UREWERA COUNTRY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 131, 26 February 1921, Page 8

UREWERA COUNTRY

LOCKED-UP NATIVE LANDS MR. J. P. LUKE’S VIEWS SURVEY OF PARLIAMENTARY TOUR Interviewed regarding the tour of the Urewera Country and the Bast Coast by the Parliamentary party, Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P., said that from tho starting point at Rotorua until they reached Poverty Bay, the trip was packed with interest, and he was sure that all who participated in the tour had learned a great deal more of tho country than they ever could possibly know- without going over tho ground. They had all been struck by the immense possibilities that existed in the districts visited for settling a very large population. There were immense areas of fertile land in the Urewera Country, which were waiting for the hand of the settler to make fruitful, and a great portion’of the mare mountainous country was so good that it would carry 1J sheep to the acre. One of the chief features of the trip, said Mr. Luke, was the visualising of the fine areas of pumice land which had been planted by the Government during the last 20 years. The public were hardly aware that in nine years’ time utility timber would be cut from some of these areas—in nine years’ time it would be a sound proposition to cut and market quantities of the timber, and thereafter, annual cutting could continue alongside annual planting. In a word, the affores'.’ation of these lands would soon be yielding annual and continuous jesults. Generally, r'he timber was the Douglas fir (Oregon pine), which was quick growing and reached maturity in about thirty years. These areas had been supplied in most instances from t'he big nursery at Whakarewarewa. The best: results had been obtained on the big Kaingaroa Plains, which were all pumice lands that were going to yield big results. It was a disputed point as yet as to whether such lands .were adaptable to ordinary farming. Some authorities maintained that the great expense incurred in fertilising the land would not justify itself, but others competent to express an opinion said that the land did offer inducements for profitable farming on scientific linesIf close farming war a debatable point, there was no doubt about the possibilities for timber-growing that existed. Vast Scope for Development.

The party were received with the most lavish hospitality everywhere, said Mr. Luke. They traversed I'hc electorates of Messrs. Hockly, Williams, Ngata, and Lysnar, and the committees in each case had left no stone unturned to make the visit enjoyable, and their efforts were much appreciated. Coming through the Urewera Country it was interesting and instructive to see how modern farming compared with that of the Maoris in their primitive state, and to realise what vast scope existed for development. The greatest needs of the East Coast lands were harbours, roads, and railways. His own opinion wan that the most pressing needs of tho lands back from the coast were good, substantial roads, and for the coastal lands, good harbours —at Gisborne, Tokomaru, and Hick’s Bay (which latter place they could not visit owing to time being short and the weather unpropitious). The railways could wait until there was n greater population to bear the cost. Gisborne struck him as a well-established and prosperous town, but one that was absolutely jocked up by the fastnesses at the back and an unsuitable harbour. Tokomaru Bay, Mr. Luke considered, was in every way suitable for a harbour, as it was not nearly so exposed as Gisborne, and from what they wore told about Hick’s Bay it. was an ideal spot for an artificial harbour that would tap a large and fertile stretch of country without the expenditure of a large sum of money. It was the duty of the Government, continued Mr. Luke, to bring into con-, ference the competent men who knew these localities, both coastal and inland, with a view of considering ways and means of having this fine territory more closely settled in order to develop and bring to fruition its vast potential wealth. He also wished to advocate, as he had done on the floor of the House, the advisability of engaging, the services of some competent marine engineer to advise the Government in the construction’ of harbours. He knew there were many engineers capable of constructing big works of various kinds, but a marine engineer of experience had, as a rule, a knowledge of the harbours of the world, and some such authority should be available for the Government to consult before proposals involving ■heavy expenditure, which might prove a failure, were accepted.

Land Should be Opened Up.

In the matter of the locked-up Native lands, Air. Luke said that men like Mr. Ngata and Sir James Carroll could render a great service to the country if they would co-operate with the Government in devising some scheme whereby the big areas of fertile Native country could be made available for settlement. They had seen farms managed and run by young Ataoris that were a credit to them? and his only regret was that more of the land should not be similarly employed for the benefit of the young Natives instead of forcing them into communities aqd towns; but there was more land than they could occupy, and such land should be opened up instead of leaving it as it was when Captain Cook was in these waters. The whole question was a difficult one, but surely not one incapable of solution. There were immense areas of good country in the Urewera capable of carrying a big population, and whilst ho would be one of the last to wish to see the Maoris dispossessed of their rights, it had to be remembered that the fact of their Possession of the soil of New Zealand had been guaranteed l by the sacrifices made on th" battlefields cf Europe m the great war. That war had proved enormously costly to England and every one of her Dominions, and, in his opinion, the Ataoris should, with all others help to shoulder the responsibility of the cost and ho appealed to the Government not’to hesitate to bring about an early settlement of the Native land question on sound and equitable lines, ro that the rich areas of unused land might bo brought into cultivation for the enrichment. not only of New Zealand, but of the Empire, tq which the Afaoris themselves were so proud to belong.