NATIVE LAND GRIEVANCES

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1523, 3 August 1905, Page 3

NATIVE LAND GRIEVANCES

(To tho Editor Gisbornb Times,} Sir,—As the general eleeCitm ffe umwinf- ocur, will you kindly grant me sttace, and jyjauri paffionfce, for Jt short fevitow (if tho c fleets of Clio CTtrA'O'niircut’s native land policy in this dt'otrfct. £Tir, the many Acts and meaSutijs Jtaysdl by t-ho ctresonfc Go* yermnen-b in bbjsifocoEEffdl ahtcmpfci flb dolvn tho nature Waklo land problem* “tho solving of which is Of sjuoh vital imoort-anco to tho coumhry.” appeals most conclusively, to th« thinking elector, that, a change of administration is ahsohihelv nec«s-

sary. In this district atone there are hundreds of thousands of acres Of 'gooc|_!anti lying wastij ; owned by the Maoris, wlio are debarred Irani making use, leasing, or selling any part of, 11 the idea is the brooding of bush pigs anid wild dogs, then the Government is certainty So be congratulated, as .there are many scores of square mile*, well stocked ; and if the Premier and his colleague, j the Native Minister, are of * sporting proclivity, they cjighß, after the present session, tq come to Waiap.u, and spend a week o» two rn tiiio bush ol the Natiyo waste lands, and hluitl the boar, Zb would reno Tate the brain anQ giro ffijoir log# a show, - 5 Bir, residing so many year* amidst this howling wilderness, and knowing that ii the native lend laws had been left as they were before the Native Miniatsr and his oolleagnes tmtertook to astonish the natives, at least one half of this waste land [ would havo been by this time smiling farms, and the native owners drawing fair rents ; and on the top of this to read in the Native Minister’s speeches to the people of the towns aud suburbs of the Government’s capable native land administration, and the people in their ignoranoe of the facts applaud and return a vote of confidence. Is it to b 8 wondered at Shat the back country settlors and their neighbors Iho Mftnria. wiiVi lh« nroontinn of a

few, are losing all patience and faith in tho Native Minister and the Government generally ? This district had made a fair atari on tho road to quick prosperity, but an aot was passed giving the Government pre-emptive right, the excuse being to guard the Maori from becoming landless, noder the trade in native land. The result was that in 12 months tho Government bad acquired by purchase from the protected Maori, more land at about half the con. aideratlon par acre than the private individual had in the twenty years previous, which accounts.for a large portion "of the 166-449 aores of native land that the Ne-

tive Minister claims as having bean dealt wilh sicca the passing of the Maori Land | Administration Act, 1900, the perooniago of this land that was purchased in this district, that at anyrate was not pat forward for settlement until the year of the last general election, 1902, when the Government were forced to cease furthor purchasing, the native waste lands were left tied up in such an inextricable knot, that so far the powers that be have signally failed to solve the difficulty. An attempt has been made in the now notorious Maori Land Administration Act, the climax of all pernicious and absurd fads. To an outsider who has no interest in the matter, it is most amusing for a short time to watch a committee of this Maori Land Council, | and their obairman arguing and squabbling like a lot of small children over a new | fou

ad toy, but most lamentable to the unfavored many, who havo an Interest at stake, whose complaints are loud and strong of the UDjast favoritism and extortion of this legalised land vnpjP'rei sod £hey pray for a return of the old Native Land Qouri, as being far more just and of less expense, ; How can this Maori Land Oouuoil be Otherwise than objectionable when their committee, who have almost uncontrolled powor over the land interest of others, have themselves, or their near friends, interest, or a desired interest, in the blocks of land upon which they stt to adjudicate ? A quantity of cooked food might just ds well be placed Before a lot of hnngry children, and leave them to decide as to whether they eat it or hand the food over to other children. When the Maori was a savage he was no doubt a noble one, but the so Sailed Maori of to day la In a transition siapg, having loat the nobleness of bis an« cestor#, a p,& opt as yet acquired that of the J?akeha, an,<ji it will take him some five generations mo?o’ before .be docs. Then perhaps ho may think and'foef ag the best of pakehas, but until suoh time if is'lafelng very grave responsibility to plaoe suoh extraordinary power in his hands, as the life or death of the land interest of others, as

it is morally impossible for him to wield sjoeb power justly. Should the Counoils be pntrpjjjied with the' far-reaohing power these oommitj-ees wield 9 Tfeore is much more that could be said' op lido poye sjjJj' ject, but space wijl not s-llowjit. Another grievanee underj 'whfeh Ibp Maoris suffer is the monopoly or usurpa.tion of the lands immediataly around the different Maori pahs or sattlemsnts by the more astute of their brethren, three orfonr of whom will form themselvea ipto what they call a committee, appoint one of their number manager/ and jamp tbe agricultural lands of the many,; totally indifferent .to the inconvenience or suffering they put the one or_two hundred (ns the case m3y be) eo-owners to, who are oooped np in space barely sufficient to grow their potatoes and kumeras, etc., and what sSppk they may own harassed and driven off, in-some cases the Poßsestfiou ai tjrp land -is generally got in the first instance .ostensibly as a sort of cooperative concern, bufcvvilhout the consent of the majority of tho owners, " Only in one instance is a concern of this type a dividend, and that ia the Reports estate, ably managed by Pene Heibi, a fyl good repute and standing in this district, who hat in/id <3 this particular estate pay good dividends for some years, taking oare also that each owner gets his or her share ; this, as has been stated, is the only instance, although some of these pah sheep or cattle stations have been flourishing from fifteen to twonty years, paying no rent. , fs ;J> tp bo wondered at that the genera Maoris cry ojoud at the injustice on the part of the Government in debarring them from getting fair rent from tfro Pakeba, for their waste lands, and yet allowing these persecutors to monopolise the cultivatable lands immediately around their settlements ?

Sir, if the above sort of thing is allowed to continue the Government should at least direct an annu.al audit by a competent auditor, not a Maori, of the accounts of these pahs.or Maori stations, when in such cases there is no doubt dividends would bo payable, and the auditor oompenaetpd, but the discomfit and pressure would stifl continue So the inhabitants of the different settlements affected. Tho Native Minister, otjr representative, by bis last adverse action towards the Europeans of ibis district in connection with tho To Araroa township reoroation ground so lucidly and truly set forth in tho letter of last month, signed “E. H. Henderson," has wpappd many of bis supporters from bis cause, and bns for tbe railway-bliDded electors, who cannot see that it is tbe 1000 acres of the country that makes the town section what it is we would have no difficulty in electing a Representative of less adverse sympathies. —I am, etc., Waiapd.