King Country Chronicle Saturday, August 16th, 1913 FINANCING NATIVE LEASES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 594, 16 August 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, August 16th, 1913 FINANCING NATIVE LEASES.

The attention which is beinu paid e in Parliamcr ( (hi? session to native , land matters is a gratifying indication that this important question in in future to receive somoUimr; more " than the casus! consideration which it has obtained in (he past. The efforts of liic member for the district | to improve iho position of lessees 1 under the Ibnd Act io enable them to obtain financial assistance from th" State will be ■■■ idoly appreciated, and the Minister bavinp pledged himself to accede to ihc v> -Quests made by Mr Wilson and other members it may be . taken for granted that; the suggestions ; will be duly given elVc.eL to. Judging 1 from the opinions expressed during the debate by the member:' who may j justly be reprised as authorities on the subject tln.ro seems io have P, - u j no valid reason why settlers holding I leases under ti.e Ac! i n nm-: ;' urn S-eSi' have been denied State assistance end I it is to be hoped (he debate wili have | the eli'oet <■;" opening uji the wheie [question of native lenses. r lhe lands referred to are those winch ere known as vested lands lv ins blacks or sin>aivisions of block's wheh have been vested in the Moor; J ,s.nd Hoard j to be administered en behalf of the i owners. .U is- important io note that i (he porilien of settlers" who have ! leased directly- from the native owners | j.-: lU ii aborted, mid it- is to be hoped : steps wjl! be token io have the claims i of those lessees considered. There are. i of course, certain dbferonccs in the i form oi' (ho losses as compared with I leases of vested, isnds. but these are ; mSitt'-rs of dotei! s.nd pot, of such a I nature as render them any less I sound as a security for finance. The fact that financial institutions accept them as security is an indication of their worth, end it can be fairly claimed thai by means of alteration in certain details at the. hands of the authorities (ivy > :■ n be made at least as jrood sorority as sic the leases of vested lands. The importance of this question as for as (lv Kin;; Country is concerned cannot be over estimated. The amount oi vesiod land in this district is a negligible quantity «r compared with the- amount, which is leased direct- '.'rem the owners, and anything which may improve the position of Ihesi- a; it l-.-i-- -hou Id be si \T-ii-uouslv advocated. A loaturo of the | ease which ha:; a mure important hcru • j

ing on the issue than is generally realised ib the provision for the payment of rents. Under the present condi« tions rents are paid by the leasee! direct to the owners, and where a ].\n;v number of natives are interested in a lease the task of keeping each individual portion of the rent naid up is extremely difficult. The individual owners may be scattered far and wide, and the onus of producing a receipt for the rent it thrown upon the lessee. A suggestion was made at the la it meeting of the Local Bodies Association to the effect that arrangements should be made by the department whereby a lessee could pay the rent to the Maori Land Board of the district in which the lease was situated. By such an arrangement th*m interests of both lessee and owner would be conserved. Mr Hardy, who was responsible for the remit at the conference pointed out the difficulties of finding all th'e owners, and strongly advocated the adoption of the suggestion. The advantages of the proposal are obvious, and it is to be hoped consideration to this and other matters of detail will be given with a view to improving the position of oar settlers. Mr Wilson is to be commended for his efforts in respect to the vested lands, and it is to be hoptd his advocacy will be extended to the lands leased direct from the owners.