NATIVE LANES.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 327, 23 August 1907, Page 3

NATIVE LANES.

(10 THE EDITOR.) Sir,—Many people contend the natives neither pay rates nor contribute to the revenue to help mako roods, and that legislation is required to compel thorn to pay rates and taxes. Before the Government bought the land at 2a 6d per acre from tho natives they (the Government) considered tnat as the childlike natives sold the : r land at 2b fid per acre the Government could afford to make the roads. The value is now XI 2s 6d, which inc<ease has arrived since the land was bought. The natives who sold have now no land to tax, and those who hare received no money for roads through

their property. I will leave it to honest men to decide if it is now just and fair after having sold the land for the European settlers to occupy at 2s fid per acre and given the roads for nothing, to expect these remnants of a once powerful tribe to be taxed to help never satisfied Europeans, who do not know the abjve truths. Once the natives bad the right to sell or lease to whom they wished, which caused speculators and other land sharks to secure large areas of land very cheaply. The natives asked the Government to stop all private dea'ing in native lands. We all know the result. The Government passed a law prohibiting anyone but itself from buying. ; This Act gave the Government a free hand ; | the unfortunate natives had to take whet j wae offered and the Government proved to be the worst land shark—his rapaciouc maw never being satisfied. Mr Seddou again passed an Act allowing the natives to sell to private people, provided the Government approved of the sale, Now if the Government gave bona tide settlers the right to buy limited areas from the natives at a price ruling as unimproved value, the native land would soon be settled, and the natives would get value for their land. Another struggle the natives have is that fchoee desirous of borrowing under the Advances to Settlers ore not given the same privileges as Europ >an settlers are I contend that there are numbers of capable natives desirous of getting on and improving their holdings if they only had the full benefit of the above Act. If they could borrow from the Government many areas that are now waste land would become productive. Some Maoris (as also Europeans) are naturally improvident, but ,out of a given number of natives and Europeans there are about equal numbers of useful members and careless. The native once he takes to improving his land makes a very careful farmer. Those who borrowed money and wasted it would loose their land, haye to work for a living and could eventually, when thev had learned, go in for a Government section. One more improvement required in the present law is the delay caused in settlers obtaining native areas, one to three years being the time usuallv required to complete a native lease. This is caused by the methods at present In use, The whole of the Native Land Acta are only so much obsolete ignorance, and to do any good they want burning and a fresh lot made—not by people who do not take the trouble to find out the truth, but by capable and honest legislators. It is within the province of the Farmers’ Union to get this done. It is no use wasting time over a onehorse non-political affair such as we now have. —Yours, etc., TOHGNGA 11.