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Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1994, 1 February 1907, Page 1

POLICY SPEECH. THE PREMIER AT AUCKLAND. In tho course of liis spcccli at Auckland tho Premier hud a good deal to say on native land and the land settlement matters. Tlio following is from tho Star report: NATIVE LANDS. In connection with native lands, ho wanted to draw tho atention of tho people of the colony to the tact that slid Native Band Commission was a real Commission, consisting of Sir itoDort totont and lVfr. in gats. it was a small commission, it liad been Kept small by tho Administration oecauso they wanted results; they wanted lands obtained for the people, and for that reason they had given tiH'in power to go into tho matter upon practical lines, and not to wait ror twelvemonths or two years to navo results. They wanted results every day from tho start of that Commission. 110 thought they would bo able to show them presently that they were bound to have results that would do a great deal of good for tho North Island in particular, and for tho colony as a whole. (Cheers.) b Com mi ssi on would do more than that in the native world in New Zealand. Me was referring to machinery for carrying on tile vast work of this country for a long period of years. There had been stupendous difficulties present at each Administration, and tho inevitable result meant delay, and enquiry with suspicions surroundings too, of many transactions to see that nothing improper was to be dono. , . . Tlio outcome was that to-day thoro wore nearly six million acres of native lands doing comparatively no good to the country, and what the Administration now had to discovei was a method of solving the problem. While there liad been an effort made to bring that system into working order in years gono by the results did not show much improvement in the position. To enablo anything a all to be done, satisfactory to tlio people of New Zealand, and to enable the Maoris to be protected, as they had a right to be fully protected, the Government, in appointing the Commission, was ensuring that a legal representative of high standing would accompany tho Commission throughout the whole of its work to ensure that all lands belonging to Maoris inor collectively, would be put before the Commission in a way that the Maoris’ interests should receive tlio fullest consideration and the fullest protection from tho people of this country. (Cheers.) The principle upon which the fight, or the contentions, were being urged was a great one, but if they wanted to realiso what a great question this native land ono was for the xieople of the North Island, they should know that there were enormous tracts of land in the xiossession of natives which were at the xiresent time practically unproductive. The primary object was to ensure closer settlement on the land; to prevent the man with an enormous sum of money' at liis disposal to buy further tracts of lands. The legal machinery of this country' ought to be able to so regulate tlie holding of lands as to give the small man, or the man of moderate means, an oimportunity of going on that land for tho jiurpose of making a living for himself, for his ..wife and for his children. That, was the underlying principle of the land legislation. He was not so foolish as to suppose for a moment that the whole or even-any of the proposals of-the Government would commend themselves to tho majority of the peoiile of this colony, but he was satisfied that tlie.peope as a whole wanted to liavo a progressive system of native land legislation—a progressive system of.- legislation which would ensure to people aniopportunity of getting on to lander New Zealand, and that was •Xvhat'"they wore contending for. There might' be' differences as to tho tex-ihs of the Laid Bill of this colony. Therte were • differences of opinion as to whether .or should ojjposo such largo‘endoxvments in support of some of tho great \ responsibilities which tho colony had taken up. There was also a difference upon the question of the. freehold and- leasehold tenures. Underlying the whole agitation was stilLthe desire on the part of tlio majority of the/ people to liavo legislatiofeiyxjliipli'would ensure that millions of , acrestqf'land,still unoccupied and. xuileasfed .should be brought under a system in substitution of the existing'chaotic system, land laws which would do right to the original- owners, of tho country and to xiosterity. (Loud applause.) Let those critics'of the Bill point to any' single lino in it which said that any man’s freehold was to be taken away from him. (Applause.) There had been all sorts of ideas promulgated with the object of creating the, imixression that the Government was ignoring all the obligations of individuals, tlio sanctity of contracts as libtween man and man, and the State and the people, that tlio Administration was prepared, to ignore all this, and carry out a xiolicy which would be unjust, inrproper and dishonest, and yet there was not a line in tlie Bill which conferred the power to take away, one acre from the freehold. 1. '■ l •,)■' S':' vfes.,

AIM OF THB -^yjERNMENT. Let him taFe.itUfe ‘importunity of of his colhe might term pledged line’fbVHjme to that Bill. What they wore aiming at was increased settlement of the lands. The Bill laid it down that the value of largo estates should be limited to £50,000, and that the limitation of men who wanted to purchase should be £15,000. As a matter of fact what did their opponents say in regard to this limit? They said they were prepared to go for a system of increasing the graduated land tax, which was limitation of area, because if they increased the graduated land tax to an amount that would prevent the aggregation of large estates, logically thev compelled limitation of area, so that they were at one in their desire to limit area of individual holdings. Should they not come together as sensible people a ini say they were all trying to achieve the same end, to prevent those abuses which in England, Scotland and Ireland drove thousands of their, forefathers from those countries. (Loud applause.) He had no hesitation in affirming his positive conviction that it was the boimdeu duty of every man and woman in .thei {country who had no personal’motive to serve, to see that in its ycping days New Sealand' 'slioitld initiate a system of land tenure which would prevent those teirible conditions. (Hear, hear.) they must either have the £50,000 limit or an increase in the graduated land tax. There was room for a dilrerence of opinion on tliis point, and they should intelligently discuss that aspect with the people pt Now Zealand in order to 'achieve the’ same end, not the aggregation of large estates. THE NATIVE LAND PROBLEM. Ho had already submitted a proposal uiion which a Royal Commission was sitting, to ensure that the five million acres of native land were not allowed to continue in their unoccupied and unproductive condition. The Commission had received a direction to inquire first- of all what was the area required for the natives in New Zealand, the excess held by them, the amount required for. their future descendants, the quality to be set aside for the landless natives, and in every instance (so that the traditions of the Maori race should be kept alive) to provide for a communal block of so many thousand acres. He would give them a typical illustration so that it could be realised what the Government was trying to bring about in this instance. Take a blues of Maoriland. In the first instance under the proposals lie had made, the Royal Commission would require to ascertain how much of that block of land was wanted for the Maoris themselves. They would ascertain that 25,000 acres was sufficient for the Marois themselves, They would ascertain that 25,00 u acres were sufficient for the Maoris to till and make a living for themselves and tlieir descendants, 5,000 acres for the landless natives, and, in the interests of the communistic tendencies, 5000 acres would have to bet set aside as a common, so that 45,000 acres would.be taken up by the native owners, leaving 145,000 acres of land at the disposal of the country for European’ settlement- offer the whole of the Maoris had been .provided for. Was it not a proper tiling, he asked, to give the Commission power to say that the 14-5,000 acres should be sold l out and required to go upon it and