COLLECTING NATIVE RATES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 468, 25 May 1912, Page 4

COLLECTING NATIVE RATES.

A matter for general gratification and for which the Waitumo County Council has every reason to feel a special glow of satisfaction the manner in which the native ratdg.ate being paid in the county. In vifcW of many failures Jjin th» past to collect rate:; from natives by means of the machinery provided by the legislature it had become common to regard as hopelep.q any attempt to enforce the Rating Act in respect to native lands; The amendment to the Rating Act paused by Parliament in 1910 provided local bodies with very complete powers, hut from a variety of reasons the majority of local bodies failed to avail themselves of the opportunity provided. In the Waitomo County, however, steps were at once tßken by the clerk, Mr P. Mora, to place on the rollß all ratable land in the district with a view to taking steps to enforce the Act. That this course was fully warranted subsequent events bear convincing testimony. Rate notices were only issued to native owners in February last,and up to last week over forty native owners had paid rates to the county. This is satisfactory evidence of the desire on the part of native owners to bear their share of local taxation. It blbo stands as an example to thoße who have been loudly declaiming that rates are uncollectable from the natives and have been making no effort to justify their claims. As we have previously pointed out the fact has been fully established without recourse on the part of the local authority to the law courts. However, it may be information to some to learn that the view persistently advocated by the clerk of the Waitomo County Council has recently been upheld by a magistrate in the Taranaki district, and judgment has gone against the natives. The amount of native rates in Waitomo County aggregates approximately £3OO which is about an eighth of V rates collectable in the view of the fact that by the energy and persiutency of the clerk the county revenue is swelled to a considerable extent the tribute paid to Mr Mora by the council at last meeting was fully deserved. A public service has been rendered, not only tothiß district, but to every district in New Zealand where native-owned land exists.