NATIVE AFFAIRS.

Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 437, 21 June 1879, Page 2

NATIVE AFFAIRS.

The Taranaki News of the 14 tb instant, says:—The New Zealand Herald (Auckland), of Wednesday last, published a long telegram received from its New Plymouth correspondent, the gist of which is that the.natives have a grievance which requires ratification before we shoot them, and in some nfeasure exculpates their recent aggresiye acts. We do not wish to see injustice done to the natives, nor do we wish to hinder the free expression of opinion on subjects of importance to the community, but it does appear to us that the inditer of this telegram either possesses a perverse spirit or one that delights to hover on the border-land- of treason. The people of Taranaki have suffered quite enough from -Maori apologists-*—both. clerical and lay—who, whenever any difficulty between the races has occurred, have always been ready to assert the immaculate character of the Maori and the vileness of their own race, and so have prevented the adoption of vigorous measures for the effectual repression of rebellion. The telegram was, no doubt, written for political purposes, the guise of philanthropby thrown over being sufficiently thin to be transparent, and it would have been unworthy of notice but for its mischievous tendency. As regards the assertion that the land being ploughed was not confiscated, we would state that by Orders in Council, dated 30th January and 9th September, 1865, all the native lauds in Middle Taranaki, Waitara South, Oakura, Ngatiawa, Ngatiruanui, Ngatiawa coast, and Ngatiruanui Qpast were confiscated. In connection with this confiscation, promises were made to friendly natives of reserves) and we shall show presently how fully and faithfully these promises were fulfilled. Before the promised reserves were surveved, it became necessary to place Military Setters on the lands, and in order that this might be done without complications, the friendly natives were asked to sign an agreement that they would give up the lands to which they had hereditary claims, and receive compensation in the shape of reserves selected for them by the Government elsewhere in the district. Not only were these promised reserves faithfully made, but every scrap of ground not required tor military settlement was returned. So completely has this been done, that in most of these districts' there is not a- quarter of- an acre of land available for ceraetary purposes. ' In Releigh hundreds of town sections have been returned to natives. In Oakura all the spacious town belts and a very large number of the town sections Have been returned. In the Oakura Block the natives hold 1,200 acres. At the back of Oakura there is a native reserve of 7,000 acres. At Okato there is a native reserve of 2,000 acres. Between the Stony' River and the Waiwerinui the natives hold a block of about 25,000 acres. Between Moutoti and Tanngatara they possess a block of nearly 50,000 acres. At Patea they have possession of land to the extent o

80,000 acres. Strange to say the land, at' Parihaka has mil been returned and is still the property of the Government. The fact of the fanatical prophet 'and jiis no less fanatical followers being permitted • to hold Parihaka for so many years im— - disturbedly, is prdof.of the semi-rebcliioni ■ tribes being very leniently dealt.'with. It tnrps out, therefore, that the ill-used • ■ natives'outlie coast 'between New Ply-? -• mouth-and; of whom have' • been in active rebellion, against aess aii -area of SSjOUO.acros ofland, yin' ; this calcul.atiozi we ha ye not enumerated r 400 acres,of valuable laud held by PopatW Ngarongomate, at JRotoko. .. Nor has.the 1 return of lands on the'other side.of^Kcw.. Plymouth been less liberal. Between Titirangi and Onaero, and extending from the coast to Kgatimaru, there is a native reserve of 40,000 acres, whilst at Puketapu, between Waitara and Jill Block, the natives hold 10,000 aen s of the most valuable land in the district. The Henttd’a- correspondent states that .. the natives have no titles to any of these lands. To this we may reply that they hare Crown Grants for the hundreds of sections in Raleigh, which they' Ropata Ngarongomate certainly has Crown Grants for some of .his lands, and as regards his other lands he exercises all the rights of" ownership. It is not many months since he refused gravel to the County at, the Oakuru Hill, for feat of the stripping causing an irruption of sand on to his estate. The lauds we have cited are all recognised as nativelands in the Survey Office and in the Land Office, and they are marked as such in the public maps. Many of them have been proclaimed- native lands by the Governor-in-Conncil, and others have been so declared by Compensation Courts,under the powers , gran ted by the New Zealand Settlements and Continuance Act. In many places, and especially at Oakura, the natives have cultivated lands once confiscated, but returned, for,years. •In other instances they have leased and sold such lands. We know ol no single instance of any natives being in any way deprived of lands so returned. One reason why more titles to returned'or reserved lands have not been given ta natives, is the great difficulty of individualising claims. It was the policy 1 of the late Government to favor this individualisation, byignoring chieftainship as much as possible, and by dealing severally with natives as with Europeans. This was no "doubt a step towards the assimilation of the natives with ourselves. This wise policy has, however, been reversed by the present Government, which first worshipped Tawhiao, then burned incense to Rewi, and afterwords tried to prostrate itself at the feet of Te Whili. These acts have revived chieitainsFiip, and have done much to retard civilisation and progress. By th“m the chieftain’s mana over the land has been revived, and the difficulty of individualisation and.cousaqnently the issue of Crown Grants, materially increased. There is another difficulty attending the issue of theso grants, and that is, the native habit of changing names and religious opinions concurrently. Some of the elder natives have had their original heathen name, then their Christian name, ih--u thoir hauhau name, and now their Te Wintiname.' “ Are you Poharauia? ,: we said to the old chief of Ngamotu, some years ago, to which he replied—“ That was uiy name before I joined Israel.” Another difficulty arises from deaths, which requires the intervention of the Succession Courts. Besides these a difficulty arises from the apathy of the natives respecting titles. We believe there are hundreds of titles prepared and not taken up. As a rule, we believe, titles are only taken up when natives are short of money, and wish to sell their lands. Then again, many who are strongly under the influence of Te Whiti ridicule Crown Grants, believing that by the prophet’s power every inch of land hold by Europeans will shortly be restored to To Whiti’s faith ml followers. The non-existence of Crown Grants has in no case, that we are a ware of, been a hardship, but has in many instances prevented natives from beggaring themselves by parting with aii their possessions in order to obtain rum. Possibly in dealing with a large number of natives, some of whom have been-faith-ful, and others sometimes in rebellion, and sometimes in allegiance, -some oversights have been made. If sueii ; • the case, there is a remedy of a constitutional character available. At any rate the correction of a mistake is not to be effected by rebellion, and it shove-,: - c the duty of the Government to prevent u recourse to arms for such a purpose.