The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23. 1911. A STRONG NATIVE LANDS POLICY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 November 1911, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23. 1911. A STRONG NATIVE LANDS POLICY.

Assertions of weakness and dilaborincss 'have been lmulr against the Government, and .more especially ■against one or two oi : its Ministers, so frequently that many people were beginning to regard them as correct. Yet those who .should be able to judge best on such matters hold different views on the subject. This fact was made very clear yesterday by a telegram from Gisbome which announced that the Native Minister, Sir James Carroll, had been returned unopposed. What explanation have the Opposition protesfcators got for this happening? Surely a Minister guilty of the "taihoa," improgrcssive policy tljat ihas been charged against him by his critics should havo been opposed—if only for lie sake of consistency in opposition and to make clear the volume of dissent from his methods. Yet here we ibavo Sir James Carroll returned unopposed in a district wherein Maori lauds and interests arc exceedingly great and the need for settlement of the land as groat or greater. What is tho explanation. To our mind it lies in the fact that in a district such as Gisborne, wherein there is best opportunity for judging such matters, it has become so apparent that tho Native Minister is doing good and evident work that opposition to his re-election is recognised as being futile. . The event, at least, gives a substantial confirmation to the assertions which have been made before regarding the effectiveness and the widespread area of the native laud settlement that lias been going on in the Gisborne district during recent times.