UREWERA LANDS

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 70, 15 December 1921, Page 7

UREWERA LANDS

THE CONSOLIDATION SCHEME REPORT PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE BIG AREA FOR SETTLEMENT & FORESTRY A report upon the proposed Urewera consolidation scheme was placed before the House of Representatives yesterday. Some of the details of this scheme, prepared by the Minister of Native Affairs and the Minister of Lands, were made public some time ago. The original area of tho Urewera native reserve was 656,000 acres. The Government, up to July, 1921, had bought 345,076 acres, and the effect of the consolidation is to concentrate into distinct blocks the interests acquired by the Crown and the interests retained by the Maoris. Part of the land acquired by tho Crown is to become forest reserve, but a very large area will be made available for settlement. The commissioners who conducted the negotiations with the Natives state, in thoir report, that tho course decided upon by tho Government in tho case of tho Urewera lands was probably tho best that could have been adopted under the circumstances, _ namely, tho carrying out of negotiations in an informal way, unhampered by legislative and other restrictions, for the settlement of every question affectng this huge territory. Tho ordinary machinery of the courts would have been at a serious disadvantage. A court, acting judicially under statute, could not have conducted negotiations such _as rsulted in the acquisition of the Waikaremoana forest area, or the settlement of the To Whaiti Blocks, where the Crown’s objective was the large area of valuable milling timber. ' Its own rules would have caused delays and adjournments at a time when the fullest advantage had to bo taken of the complete representation of all non-sellers’ interests at one

place. ' “The Urewera consolidation scheme, if approved and completed, will effect a groat saving to the country, especially to the,Native Department, and will enable the Lands Department and. those Departments associated with it in the settlement of Crown lands to commence operations on a comprehensive scale without any further delay,”, add the commissioners. r ‘Tho following would bo some of the chief results of the scheme: —

(a) A complete stock-taking of the ownership of lands in the Urewera Country, which comprises 656,000 acres, that ownership is brought up to date in all details. Instead of being the most backward, they will be as far advanced as ths" best Native titles in any part of the Dominion. (b) The work of the Native Land Court will in the future be reduced- to making preparations among members of a family, which in practice would mean giving effect to family arrangements, and carrying on the successions of deceased owners.

(c) Useless and expensive surveys will bo obviated, because there is now no need to re-establish and redefine the old magnetic surveys. Tho surveys necessary to complete our scheme will bo land transfer surveys done once to enable tho issue of certificates of title.

"In conclusion, wo venture the opinion that among the younger Natives of tho Urewera Country there is a strong and l a genuine desire to be put in a position to farm some of their lands. They have been hampered in the past by tho unsatisfactory nature of the titles, which, as will have been noted from a perusal of this report, have been in a state of turmoil since 1896, formerly during successive investigations and litigation, and later in tho confusion occasioned by the Government purchases. Tho Urowera Natives were moved to agree to the consolidation proposals chiefly by the consideration that out of the scheme would emerge for the non-sellers defined' sections, ready surveyed and accessible by or handy to arterial roads; that these sections would bo free of tho old-time restrictions, and owned not tribally or by hapus, but by compact families, with eyes looking forward, and whose only link with the past would bo that the flections comprise the homes and cultivations of their ancestors.”

A memorandum prepared by the Hon. A. T. Ngata (Eastern Maori) is attached to the report. “The concluding remarks of the report dealing with the utilisation by the Ureweo’as of the lands remaining to.them cannot bo too'strongly emphasised,” says Mr. Ngata. "I go further than tho officers in urging that the State should inaugurate in this district a special scheme for rendering financial and other assistance to the young Urewera farmers. Tho human material is good. Tho men are good bushmen, efficient in all that relates to work in bush country. They require not only financial assistance, but, above all, business assistance. It would not he sufficient —in fact, it would be risky—merely to lend thev money on the security of their lands. There must lie business guidance as well to see that the money is applied to the best use to secure -file best return.

“The report is necessarily silent as to any policy for dealing with the areas awarded or to bo awarded to the Crown under the scheme. I may in this connection direct your attention to the history of the Waimarino Block, which was purchased by the Ballance Government in 1886. As a purchase of a large compact forest area in tho shortest possible timo it stands as a record. In Feme respects it affords a parallel to the Urowera Country. Waimarino was over 600,000 acres in extent, situated in the interior, surrounded on all sides, but at a distance, by a fringe of cultivated lands. It was not penetrated by arterial ways except tho Wanganui River. It was unexplored territory. The country had then no forestry policy. The Waimarino area was nibbled at from all sides; it was the hinterland of two land districts, the hinterland of many county councils, a kind of ‘No Man’s Land.’ The demands of settlement forced it and its magnificent timber resources piecemeal into tho market. It was not till the completion of the North Island Main Trunk railway in 1908, twenty-two years after tho purchase. that the country realised what a. pmgnificent forest asset it had had and lofl't.

"History repeats itself in some respects in the Urewera Country. Once more the fate of a territory of over 600.006 acres of forest land, also hinterland, on tho edge of two land districts, and of two Native I,and Court distriiilr and two Maori Land Board districts, the converging point of possibly four county council areas, is in the hands of the Government to make or mar. Is it to bo left to tho nibbling process, to tho varying claims of contending jurisdictions, to a gradual evolution pioneered by the axe and fire? Or shall wo have now an illustration on a grand scale of what is meant by a comprehensive scheme of land settlement? We have or are about to have a properly equipped Forestry Department, with its schemes for demarcation. reservation, and so forth. We have the dearly bought experience of Bay of Plenty farmers in handling bush forms in that district. Wo have on tho Hast Coast tho example of what Maoris can do with their lands if intelligently assisted, financed, and organised. We

should be able to benefit by a combination of such talent and experience in tho handling of the last important land problem of tho North Island.” The Minister of Native Affairs (£he Hon. J.' G. Coates) indicated the contents of the report to the House, and expressed his very warm appreciation of tho assistance that had been given in the settlement of the Urewera problem by the lion. A. T. Ngata, Mr. K. S. Williams (Bay- of Plenty), the members of the commission, and the Minister of Lands. He believed that tho scheme would have a very important influence upon tho development of an important area of the North Island. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. T. M. Wilford) congratulated the Minister of Native Affairs on tho excellent work that had been done. Ho referred particularly to the notable services of the Hon. A. Ngata. Mr. Wilford suggested that provision ought to be made for paying a fair price to the Nativf landowners. If necessary there should be a revaluation at a later date in order that tho interests of t'he Maoris might be protected. The Minister of Lands (the Hon. D. H. Guthrie) also commended tho work of the Hon. A. Ngata. Mr. K. S. Williams (Bay of Plenty) attached much importance to tho fact that tho bush areas around Lake Waikaremoana had been preserved. He asked the Government to protect considerable areas of bush in the Urewera Country. Much damage would be dono.-jto other districts if the hills wore ruililessly denuded of bush. Mr. W. H. Field (Otaki) also asked that no forest should be felled in tho Urewera Country on- land that was not suitable for farming purposes. Scientific! forestry ought to be brought to bear upon tho areas. The buflh along the riveib should Ire kept intact and the utmost attention should be paid to the preservation of tho watersheds Tho Hon. A. T. Ngata thanked members for their references to his work lie said that very much credit was due to the efforts of t’he ex-Minister for Native Affairs, Sir) William Harries. Tim preservation of forest areas in the Uro worn, was n matter of great importance. Sir William Tfcfnes (Tauranga) said that the report marked tho completion of a great work. The effort to settb tho Urewera problem had been proceeding for more than twenty years. The first task had been to settle the titles, since the Government could not buy un til ownership had been defined. His own effort over a period of years had been to adjust titles and make purchases on behalf of tho Crown. Before he left office ho had realised that very little more land could bo bought and that tho next task was consolidation. This had been accomplished, with the assistance of t'he Hon. A. T. Ngata and others, much more rapidly than he had believed would bo possible. Sir William Berries added that some people would bo disappointed about tho quality of tho Urewera Country. Most of tho land would not carry small settlers. It was grazing country, which would require much capital for its development. Much of it carried splendid bush, which ought to be handled by the Forestry Department. Ho did not think that the Government had bought too cheaply. The report was laid upon tho table.