THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. MONDAY, OCT. 11, 1909 THE BOGEY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 198, 11 October 1909, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. MONDAY, OCT. 11, 1909 THE BOGEY.

THE Hon. A. T. Ngata, lecturing at Timaru, said he had come to tbe conclusion that the greatest agitators for putting the Maori on the same footing as the European were those who had an eye on the native lands, for that was the question that was insuperably bound up in the social and economical life of the Native of New Zealand. Tbe young Maori party had very carefully considered the whole question, and were of opinion that it would be an injustice to put him on the same footing, because the average Maori was not as well equipped for the industrial struggle for life a3 the white man and still needed protective legislation. It was pleasant in the old days to hear the Maori praised for his bravery, and it was very unpleasant now to him to hear the white man say the Maori waa lazy, immoral, unreliable. though he wa3 afraid there were some grounds for the statement, the reason being that with the advent of the white man the former incentives to work and exercise which the Maoris had had vanished. The young Maori party were convinced that in work lay the salvation of the Maori; if they did not work they were doomed to extinction. Where the Maori:) bad taken this to heart and worked their numbers, so far from decreasing had increased, and they had prospered. Twenty years ago tbe Maoris of his own district had become tired of working for the Pakeha, and worked for themselves, with the result that they had about 68,000 acres in cultivtaion, and flocks numbering 100,000. It had often been advanced against the young Maori party that they advocated the fusion of the races, but this was not the fact, they merely said that the fusion would inevitably come before long and they wanted to see it come on tbe best possible basis. Like 'all partisans, Mr Ngata sees only one side of tbe question, and people who perhaps see a little further have the implication of self - interest to meet. Mr Ngata says the Native lands are insuperably bound up in the social, and economic life of the Native of New Zealand. He also asserts that the Young Maori party has carefully considered the whole question. No doubt such a circumstance is quite sufficient to settle the matter for all time in the estimation of Mr Ngata. Still it is yet to be proved that the voung Maori party bas cornered th«j brain supply of the Dominion Rather should the verdict of tbe party on such a question be regarded in tbe same light as would tbe opinion of a Trade advocate on the no-license question. The partisan is | prone to see visions,and tbe motives of those who hold opposite opinions are always construed to bear a sinister and repellant aspect. Thus is created the bogey, a rao#t effective weapon to use at a distance, with an audience which has but a vicarious interest in the question, and can afford to treat it from tbe purely academic standpoint. Mr Ngata's bogey has been discovered: It is tbat the greatest agitators in tbe Native question are those who have their eye on Native lands. It is a comfortable, and perhaps a natural doctrine for Mr Ngata to declaim, but the fact that Mr Ngata and the young Maori party has arrived at that conclusion is hardly sufficient reason for the remainder of the Domniion's popula- j tion to become converted to the same ; belief. As a matter of history the j

p-ople, as repreeenetd by the Govern- j rr,ent, have not kept their eyes suffici- j cntlv concentrated on the Native lands, i In the interests of the pe.op'.e, European and Maori alike, the eyes of the State should have been focussed on the j Native lands, and the brains of the ; State should have been developed to 1 devising means for having those land-* ! set!led, and made to contribute their quota to the national wealth, and assume their just portion of national liability. Instead of which the dominant force in the Government, having other things to do, and not benig im- ; mediately and personally concerned, in the Native question turned its gaze in other and less important directions, content to allow a member of the race, to exploit one of the most important national assets at his own sweet will. As a result many weird things were hatched, including the beautiful Carrollian doctrine of evolution as applied to the question. Now, after two decades of muddling along, when the position is becoming unbearable, the voice of the people is being raised in protest, and the young Maori party, which, after all, is the same old party, as represented by Mr Ngata, bursts forth as a counterblast about the people having an eye on the land. And why shouldn't they? Incidentally there are various types of eyes. WitH the eye covetous we have no more sympathy than has Mr Ngata To the eye comprehending; the eye determined, we have respect and encouragement to offer. The seeing eye, which weighs and balances, and upon whose vision comprehensive "and well considered action follows, is requisite to deal with the Native question today. Had such an eye been focussed on the subject twenty years ago there would have been no ground upon which Mr Ngata's bogey coul J have been erected. Such ground as does exist is that furnished by the eye covetous, and the eye covetous can have its vision extinguished by the superior type of eye, which comprehends the position in the broadest aspect, and is supported by the determination to act in the best interests of the people. In any case Mr Ngata's assertion hardly fits in with Mr Carroll's assertion that Native lands that were being taken up by EuropeatiS were not being grabbed by the speculator, and that under existing legislation it was impossible for any person to indulge in land grabbing. The Native Minister should certainly be in a position to judge in this matter and his assertion may be accepted as authentic. The bringing of the land to a state of productivity is obviously the most important feature of the position, and the development of the country's natural resources is not to be blocked by bogeys of the type created by Mr Ngata. The future of the Maori and the future of the Pakeha, is insuperably bound up in the land, Not in the land lying waste, but in the land productive; land developed to its highest, and by its returns swelling the revenue of the country, and contributing to the general prosperity of all. At present the Maori, fettered by restrictions and without an objective, has little chance of competing with his neighbours industrially. Ambition is thu parent of initiative, and an objective creates the energy to work. Immediate general emancipation is not advocated, but the freeing of those not absolutely unfit is imperative in the interests of the race despite the existence of bogeys.