THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1909 THE NATIVE PROBLEM.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 149, 22 April 1909, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1909 THE NATIVE PROBLEM.

A significant fact in connection with the report of the Native Land Commission is that the commissioners consider the laws at present on tbe Statute Book are qaite sufficient to solve the problem at present agitating both the Native'and Pakeha mind. The problem ia

commonly referred to as the Native Land Question, and in a general sense, especially froAi the European standpoint, such title is approximately correct- To the Maori, however, the question is of far greater moment. Hitherto the Maori has received little from his lands which are not held by him,an are the broad acres of the Pakeba ai«d, unfortunately, many of the authorities, both European and Maori, are obsessed by the pernicious doctrine that the freeing of the Maori and his lands will result in widespread evil to the Natives as a race. It is not too much to say that even if the whole race could, by a stroke of the pen, be immediately freed from all present restrictions, and given equal responsibilities with Europeans less barm would be wrought than has been wrought by means of the restrictive measures, which were adopted presumably for the Natives' benefit. Never in the history of man has a race thriven and progressed to whom liberty was not a -birthright, and never during the hisi tory of the Dominion will the Maori j become a responsible and progressive member of the community unless the present restrictions be removed, and he be given opportunity to work out his own detsiny. Already the gall of the yolk has been keenly felt by the freer spirited and more enlightened among the Natives, while many of the older men, if freed tomorrow, would be left hopeless and objectless like a ship without a rudder, as a result of the restrictive policy of past administrations. That there is a problem to solve is not to be denied, else why the admittedly complex laws enacted to deal with the subject. At the same time there is no earthly reason why millions of acres of land should be allowed to lie idle and unproductive, pending the solution of the problem. The Native Minister, speaking at Waahi, declared that all that was required was to set the machinery already provide lin motion. The macinery referred to has been to hand for a very long time, and it seems strange that Mr Carroll, as Native Minister, did not set it in motion long since. The problem so glibly referred to, and so commonly accepted as being in existence, will surely continue to exist until active steps are taken to free, not only the lands, but the Maoris themselves, and to place the Maoris on an equal footing in all respects with their European brethren. Not even a stroke of the pen is requred to accomplish the object. It is plain to all who study the question, and plainer to none than to the Native Minister, that by the sympathetic and intelligent administration of the present laws the problem is to be solved. Locked up lands can be freed, and competent Natives given the power of private dealing, while Maori Land Boards are already in existence for the purpose of safeguarding the ignorant or incompetent. The lifting of the restraining hand from the competent members of the race is the first step to strive for ; after which the work of making the remainder competent will be rendered an easy task in consequence of the efforts of the Natives themselves.