THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, APRIL 15TH, 1909 NATIVE LANDS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 147, 15 April 1909, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, APRIL 15TH, 1909 NATIVE LANDS.

THE Native land problem is once again being actively discussed by the Maoris in various part-* of the Country as indicated by the meetings at Taupo and Waabi. The activity displayed may be attributed, in a general sense, to the spread of settlement, and the persistent land hunger. The work of the Native Land Commission during the past year has brought home to the Natives the fact that the Government are in earnest in their endeavours to have the idle lands settled. It is more than strange that parliamentarians have not sooner realised the importance of the question. The very fact that millions of acres of land are lying idle and unproductive in the Dominion should surely be sufficient to bring home to the most elementary mind the fact that conditions require altering, and decided steps should be taken to bring into productivity every available acre of idle land. It is significant to note that the last report of the Native Land Commission stated that the legislation already in force was quite sufficient to settle the difficulties which are commonly supposed to surround the subject. We venture to assert that the difficulties referred to are either non-existent or of much less magnitude than is generally supposed to be the case. For years the Native land question has been studiously avoided by those whose plain duty it was to grapple with any difficulties surrounding it, and by making themselves acquainted with the details and local conditions to become competent to treat the matter with confidence. The hackneyed charge of a Southern administration being indifferent to the needs of the North may have some truth to support it, but Northern members, except in very few instances, are open to the same charge. The Chairman of theWatiomo County Council, speaking at the banquet to the Minister for Roads at Tc Kuiti, more than hinted bis belief that the Government policy was to delay the settlement of the question with the object of acquiring the land by a kind of freezing out process. Whatever foundation there may be for such an opinion the lethargy of the authorities in the matter is utterly indefensible. Year follows year and the lands remain locked up, while the Maori, restricted in every direction and prevented from exercising his natural ability ami becoming a responsible member of the community,

remains an unprogresfive and object- , less creature. The meetings now | being held can hardly he regarded as : likely to go far in solving the problem, i Trammelled with their old time ideas and customs, there is little likelihood of the Maori mind being able to graap the full significance of what is required for the benefit ol the race. Probably the wish of the majority is to be left alone to live their own lives and follow their own customs. It is for the Pakeha to take the initiative; to familiarise himself thoroughly with the conditions in existence and to promptly initiate a just and reasonable scheme for'the bsnefit of the race and of the country in general. In such a work the assistance of the progressive Maoris who have already shown themselves competent to take a leading place in the community, would be gladly rendered, and a satisfactory solution of the problem would not be long delayed.