THE MAORI LAND QUESTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5390, 6 July 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE MAORI LAND QUESTION.

Ryotwarry : A Solution of the Maori Land Question, by E. C. G. Thomas, A.S., R.A.S. H.M. Indian O.S. Auckland : W. Atkin, Printer, High-street. 1878.

The author of this little work, a pamphlet of 16 pages, introduces himself to the reader by stating that he is about to retire on a pension from the Indian Government, and does not intend to follow the calling of a farmer or runholder ; he therefore trusts that his views may be received and considered as those of a person who has no selfish interest at stake. Being an old settlement officer, the subject is one with which he is familiar.

Mr. Thomas then refers to the present condition of the Maori Land Question, observing that in the North Island there is still an Imperium in Impeno, through which the Queen’s writ does not run, roads and telegraphs cannot be carried, and where trade and settlement cannot exist, the result being practically that ten thousand square miles in the centre of the country remain waste, and its inhabitants to a great extent are as a separate people from the rest of the community. Thera is not, Mr. Thomas considers “such an improbablity as amounts to an impossibility ” of war again breaking out between the two races, although relations are at present friendly between the Maori and the Fakeha. There is delay, waste of time and resources under the present waiting policy, and the likelihood, of a noble race passing away. The system of dealing with native lands is admittedly a moat difficult one. It’ is as much for the benefit of the Maoris as of the Europeans that the large tracts of country in the hands of the former should be opened up. “It is the land question,” says Mr. Taylor, “which has hitherto kept the two races apart.” A solution of the difficulty is suggested, which, it is urged, would give to the Maori the value of the land, and to the European the use of it. Mr. Taylor proposes that a sufficient quantity of land should be set apart for the'King, the chiefs, and every Maori individually ; such quantity to be determined by a native council, the remainder to be entrusted to the management of a commissioner appointed by the Government and approved by the Maoris ; the estate to be managed by the commissioner as by the agent of a large landowner ; townships, farms, and sheeprnns to be mapped out varying in size from 5 acres to 500 acres, of which any person'may lease one or more lots ; of the rest a certain amount should be applied to public works, police, education, &c. Mr. Taylor concludes his little work with the following chapter on “ Byotwarry ' “ Byotwarry is that system of tenure which; under nominal yearly tenancy, 'gives to the tenant fixity of tenure—a title as good as a freehold without (1) its original cost; (2) with the option of throwing up unprofitable fields in hard times, instead of throwing good money after bad, and starving a whole farm to make five or ten hungry acres profitable ; (3) with an unchanging light demand and great case of transfer. (4) It is a system entirely in favor of the tenant j it does all that can be done to ensure his prosperity—and thus it also secures the prosperity of the landlord. .It may not be adapted to estates of moderate dimensions, but for a large estate—such as Crown lands—it is admirable, because it is firmly (and simply based. It recognises that the interests of landlord and tenant are really only one ; viz,, that of the latter, and seeking mainly to attain this, it, at the same time, secures to the landlord a body of tenantry who never fail of payment. It has been the tenure for centuries in the Madras Presidency in the south of India. It is applicable to large or small farms. In Madras there is no limit in practice, but in theory it is considered well to prevent laborers becoming pauper tenants, by limiting the minimum to the area that can be cultivated by the owner of a plough and a pair of bullocks. The usual rate levied is supposed to be about ono-fifth of the gross crop. But" in average seasons the demand really amounts to much less.' The form of the’simple title deed runs much as follows "In the village of Taupe, as long as you, John firalth, pay annually, or by such and such instalments, the tax of twenty-five shillings on five acres of dry (or irrigated) land within ' . snch and sack boundaries, or numbered so and so, It shall remain yours and your heirs. . • . x - , “ Signed Os behalf of Govehsjiknt. .

“Although not expressed, there is a,plain implication in- this of indefinite 1 continuity. The absence of a distinct expression is characteristically Oriental. The omission left a door open for the caprices of Oriental despotism, and was occasionally, though very rarely, used by our Maliommedau predecessors to increase tbe rent. Under British rnld the implied unchanged continuity has been treated with the most deferential -respect. In the South of India, the real homo of Byotwarry, the perpetuity of the rate is accepted os the rule, and any alterations that have been mode, have been in almost all instances in favor of tbe tenants,

and that alteration declared to be final, lu Northern India, where it has been more our own introduction than the legacy of’ former rplers, the practice has been to introduce a thirty years’ settlement; after which the Government will re-considerthe rate it may choose to impose. For New Zealand a combination of these two ideas might be adopted, viz., the perpetuity of tenure, and the right of the State to alter the rate. The settlement might be for thirty years, but the Government engage that on the re-settlement, if any such take place, the rise in rates'! shall nob be more than a certain moderate figure—say such’as will suppose the value of land to double in 100 years, viz., 30 per cent, on present rates. If it right that the national income should prosper in proportion, with individual prosperity, in this way the rise*in the value of land would also show itself in the public income. That income will, however, be always growing in another way, viz., from the continual taking into cultivation of the poorer lands rejected by firatcomers, and the growth of the area held by the Crown tenancy. There is much to be said on this question of a fixed or increasable rent. My own opinion is, that it is best for the rent to be fixed at a liberal, i.e. t a low figure, once and for ever ; and that- the future increasing demands of a more populous State be met by increased taxes, not in the form of rent from the cultivators of the soil, but as direct taxes on the luxuries of the rich, and especially ia that most simple, most perfect" form, an in-come-tax. But to return. If this land system is adopted as the principle, it will be apparent that a Ryotwarry lease becomes, by attention to its terms, a lease only in name. It is a bidding contract for. all time between the Maori landlord and the tenant. The carrying out o! this system is simple aud inexpensive in the extreme. The land has, with the aid of the Maori proprietors, to bo classified and valued according to its soil. These varying soils should be mapped, and properties marked out. The properties have then, with the same Maori aid, to be assessed. After this, in every village‘or'parish is a Government official, Maori or English, to whom has to be reported every change desired by the tenant ; viz., the throwing up of unproductive fields, the taking up ef new land, or the transfer by sale or otherwise. These matters are recorded and reported by him. The Registry Office of the district has a record of every transfer. The Government ia the paramount authority, and conflictting claims can only arise after and within the Ryotwarry lease (or * puttah ’ as it is called in Madras.) An hour spent at the Registration Office will show every claim on any land, and permit of a transfer by sale or otherwise without doubt, and with the least possible expense or delay. Hence, within the Ryotwarry settlement, legal proceedings will be almost unknown. The paradise of the tenant, starvation for a lawyer. If it be desired that the sum spent-on public works be larger at first than is needed afterwards, it will be easy by the mortgage on the rents, to raise a loan. Thus raise and spend half a million a year for five years. The rental from the land will pay much more than the interest and the returns from the email charge levied on the works will form a sinking fund, which will speedily pay off the principal, and after that no charges need be levied. No occupation of laud should be'permitted without the payment of the year’s or half-year’s rent in advance. Because—(l.) Thus absolute paupers would be prevented from nominally taking up laud to the exclusion of others. (2.) All rents being paid in advance could not fall into arrears. (3.)* The Ryotwarry estate would start with money.in hand for .the requisite expenditure on public work. Many questions of detail will best be dealt with separately, such as—the mode of recovering arrears from absentees, the treatment of properties left waste without notiee, the maximum and minimum of holdings, the preliminary survey, the channels of receipts from the tenants, and of payments to the Maori old proprietors and their heirs, &c., &c. In unsur-, veyed land with dubious boundaries and varying soils, it is impossible to arrive at accurate figures as to the /’result of the carrying out of the proposed scheme. But the following rough approximation will make the proposal clearer :—The- area is about 10,000 square miles or 6,000,000 acres, aud if we suppose that half of .this is available, and that of this half 500,000 acres will have to be appropriated to the immediate use of the Maori race, we have 2,500,000 acres remaining .to be dealt with under this system, and this area will assuredly yield a very large permanent income—and one that will increase as the soils at first discarded are afterwards taken up. Large figures will not of course be reached at first—not perhaps for five years—but supposing the rental to commence at £300,000. This sum produced at once by that which is now lying idle, waste and useless, and without expenditure, is surely an amount not to be discarded without consideration. Under this system the Maori will retain the proprietary title of landlord, and obtain the value of his lauds. The Englishman will obtain the use of it.”