ON THE EAST COAST

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 127, 22 February 1921, Page 5

ON THE EAST COAST

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ON TOUR THE NATIVE LAND QUESTION (By Telarranh—Snecial Corresnondent.) Tokomaru Bay, February 21. The Parliamentary party commenced the return journey from Waiomatatini this morning. They were loath to leave the Hon. A. T. Ngata. and his people, and the generous, warm-hearted pakehas who had gathered from many square miles to welcome them. The travellers had been billeted for the night at the surrounding homesteads and tho Native settlement, where kindnesses were showered upon them. Mr. George Kirk, who has the distinction of being chairman both of the Waiapu County Council and the newly-formed Matakaoa County Council, was associated with Air. K. S. Williams and Air. Ngata in the capacity of our official hosts. f After a splendid night’s rest, which, owing to the many long days of travel during the week, was necessary to remove fatigue, the visitors gathered tit tho .macro or (meeting-house, where formal speeches of welcome were delivered by the chiefs, and after this function good-byes were said to these fine, light-hearted and open-handed Maoris, and tho cars set out for Waipiro Bay. This beauty spot had not been passed through on tho journey northward, the main road passing some three miles inland. The visitors lunched at Waipiro Bay, where Air. AV. Oryan extended a welcome, and paid a high tribute to Mr. K. S. Williams by saying that they were quite content to leave all their wants in his hands. He spoke of the spirit of good will existing between pakehas and Alaoris on tho coast, and of the fact that the Europeans had no desire to see tho Natives denuded of their land, but wished to see them properly settled on it. Hirini AVaipapa spoke for the local Natives, and Air. E. Kellett replied on behalf of tho visitors. He pointed, out how necessary it was for city M.P.’s to see tho requirements of the -country, particularly to obtain first-hand information on the Native land! question. Referring generally to tho developments now proceeding, ho said they were doing what had been cToncrfn The South Island 40 or 50 years ago. He had. been greatly impressed with what he had learneci about the manner in which- tho earlier pioneers had assisted the: Alaoris financially without legal security, and added that everyone ~nii<l been impressed with the great respect which tho Williams family possessed! among tire Maoris. While at Waipiro Bay the visitors saw some of the transport troubles of the bay. A steamer pulled in- and sent in her launch as lighter. This did not come to a jetty, but to a wagon which pulled into some 3ft. of water. This is the ordinary means of landing and loading cargo from Waipiro. All tho wool of the dlistricf is sent away by this method, which of course, is slow and costly. However, the local people had no request for a jetty, the: one and everrecurring request here and everywhere else along tho coast being for roads and bridges. Resuming tho journey,, the string of cars, which are so highly powered and so skilfully bandied that they can go almost anywhere, climbed tho long hill out of tho bay, and again reached the main road ■at Te Pitia. Tho Waiapu County Hospital, standing isolated in a vast expanse! of station country, was inspected, and at the same time a visit was paid tn the Government bathhouse near by. Tho hot mineral waters of tho baths are reported to Iravo high medicinal properties, and formerly were used by many invalids. The accommodation house was burned down some time ago, however, and! although .€2500 is on the: Estimates for a new building the work has not yet been commenced. From Te Puia tho visitors went to Puketiti, Air. A. B. Williams’s beautiful homestead, which lies a few miles up a valley that is almost knee-deep in grass Here they enjoyed a most pleasant hour or two. The view from the house =n superb, but some members climbed a high pinnacle behind if. and were richly rewarded. Dinner at Tokomaru Bay. Tho night was spent at Tokomaru Bay, where a -dinner was given in honour of tho visitors. Mr, K. S. Williams said it was not the purpose of the local Al.P.’s to try by this four to get more than their ..share of expenditure for the district. They wanted southern members to see their needs, so that they might know what were -sound; and fail- requests, and he could assure them they would mike no requests which were not sound and fair. It was also thought that as a result oi the tour the question of Native land and taxes would be <ut on a better basis. They had seen successful farming by Natives. He urged the consolidation of-interests -and the giving of a fair opportunity to each Native to farm his own bind. Not every Maori would make a successful pastoralist, and those who did nor. succeed would have to be dealt with in some other way. The visitors, he thought, had been impressed with the country and with the fact that the people had been attempting to help themselves. This portion' of the Dominion had contributed a large sum to the public purse annually, and this had mainly been expended on roads and railways elsewhere. They did not want the railway lost sight of, 'but at present their chief request was for assistance in. respect to roads and bridges. He would like to thank the people of the Bay of Plenty for their kind and whole-hearted co-operation. Referring to the Te Puia hot springs, he said they hoped' that the erection of the accommodation house would! be pushed on without delay, so that the beneficial effects of the waters might be made available to the public. As Air. Williams to-morrow will surrender the position of official host to Air. Lysnar in Gisborne, all the members referred to the great succeas of the tour and his fine organisation. Air. Veitch said ho had displayed the qualities of a statesman, the (patience of Job, and the instincts of a gentleman, Maori Land Question. Various aspects of tho Alaori land question were placed before tho touring Al.P.’s to-day -at Waiomatatini. Neho Kopuka said that as a young man he had heard tho Queen say, "Preserve my Alaori people,” and from this utterance drew the inference that the visit of Al.P.’s was in performance of that expression. Ho added an appeal to "uplift the pestilence" from thoir lands, alluding, of course, to proclamations. Air. R. Masters (Stratford), who was about to leave; the party for his home, said lie hoped that the development of the Native lands would be largely done by the Maoris themselves. (Applause.) Sir James Carroll, in a fine spefech to the .Maoris, said: "Don’t always think you are doing well. It is good to I>° humble-minded occasionally. You have responsibilities to future generations i Preserve tho land which has been handed down to you. Make friends with t'he pakeha. Conciliation is always the best policy. Help the pakeha. ami the pakoha will help you in developing your fine district. If it can be done, consolidate your interests so that each family inav own its own particular portion. I do believe there is a greater day coming for the Maori people in this district, be patient and be united.” Pene Hayes mentioned that the AVilliams family had enabled jlie local Maoris to start farming their land by lending them without legal security. He complained that under tho present system Government proclamations were cw’.-mrh'd from year to year. t Ho considered it would ho much lietter if the whole aS the owners ware asked to de-

cide whether they would sell rather than going to individuals. Mr. Ngata, senior, complained that tho Native Land Council system was too slow and inconclusive. As to tho complaint that some Native land was being neglected, he said that this was inevitable when blocks were not individualised. Farming on Communal System. The Hon. A. T. Ngata dealt in some detail with the question. He explained the difficulty in regard to community ownership. In the Tikitiki Block nearly 700 to 800 people were interested. If each man were interested in one block only, the problem would be easier, but many were part-owners of a number of blocks. Even if each interest were individualised, the security for finance in these scattered interests was negligible. He explained how the coming of the white man had started Native operations. 'The charges for Government surveys had to be met, and this was tho real beginning of Maori farming. At present 70,000 acres were being farmed under the communal system, a committee being in control. Ho referred in warm terms to the financial assistance they had received from the Williams family and Mr. George Kirk. The system of farming lands on the communal system had proved cumbersome. The younger men becanye impatient with the frequent meetings of controlling committees, and in 1905 they demanded the right to farm for themselves individually. It was impossible to get the matter of titles fixed up, but they were able to ngreo to tho leanest of tho young men by granting them leases which had been registered. An area of 44,000 acres was now being farmed by individual Natives on this system, and a very largo area was being farmed by the owners, who had floatwl a kind of limited liability remnany. This was the position to-day. They held to this because they were nnt ready to go on to the next stage, which was individual farming by individual owners. One factor was that this would break up tho system of village life. Between Jerusalem ,and Waipiro there wore nineteen blocks, and they hail decided to diride this land into twentyeight family holdings. This was the best system they could devise. If a family failed to ’agree, and work, nothing more could be done. Referring to tho proclamation system, he showed how proclamations had been imposed upon blocks, tho former leases of which to Europeans had expired. These areas had gone back inevitably because tho lands could not be financed. Dealing with l tho claim that Native lands -should pay graduated land tax, he asked if it would be fair. One block, Reparoa, was valued at -£38,000, but it had three hundred owners. A laud company was In a different position. Land represented the surplus money of its shareholders. With the Natives it was not surplus capital, but all their capital, and a graduated tax would tax them out of existence. He produced the books of tho Roporua block, showing that though the total dividend■ distributed for the last few years was about A'400(), the individuals received small amounts, ranging from .£2OO .to Bs. 7d. Before him he ’had counted forty-eight young n ] p n on farms on their own, and Air. M illiams would admit that some of them were as good farmers as any on the coast. They knew the pastoral game from A to Z. (Hear. Hear.) As to the system of puttimr the young men on separate farms he •said that it was necessary Unit two.-sr three should be neighbours. If a Native wore a neighbour of a pakeha, he would not worry about the European being a better farmer, but when Natives were placed alongside one another Ihe spirit of rivalry would help each.

Several members of the touring party spoke in grateful appreciation of the hospitality they had received.