NATIVE LANDS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 286, 27 August 1920, Page 8

NATIVE LANDS

PRESENT POLICY DISCUSSED

THE MAORI AS A FARMER

The policy of the Dominion in relation to Maori landß was Btrongly condemned by Mr. W. D. Lysnar (Gisborne) in the House yesterday. Mr. Lysnar said that the' policy of retaining the Native land in an undeveloped state or placing it under the control of Native trusts was not in the interests of tho Maori or the Dominion. The Maori got scarcely anything out of the- land, and the country generally suffered a loss. A block of iOO,OOO acres close to Gisborne was worth about ',£500,000, and had been in tho hands of a Native trust for twenty-seven years. The Maori owners during that period had received about .£4OOO by way of income, and the Government had lost an enormous amount of land tax. He believed tho proper course would be to require the Maoris to pay both land tax and income tax. It would be a good thing for the Natives and for the country to say that Maoris 'should not foe allowed to sit idle on productive land. Mr.- V. H. Heed (Bay ,of Islands) advocated placing the'Maons on the same . footing as Europeans in regard to land. The country and the Maoris would have benefited if twenty or thirty yeare ago tho Government had set'itsc-lf to individualise tho Maori land titles, teach the Maoris to bo farmers, and give each Maori full control of his own section. The present policy achieved nothing. It did not mako fanners of the Natives, and did not make the Native land productivn. Dr. Fomare said that some honourable members must have very short memories. Several million acres of Native land had been confiscated in the 'sixties because some of the Maori owners were alleged . to be rebels.. The whole of the South Island, except the northern portion, had been bought for ,£2OOO. Now white men were after tho rest of the Native land because the Maori, they asserted, was not an emcient farmer. What was an efficient farmer? Was it a. man who knew enough to farm tho farmer? (Laughter.) The pakeha was after money; money was his god, and the man who made money was tho good farmer. The pakeha had had the education of the Maori, and now he complained that the Maori was not a good farmer, and therefore should be deprived of the remnant of his land. A X'hinnnian'could get more out of an acre \>f lanU than a European. Was that a reason why the pakeha should give up. his land to tho Chinaman? The Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald (Bay of Plenty) denied that Mr., Lysnar had represented • the position correctly as far as 'the East Coast Native lands were concerned. The Maori was not liable, to land tax because the-average share was very small indeed. The Maori land question did not require, to solved. It Had been solved already, since the remnant of land held by tho Maoris was no more than thev required for their -own use. The Native trusts-had convertf unimproved land into valuable properties. PRESUMPTIOWURYIVORSHIP AN ILLUSTRATION FROM LORD KITCHENER'S DEATH. The Presumption of Survivorship Bill,' the second reading of which was moved by the Hon. J. MacGregor in the Legislative Council yesterday, contains n single operative clause worded as follows! "In all cases where two or more persons have died in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived, tho deaths shall for all purposes affecting the title to any property be assumed to have taken place in order of semoriy. and the younger be presumed to have survived the elder." To illustrate the point of the measure,' Mr. MacGregor referred to the death of Lord Kitchener, and the latter's private secretary (Mr. Fitzgerald). It was found after Iho,tragedy, lie said, that under tho will of Lord Kitchener Mr. Fitzgerald would have been entitled, if he had survived the general, to a considerable sum of money. As, however, there was no evidence of any kind to show which oi the two survived the other, the bequest was of no effect. If, on the other hand, there had been any evidence at all to 6how that Mr. Fitzgerald survived Lord Kitchener for a single, minute, the bequest would have taken full effect. Tho case was mentioned to show the need for some rule -in 6uch .circumstances. Taking the particular case mentioned and applying it to the purposes of a different argument, the Hon. O. Samuel said that the effect of there being no provision such as Mr. MacGregor proposedl was that the money remained in Lord Kitchener's family, where probably it ought to have remained. Mr. Snmuel did not, however, claim ytat there was ! no necessity for some legislation on the, subject. He merely considered the illustration unfortunate. Sir Francis Bell 'asked the Council'to v adjouru the debate 60 that he might look into the matter on behalf of the Government. . ■ ■ .; . Tho debate was accordingly adjourned till Wednesday next. THE POTATO EMBARGO A statement in respect to the potato embargo was made to the Houso by the Minister of Agriculture yesterday, in reply to a question by Mr. D. Jone6. Tho Minister was asked whether ho had any more information about tho embargo, and whether in the event of tho embargo being lifted ho would arrange that shipping space- should 'bo availablo for the carriage of potatoes to Australia on account' of the producers as well as on account of niiddloiiien. Mr. Nosworthy said that the Prime Minister hud received a cablegram from Mr. Hughes stating that tho Commonwealth Government was prepared to send an export over to this country to inspect tho potatoes offering for export, and that if he should be satisfied that tho potatoes were free- from blight, a certain quantity of New Zealand potatoes might be imported into' New South Wales. He understood that tho Australian delegate was coming, and Mr. Massry had cabled to agree with tho arrangement. As to tho question regarding shipping space, he would be pleased to make inquiries and to do anything that was possible. IBPORTANTWLLS PASSED The Upper.Houso yesterday passed the Qrimes Amendment Bill, which gives prisoners the right to appeal against sen fences of the Supreme Court, and extends the functions of the Prisons Board. The Council, also passed the Arms Bill, which imposes restrictions upon the sale and possession of weapons. Both Bills originated in the Lower Houso.