NATIVE LANDS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 47, 13 September 1907, Page 3

NATIVE LANDS.

Report of Commission.

Two short supplementary reports from the Native Land Commission, which were presented to Parliament last week, dealt with several blocks in the King Country. The recommendations are mainly in regard to individual leases and minor partition. The working of clause 26 of the Maori Land Administration Act, 1900, is the subject of comment, by the Commissioners. This clause provides that before any European acquires any Maori land, he must, before the making of the deed, declare that he is acquiring the land for his own use, and that including the land subject to the deed, he is not the owner of more than 640 acres of firstclass land or 2000 acres of secondclass land. Some legal advisers had instructed their clients that there was now no necessity for such a declaration, owing to the passing of an amending Act. Many of the intending lessees had no land and could truthfully have made the declaration, but as the section required them to make it before the lease was executed, there was no power for them to make the necessary declaration unless they to the expense of re-executing the leases. " Though we are loath to recommend Ithat invalid transactions should be cured by legislation, - " concludes the report, " yet we think that this might be a case in which the legislature might allow the declaration to be made now. This case also shows the need of the legislature being careful when it uses general words, as it did in the amending Act, to see that they are carefully limited, because of the aptitude of some people to attribute to the legislature ixitentiqns not expressed in statutes. We may add that there is much need of this section 26 being recast, so that land monoply may be prevented.