King Country Chronicle Wednesday, March 8, 1911. TOPICS OF THE DAY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 343, 8 March 1911, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Wednesday, March 8, 1911. TOPICS OF THE DAY.

That perennially difficult, but abI sorbing topic, the solution of the | native land problem is raised by a i correspondent once again in our I columns. He points most forcibly to ! the present difficulties of the situa- | tion. Here we have a vast area of ! country partly native country land and ; partly Crown land, partly occupied and | largely unoccupied. Settlers take up j areas with the legitimate intention of | developing them and making homes | for themselves and their families. ; Surrounding them are unoccupied na- ■ tive lands, gathering nothing but I thistles and noxious weeds, generally, i and yielding no rates and no taxes. | Some of these lands are in the hands ! of pakeba speculators, who are spend- ! ing nothing on them and are only I waiting for an opportunity to sell at ; a large profit. Others, and the greater part, are under the control of natives ; or the Maori Land Board, and are

likewise unoccupied and unremunerative. Mile after mile, as we travel through the King Country, by road or by rail, do we see these terrible stretches of unoccupied native lands. What is to be the solution? If our correspondent's plan were adopted, and the Government bought up the whole of the native lands in the Dominion, lock, stock and barrel, issuing debentures for their purchase and paying the interest only to the Maori owners, it might solve the problem. The lands | could then be offered on the optional | tenure, and stringent conditions of cul- ; tivation and occupation be exacted ! from the settlers taking possession, i We cannot much longer endure the prei sent impasse. It is becoming ini creasingly evident that a solution of ; a practical character must be found, or these settlers who are endeavouring I to do their duty by the land will be I swamped under the neglect of their i inactive neighbours. The impossi- : bility of securing contributions of rates for local road making purposes from native owners is another crying injustice to the white settler. If : equal rights for white men south of ; the Zambesi was a war cry of any value and merit in South Africa, surely equal rights and responsibilities be- ' tween pakeha and native in the King Country should be a logical, just and i equitable way of solving the various problems we have to face. Our Maori 1 friends have expressed themselves as i wishing to bear their share of local ; taxation. They are not altogether I to blame if the native lands are not : all occupied. Pakeha 'legislation, as our correspondent shows, prevents compulsory purchase of native lands, i however desirable the purpose, unless : the natives request the Government Ito purchase. The Government has powers to purchase compulsorily any ; land owned by pakehas for the pur- ; pose of subdivision and close settie- ; ment. If it means business, let it ! adopt similar legislation for native lands.