix ; foot' track often for . which luxury, a special rate has. i been levied on the unfortunate settler. It is on* record that men have tied and. . blindfolded'itheir. wives on' horseback be- " fore they-icould', venture-round,-many of. the'pr&ipic&' oh their way to their sections, trusting to the horse to carry them through safely. .. Women have come out of tho bush to civilisation, after years of solitude to die of broken hearts when the time came for .returning. Prospective mothers, heroines of the busli,- have -sacrificed their lives and that of their littlo ' ones, because the roads were impassable either for egress to or ingress of medical attention. Many fine young women have paid toll with their lives"tothe inane desire to build lip 'cities of grandeur at the expense of. the drying necessities of the country, and to keep a fossilised staff of Government , officials ; arid/'inspectors, . many of whom are of no use to the country. ■- '■■' - Capable Teachers. 1.--The schools in my district are all presided over by capable teachers. In many of them I understand theoretical farming is taught, object lessons in'milk- , testing given, and in their little garden root crops are grown. •In most cases however, the children perforce frbni neces-' sity assist their parents on the' farm to a certain extent in any spare time they may have between school hours. Thus their early practical" training at home makes them "thoroughly- conversant with all the'tranches of farm life from their youth up. Farming Hj school books and farming pfactiwilly aro totally different., 'Ninety per cent.' of '.book-trained farmers, unless, backed by plenty of ..capital, will almost invariably . prove a failure, while the practical man with lanil at a fair price, with steady sijid ordinary decent luck, will.succeed nearly, every time. '■ ,■ . .. 2.—ln many cases farmers do not get an adequate return for their produce. Unjiko tho merchant or general retailer, he cannot, except in exceptional- circumstances,fix his own prices 'or hold on until''lie g:ets it. -The prices for the larger lines of export goods are: practically fixed ■by the Home brokers.. The farmer is very much the victim of .circumstances in this respect. AtVoertam times of the year he is compelled'to sell his surplus stock, and usually take 3 pot-luck at the-nearest saleyards. If the market happpina to be good, so nvuch the better; if bad, he usually has to Tenew his bills for a subsequent date. There is practically only one meat- ; buyer besides the local butchers in this end of Taranaki, and no farmer will agree that this condition of things is entirely satisfactory.- Competition' in trade is 'always good-, provided it i.i not carried to excess. Most of the butter factories arc - run on co-operative lines. The system is giving every satisfaction, biit' apart from that the small farmer simply will not co-operate to pnrohase his requirements, hence the middlemen get the profits. 3.—As I have already stated, this district does not receive just treatment .'in roads, and railways are luxuries too dimly remote to even r>» considered. Forty or fifty miles from Waitara—a town of considerable importance on' the Hokau River —thero are .large, coal areas not half developed, ' Water 'transit is used when, the state of the rivers permit, and as a Tesult periodical coal famines are experienced in the town. I—At present this district is well provided for by postal and telephone service. The service was only inaugurated last year, and is working satisfactorily. Farmers and Shows. 5.—1 do not know that" farmers in general gain any great material benefit from the holding of agricultural shows. Most of them get up about two hours earlier, milk from ten to fifteen cows,drive into town, attend the show, pass their opinions on the judgment of the judges, comparo prizo stock with, their own, usually "to' the former's detriment, return home tired out, and repeat the morning's performance in the cowshed. , fi.—Most faririeK, so far, as this district is concomed. 1 believe, regard tho Department of ■ Agriculture as a gigantic wbito elephant.' At tho' lato New -Plymouth winter' show, whon tho show was worked in connection with tho Agricitl- , tural Societv, ci.o Department did not hn.ve any display of. production. from their various .'firms, oven though New Plymouth is the centre of a large dairying district. .-'' At Hawera, where the show, I understand,'is run .as a proprie- ' tary concern, Ithe-Department showed up < in full force. 1' Why the rine was' patrnni ised ami the other ignored no ono seems to know. Give the average farmer an : unlimited bankimr account an adeem ate

supply of skilled labour, and up-to-date plant, as is enjoyed by the Department, and I venture to say ho will acquit himself equally as well. In fact, as it is, hundreds of them aro doing much better in comparison; any fool farmer can run into debt. Government veterinarie3 thore aro in the province, but it is only as a special favour that advice can be obtained, ■ and to get practical aid is next to impossible. 7.—As thero is no organised system of co-operation, farmers and their wives have no protection in making their purchases. ■ They have to pay their twenty and thirty -per cent., and look as pleasant as possible. For their'own produce they have to take what is offered them.

Banking Difficulties,

B.—Are the renters of fawns in my distriot making a satisfactory living in return for their invested capital, energy, intelligence, and labour? I say emphatically, No, they arc not. Considering that every available hand in the establishment is pressed into service' to malco a living out of tho farm, working anything from 12 to 16 hours a day, there is no other occupation, considering the money invested, that produces so small profits. -The farmer, as any banker will tell you, is chronically hard up. No other, ;tradesman is forced .to push tho whole of his family into service to keep the pot boiling. It is well known that bankers and money-lenders are chary at advancing money to leaseholders, and for the purchase of stock and general development ot tho land money must be got. I have known a banker quibble over a temporary .£25 loan to o. standing, cus-tomer,-even although the borrower could give security of between .£SOO and i£6oo; and then bankets expect to do business with the general public. If their institution is on. tho verge of bankruptcy they turn to the country for their support, which thoy themselves Tefuse to give. The auctioneer, even with-his 8, 10, and 12 per cent., is ait tho present time tho farmers' best friend, and many a struggling farmer has cause to be grateful to; him for holpinf, him over ft temporary hurdle. ' 9.—The supply of farm labour in our district is not-satisfactory. First of all, it is hard to get qnd just as hardi to lcoep. There is plenty .of tho Native,aristocracy loafing about, but as a workman, except in exceptional cases, he is a rara-avis. To ask "them to work is an insult—to milk cows an indignity, and it is only as a special favour, especially when ho i$ hard up, and-at an exorbitant rate of pay, that they-will do anything ut : all. There are," many half-castes who are a fine, diligent, hard-working people, and capable farmers. Tho conditions surrounding country life, especially in a dairying country, are not conducive to the attraction of young men from the pleasure of the city. The working hours are abnormally large,' by reason of tho requirements of early and late milking, and not being n piece of mechanism, or having a direct interest in the farm, a season or two soon sickens him of the toil. The accommodation is usually'good, in fact, the employee is generally treated as one of tho family. The wages, although not consistent with the number of hours worked, as compared to town pay, are usually' as much, if not. more, than tho employer can afford, and I doubt if the employee at the end of the year is not the best off, and without the attending ' responsibility. In my opinion, thero is little to make country life attractive to tho ordinary single town labourer. ' In tho height of ..tlie milking seas6n there'is absolutely no time for social pleasures—eat, work, and sleep, the daily routine. Two hours rest in tho middle of tho day would not bo a bad scheme, to apply to tho case of an employee who is expected to make himself generally useful during the six : teen hours of daylight. , Higher Rents to the Maoris. 11.—In my judgmont, the all-important single thing for the betterment of this district in particular is the freehold of the land. In general, good roading would, as'l said before, minimiso the hardships of the settler. Tho populating _of the practically idle Native lands in this vicinity would benefit the district enormously. Hundreds of acres of land are available if administered under tlio Land for Settlements Act. The rating <f the Native land is an urgent necessity. At present, besides keeping the spoon-fed Maori in lordly affluence, that aristocratic gentleman daily :uses the metalled roads so generously provided for his motor-car by tho sweat of the settlor and his family, and pays nothing towards the rates of the country. ,How long the tax-burdened and rent-racked white man is going to suffer the indignity of Maori landlordism, with its attending degradation, without rising up and forcibly throwing off the burden, I do not know, but tho day will have to come. Recently rents have been raised from 25 per cent, to about 200 per cent, in this district by the Public Trustee, and for what? Because the white man, in his desire to make a home for his wife and his family, was fool enough to improve a wretched wilderness into a garden of production, for the benefit of the idle Maori—to provide, by his industry and labour, more beer and tobacco for his semi-savage landlord and his worthy spouse. Bah! It is sickening! But the detestable fact is, wo will shortly be called upon to pay tho advance. Telephonic communication is absolutely essential wlie.ro there is settlement—a wire lias saved many a life. Resident nurses are an urgent* need whero thero is no medical officer. Those who aro in the district aro doing splendid work. Schools are necessary, both primary and secondary, and to make the country the better able to stand the strain of tho million loans we are borrowing, wo must have cheap money whorewith to improve tho country's greatest assets. Architectural grandeur in tho cities may be resplendent' to look upon, I but a thousand edifices would not feed one starving man.