The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1878.
“Honorable Legislative Councillors and “gentlemen of the House of Representatives,” said his Excellency the Governor in his speech at the opening of the present session, “ Measures for simplifying the procedure in investigations “ of title to native lands, as well as their “ alienation, will be submitted to you. “ The principles of these measures have “ been discussed with many sections of “ the native people ; and it is believed “ that the effect of them will bo to place “ upon an equal footing all the Queen’s “ subjects who may desire to purchase “ native lands.” This is one of a number of promises of the Government that have not been fulfilled. Blame for this failure was placed, unfairly as we think, on the shoulders of the Government Printer j but when it was seen that even in the agony of the last hours of the session the Premier could get the Thames Harbor Bill, and the Thames High School Bill, and the Thames Waterworks Bill, and the Cemeteries Amendment Bill printed, the excuse that the Government Printer prevented Ministers from keeping the promise made to Parliament by her Majesty’s representative in the Colony cannot be accepted as sufficient. There was some other reason which was not “ dragged out.” The attempt of the “continuous Ministry” to deal with that burning question was, ns the Honorable Mr. BaILAKCE knows, the cause of their downfall and of his elevation; and remembering all that had been said, then and since, by himself and by his friends, it was not unreasonably expected that a solution of the difficult problem how “to place upon an equal foot- “ ing all the Queen’s subjects who de- “ sire to purchase Native lands,” would have been attempted at least if not effected by law. The Acts which have been passed at the last moment, viz., the Native Lauds Act Amendment Act, and the Native Lands Purchase Act Amendment Act, cannot be regarded as touching even remotely or indirectly upon the great question set out in the Governor’s words which we have quoted. The operations of both these Acts are administrative, and only intended apparently to afford greater facilities for securing the claims of tbs Crown to lontlo which are, or are supposed to be, under agreement of sale to the Government, or in regard to which negotiations have been opened, and “ potatoes” planted by the Land Purchase Agents. From the Native Statement, made on the 17 th September by Mr. Sheehan, wo make the following extract : I shall now say a few words with regard to the Native Lands Bill, which I hope to bo able to bring before the House in a day or two. That is a subject of more interest to most people than any other on which I have touched, because there are so many persons who want to acquire these lands. Land has become of each extraordinary value in the South that everyone, except those of very large means, is shut out from acquiring it, and the c.usequencc is that there is what I may call a "rush’’ after the native lands in the to that one partlolar matter on the present occasion, leaving all other questions to he dealt with on the second reading of the Bill. The Bill introduced last year by the honorable member for Waikato was, as most of his measures are, an excellently drawn Bill, and a model of good drafting, but was open to the objection taken by the House, and upon which it was withdrawn, that it simply provided the machinery for selling Maori land without restriction as to area, and without any regard to the requirements of the small capitalists who might come into the colony to settle down here. We undertook to grapple with that question. In doing so, several proposals offered themselves to mo for consideration. The first was, to raise the amount of duty payable upon native lands. It did not require much consideration to dismiss that idea and for the very good reason that whatever extra duty you Imposed would not bo paid by the purchaser, but by the native vendor, on whom it would therefore operate unfairly. The second proposal was that we should allow no block larger than a thousand acres to go to one* person unless the title to it had been individualised : for example, supposing a block of ten thousand acres was going through the Court, that it •fiiould not be allowed to do bo in the joint names of the whole of the owners, but that the title of each owner should be ascertained, and the block cut up accordingly There were two objections to this course. One was that it would very much increase the cxpense of survey to the vendors. The other and possibly the greater, o' jection was that it would lead to evasion because some influential chief interested in a block might Induce ills people to stand aside and allow the title of the block to be individualised to him. so that ho could sell the w ole of it to the European. I take it that any principle uponi wh ch you settle this question must bo one that will deal fairly with the native people, and enable them to exercise full discretion in the selling of their land ; and 1 submit that my proposal will do that. As I have already said wo intend to restrict our land purchase operations throughout the country, and will offer no objection to private purchasers acquiring laud. We intend, however, to meet the difficulty m this way; Before any title has been declared to bo complete wo shall require that it shall pass through the ordeal of the Governor in Connell, and for a certain number of months after completion of the legal title we shall reserve to ourselves the right to do one of three things—either to take the whole of tho block ourselves, paying tho purchase money and the interest and expenses that may have accrued ; or, secondly to take' part of tho block on the same terms ; or, thirdly, _ that a certain quantity Of land shall bo cut up into small sections for settlement. Those are the essential conditions we shall make in regard to tho purchase of any native lands in the future.
No such proposals as .are hero indicated havo been made ; no such jßill k;i;i been introduced ; it is doubtful if any such Bill had been even drafted. The desire to meet the requirements in native lands of small capitalists who might come into the colony to settle, and the desire to facilitate the acquisition of land by private purchasers, have evaporated in expression. Nothing has been done, A stranger, with no other light than that afforded by the actual legislation of the session, would bo forced to conclude that tho Government desired to place as much obstruction as possible in tho way of private purchases from ib° natives, and that their policy was, in effect, to recover the preemptive right of tho Crown. This is the view which the natives themselves are beginning to take, and they suspect the Government of desiring “to steal their lands.” What was seen long ago on this point by a fow men is now being generally admitted, viz,, that the abandonment of that right was a fatal error ; but the step cannot be retraced. To borrow tho Premier’s ferocious expression of his triumph over the laud holders by the imnosition of his tax, tho Maori “has tasted blooda penny an aero and delusive
promises will buy territory in Now Zealand never more. An esteemed correspondent, whoseletter signed “Economist” appeared in our columns a few days since, placed this question in a very clear light. The madness of faction sacrificed Mr. Whitaker's Native Laud Court Bill last year; with some modifications which the Government would have readily accepted that measure might have been perfected. It would bo well if its spirit should bo allowed to bo the guide of the Government in the administration of the existing law. Neither the personal dislike of Sir George Grey to individuals, nor the desire of the Government on the other hand to secure Parliamentary support, should now be permitted to interfere with legitimate private action in the extinguishment of native title. Room is wanted in the North Island ; land for the people I The stockman and the shepherd may precede the plough ; but beef and mutton have their use as well as “cereals,” and it is better, we think, that even one hundred thousand acres here and there should be covered with the flocks and the herds of a bloated aristocrat, than that the land should continue to form part of the great “brown 99 desert which is shown on the map of the North Island.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18781104.2.7
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5493, 4 November 1878, Page 2
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,474The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1878. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5493, 4 November 1878, Page 2
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.