The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 20, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1865, 20 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 20, 1906.

Jr thero is such a thing as a nativi land policy belonging to the presen Government there is nothing tc identify it from a policy of drifGand-do-nothing. With a great flourish ol trumpets a year or two ago, Maori Councils aud Laud Boards wero given legal birth, and sanguino prophecies were made that these Councils would soon revolutionise the condition of native lands from wild unoccupied wastes into smiling farms studded at close intervals with the homes of industrious settlers and up-to-date mansions of the Maori. There was a Minister in charge who understood the character of the Maori, his language, wants, and aspirations, who knew how to humor his foibles and to restrain his follies — a Minister who possessed the very character of a magician in the

m'iiift flint ho wielded liko a magic wand over tlio nutivo race because lie was one of themselves an l a r.inga'ii'U

to beet, with a th.Ußaml a year and two Jiundrod pounds a year extra to supply him with a wharo befitting his rank. All this looked very fine and largo, and expectations rau high with sueti bright prospects of an improve ) condition of things. But, alas ! for those who putteth their trust in princes (of tho Maori order) for exceeding great will bo their d sappointinont.

IJroat, indeed, is their disappointment if wo aro to judge from tho roeont littorancos of those legislators who wore erstwhile humble followers of the noblo rangutira, and who put their trust in him, for they knew not tho full import of tho magic word “taihoa’ that always met tho gaze of the intend' iug settlor upon native soil, and is engraved on every stump and weed throughout tho vast territory over which tho magic wand is waved. But those legislators have felt tho disappointment, and have wailed both loud

and long in condemnation of the rangatira and all tho works that he ought to have accomplished but did not bocause of tlie entrancing influence of tho order of tho gods, “ taihoa.” Still tho “ Miuita ” is hold in its spell-

bound grip, and listens complacently to the legislators who cry aloud for release until their voieos resound through tho Chambers of tho State and tho magic word is re-echoed back in weird and dulcet tonos, “ taihoa. This is the fato of tho Hon. T. Kennody Macdonald, who, becoming exas

rnrated with the growing monotony or ;he mystic sound so often repoated, ias at last set himself the task of Formulating a now Native Lands Policy, and still the feeble voice replies, “ taihoa.’’ Now Mr Macdonald would like to drown that voice, and he boldly declares his doubts “ that the present Native Minister would be able, owing to the peculiarities of his posi-> tion, to give effect to such a policy ” as ho has outlined, and well he may doubt, for the Native Minister _ has | shown himself over and over again to be absolutely incapable of mustering up sufficient energy to carry out any Dolicy. What a consummate farce it is to have Ministers in charge of Departments of State, drawing five

times the salary that they could com» maud in any other capacity, and openly defying not only the public desire for activity and reform, but also the staunchest supporters of their own party. How farcical also it is to find men like Mr Macdonald, himself one day belauding Ministers and all their works to the skies, and the next day, almost, telling some of them that they are incapable of carrying out a policy which he himself finds it necessary to provide for them Those who have read Mr Macdonald’s native land policy, however, must give him the credit of having improved considerably

upon that which is launched forth as the combined wisdom of the Cabinet, and he has also the satisfaction of knowing that he has the approval of “ King ” Mahuta, who appears to be desirous of forgetting the ancient legondary chant ‘‘taihoa.” Although Mr Macdonald himself was not an enormous success in the sinecure that was made for him as Superintendent of Valuers at £SOO a year by a patronised and patronising Government, he has shown by the vigor that he has imported into this native question that he would be an immense improvement upon the present holder of that portfolio. Personally wo have nought but goodwill for that gentleman ; but personal charm does not run the country and earn a big salary by tootling “ taihoa ” while the weeds grow in profusion over millions of acres of land that ought for years to have been supporting a sturdy population and adding to the general wealth of the country, helping to reduce its taxation both local and general, and affording improvement, both moral and physical, to the native owners themselves. But—“taihoa”