THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1908. NATIVE ADMINISTRATION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 91, 17 July 1908, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1908. NATIVE ADMINISTRATION.

PROBABLY no department of the Civil Service lias had so many uncomplimentary epithets levelled at it as the Department for the Administration of Native Affairs. Broadly speaking the Department has failed to satisfy to a reasonable decree either the Maori, for whose benefit the Department ostensibly exists, or the Pakeha,%»«® n»y fairly claim at least considerate treatment at the hands of those entrusted with the. Admistration. One oi the latest additions to the Native Department is the Maori Land Administration Board, established for the purpose of facilitating' the settlement of the Native lands. Fo this end all transactions between Pakeha and Maori require to receive the Board's approval before such transactions can be concluded. However, as a means of hastening the satisfactory' settlement of the land, it may be ques-

tion whether the Board has been an unqualified success, and. dissatisfaction is strongly expressed as to the general policy of the Board. In reviewing" the various land transactions in different districts curious anomalies are noticed, and it is common gossip that those who have been most successful in their land deals, particularly with regard to the purchase of Native lands, ,havc achieved their ends through political influence. The root of the evil is probably not the Maori Land Board, the powers of which are evidently so limited as to be practically a negligible quantity. Still, such a state of affairs is a serious blot upon the general administration of the country, and it is high time, in the interests of the. country at large, that radical changes were made. The statement by the most advanced Maoris to the effect that the present legislation is sufficient to meet their requirements, providing the machinery is set in motion, is often heard, and efforts have been made to endow the various Boards with the powers granted by the Legislature, without being held under the thumb of the Native Minister. To all such representations the Ministry remains conveniently deaf: However, the notorious muddle into which the various townships on Native lands have been landed may have the effect of stirring the Government, as a body, to interested action. The old habit of vesting supreme power, in these matters, in the Native. Minister, was a pernicious one, and wotdd only have been contracted by a Southern Ministry. In view of the broader understanding oi the North,and Northern wants by the Ministerial leaders, it is to be hoped the Native Department will receive early and thorough consideration.