NATIVE LAND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 453, 13 April 1909, Page 3

NATIVE LAND.

COMMISSION’S FINAL report. SUFFICIENT LEGISLATION. THE PARAMOUNT CONSIDERATION. The Native Land Commission’s final report has now been made available for publication. The report says, inter alia: “There are 468,752 acres of papatupu land in the North Island, land the titles to which have not been determined by a competent tribunal. At this advanced stage of the history of New Zealand there should not be any such thing as papatupu laud. If the energies of the Native Land Court and the resources of the Native Department were directed more to these virgin districts, and less to the more settled portions of the North Island, settlement would extend more rapidly and with greater benefits to the Dominion.” SUFFICIENT LEGISLATION. The commission deals with the possibilities of the existing law, and says : 1 ‘ The legislation on the statute-book, though it urgently requires consolidation and slight amendment to harmonise conflicting details, is sufficient to settle the native lauds of the North Island. The Legislature has armed the various departments of State and the Government with ample powers : what is required is prompt and efficient administration.” The report states the difficulties which surround the process of securing partition orders from the Native Land Court, and points out that unless the State renders liberal assistance in advancing the cost of these preliminaries and in providing experts the settlement of the large area covered by the commission’s recommendations will be seriously delayed, and the purpose of the Legislature defeated. Judges would, in the commission’s opinion, be relieved of much of the routine work (in which is included the majority of succession claims), if the registrats of the courts were appointed subcommisiouers for the purpose of dealing with succession cases, claims for adoption, and the like. The Native Laud Court Bench should be as far as possible recruited from the registrars of the court, men who by their experience and training are familiar with the office. AREA AVAILABLE FOR SETTLEMENT. The commission estimates the amount of land owned by the Maori people in the North Island to be 7,465,000 acres, while the area which came under the scope of its enquiry totalled 2,791,190 acres. At the outset it appeared to the commission that the Wellington and Taranaki province (except Upper Wanganui) and the Southern portion of Hawkes Bay were most favourably situated with regard to the settlement of native lands, and that as the most valuable lands were efficiently occupied, these districts did not present the features of urgency possessed by Auckland province, on which, consequently, most time and labour were expended. In all forty-two reports have been presented, the result of the enquiries being as follows : Acres. Recommended for general settlement 696,260 Recommended for Maori occupation 867,479 Subject to special recommendation ... ... 477,137 Grand total 2,040,876 In addition there are 275,256 acres subject to timber agreements and other leases validated by Parliament which should be added to the total of lands recommended for European settlement. generally. Questions of policy, the commission points out, still await the determination of the Government, and it is emphasised that the paramount consideration is the encouragement and training of the Maoris to become industrious settlers, and that in dealing with the remaining lauds the settlement of the Maoris should be the first consideration.

Reference is also made to taxation on Maori laud and local rateing. “ The Maoris,” states the report, “ are realiasiug more and more that they must come under the general local taxation of the local bodies under whose jurisdiction they reside, and that in order to enable them to pay taxes they must utilise their lands, or alienate them to those capable of utilising the same. We are of opinion that if the Regjslatqre had in the past devoted more attention to making the Maori an efficient farmer and settler, the problem of local and general taxation would long ago have been solved.”