THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1907. NATIVE LAND LEGISLATION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 55, 8 November 1907, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1907. NATIVE LAND LEGISLATION.

The long-promised Native Land Bill has at last been presented to Parliament, and has provided food for considerable discussion. In the first place the members of the Government are to be complimented upon grappling with a question which had been religiously and emphatically avoided by their predecessors in office. It is to be regretted that the compliment cannot be extended to the manner in which the subject has been dealt with. However, there is ample opportunity for amendments and additions to be made, and probably the Bill will be materially altered before it is finally placed on the Statute Book. In the case of the Maori, one of the chief objections to the Bill is that no provision is made for giving the individual Maori a chance to work his own land, and the report of the Commission as to what lands shall be vested in the Board for administration is apparently to be considered final, notwithstanding that the circumstances may justify an appeal by owner or owners interested. In addition, no facilities are granted to owners desirous of working their land, with regard to borrowing for such purpose. It is well known that had European settlement not been assisted liberally by the Government in providing capital for improvements and stock, a large number of now thriving settlers would never have been able to take up land even under the most favourable conditions. It is only to be expected that the Maori, wishful of satisfying the very natural and commendable ambition of placing himself in a position of independence by his own labour should claim equal privileges with the European in his enterprise. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that the term-£ Maori" applies in this case to many educated and progressive men more capable by far than the average European of conducting their own business on sound lines. An outstanding feature of the Bill is the fact that action in every direction by the Land Board requires to be ratified by the Minister, and Europeans and Maoris alike will not regard this feature with favour. Judging from past history in Native land dealings, settlement will not be accelerated by the position occupied by the Native Minister, and it may well be asked of what use is the Maori Land Board, or what claim has the Bill to be considered a progressive move, if its administration is practically left in the hands of a Minister, who is, in a great measure, responsible for the deplor-able-state of muddle into which Native affairs have dritted. When the Native Land Commission visited Te Kuiti, a number of suggestions were presented for consideration by the Ngatimaniapoto Maoris and had the majority of these suggestions been embodied in the present Bill the result would have undoubtedly been of advantage to the Natives, and furthered the interests af -settlement generally. It is noticeable that the only proposal given effect to is that which provides for the leasing or selling of surplus Native lands b}' auction, and so far as any improvement upon the old system is concerned the Bill might as well have never been formulated. In any case seeing that no further power is conferred upon the Maori Land Boards, and the old farcical process of referring everything to the Minister is to be perpetuated, the logic of maintaining the Boards is difficult to perceive, The surplus land having been acquired by the Crown, and subsquent transactions taking place between the Crown and intending settlers, the proper body to administer the lands should assuredly be the Crown Lands Board. A very considerable extra expenditure would thus be saved, and the transactions so undertaken would doubtless be much more satisfactory than any dealing with the proverbially lethargic Native department. The clause referring to the roading of lands provides that all blocks shall be properly roaded and bridged before being opened for settlement. The said roading and bridging is to be carried out under the direction of the Minister in charge of 'the Roads Department, who is to declare when such lands are sufficiently roaded for the purpose of settlement. In this connection it need hardly be said that the success of settlement depends largely upon road facilities, and the knowledge that the Minister who had control of the roading of the Crown lands is to act in a like capacity in connection with the Native lands will hardty tend to inspire confidence. Infinitely better would it be instead of continuing the present roading policy to provide a well defined workable scheme with the rjetails unfolded, in ordej: to obviate the qiji lC UlinCLGS** I sary hardship which has to be undergone by the backblock settler 011 Crown lands in the district. There is no denying the much too obvious fact that the progress of the King Country has been retarded immeasureably by the premature opening up of the Crown land. Let us endeavour to prevent a repetition of the evil in dealing with Native land, and demand unnanimously that roads shall be completed to the satisfaction of the Local Body, whose duty it will be thenceforth to maintain and improve tl]em.

KING COUNTRY RECREATION. The approach of fine weather has led to activity in athletic circles, and last week a well attended meeting was held at Paemako for the purpose of forming a cricket club. A strong membership has already been obtained, and a playing ground has been secured on Mr Sincock's property. It is gratifying to see the popular summer game is taking hold in the district, and it is to be hoped clubs will be formed in other localities. There is ample scope for several teams, and in a short time there is no reason why a cricket association should not be formed, and matches arranged on similar lines to those adopted by the Football Union. The chief drawback for a start is the lack of suitable playing grounds, but with a little public support, there is no reason why this want should not be supplied in the near future. The old saying that "An Englishman's first work in a new country is the building of a church, and the laying off of a cricket ground " may not apply with equal force in these days of varied recreations, but the time - honoured game is still sufficiently popular to secure for it a high place in the public esteem. Cricket has done much to weld the Empire, and the bonds woven and strengthened by the medium of " willow, the King," are farreaching and enduring. The game, while demanding the most strenuous efforts and skillful manipulation, at the same time appeals to the most wholesome of sporting instincts, and those who are capable of beating us on the cricket field, be they old countrymen or colonials, usually rouse no sentiment but regard. . England and Australia have long been devoted enemies in the cricket arena, and doubtless the game has done much towards the better understanding between the old couutry and her giant colony, while the more recent exchange of cricket visits between South Africa and England will have a deeper and more far-reaching influence than years of diplomatic intercourse. New Zealand's football invasion of Britain was admittedly the best advertisement the colony ever had, and probably the best method of attracting to our shores the most desirable British colonists, is to demonstrate our ability to excel them at their own favourite pastimes. Excellence at games indicates at least a virility and physical health which are of the first importance to a people, and by encouragingathletics, within well recognised bounds, we arc assisting in keeping up the physical standard of manhood in these days of sedentary living, and fostering a spirit of comradeship among the generation upon which the future of the country, to a very great extent, depends'.