The Telephone. WITH WHICH INCORPORATED THE POVERTY BAY STANDARD. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 276, 3 November 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. WITH WHICH INCORPORATED THE POVERTY BAY STANDARD. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3.

Our Auckland correspondent wires this afternoon that Mr. Ballance withdrew his Native Land Bill after Wahanui’s address at the Bar of the House on Saturday last. We do not see any particular object to be gained, this session, even though Mr. Ballance’s Bill did pass. The main object of that Bill apparently was to prevent the lands along the North Island Trunk Railway route, held by the Natives according to their customs and usages, from passing into the hands of speculators. Now, as the law stands at present, it is absolutely penal for any person to deal with Native for land, before it has been adjudicated upon by the Native Land Court, and the title ascertained. Even after the title has been ascertained, it is illegal to deal for the land until a considerable period of time has elapsed, and certain notices published in the Gazette. A large proportion of the land owned by Maoris along that route, is unadjudicated upon, and as there is no probability of the title to it, being determined for some considerable time, no greedy speculator will have the remotest chance of acquiring it. In the mean time there will be ample opportunity to have the necessary legislative preventatives resorted to next session. The present session is too advanced to undertake such an important measure as that introduced by Mr. Ballance. As wc anticipated on Saturday, Wahanui took a decided stand in his address at the Bar of the House, in favor of handing over to the Maoris for their management lands held under purely Native tenure.