NATIVE LAND LEGISLATION.

Pahiatua Star and Eketahuna Advertiser, Volume 1, Issue 12, 20 July 1886, Page 4

NATIVE LAND LEGISLATION.

ft From Examiner.) W. n publish from the Hawke’s Bay Herald the following letter, by an authority oil the ihj* ct only too well-known to native land jobh.n s in Hawke’s Bay. Ah a straightforward energetic colonist a h r. i «2 • ,i kia i ftn m •* 11. 11. B»" it well worthy t he perusal of our reader* Slit, I noti.‘« S4*m* pancr* are very wroth with the action of Sir Hubert nurd to native landa legislate n. Well.sir, I never whi n a very strong article appears, who i* pulling the wire that makes tho doll dance. It may he sometimes il at when the editor is sh . py or l.i/.y the wires aie qtueUi pulled by interested 1 iiitm If look upon the Native Lands Administration Hill ns a step in th. right direction, namely, toward* the resumpl land. I cannot . that giving power to commit!, t can anyhow I*. worse than our »»r« cut h\hit-in of co gcantecs. 1 do not believe the question will ever rest I until private tr.ifii. in native lands is done away with. Some of tho.se who fought ! *r. .. | !. hut others ini t. and in Sir Robert j Stont and In Government we have nu n who nr. quite disinterested —who have had no d« ding . 1 believe, in native ; lands, but an del mined t* put in end to this traffic, sometime* carried on by I agents who do the dirty work Hives has not the pluck to do. Now, who are the | men who have so bitterly op|K>std legislation in native bind during the list two . Mssioiih? W ell, to judge by Hansard. I they art* many of them North Isla.-d • in* inlars, and greatly interested. This f itiion .Nfessi s I'm iham. Ormond, Ac., j ar* taking a prominent part. Mr Beethum, with a refreshing simplicity, tells | the House lie has no interest direct or j / indirect in native lands. The publie will take the statement at its value. Is he] not closely connected with an old mis- j •i.marv family who have purchased large trivet* of country from the natives, and who also occupy immense blocks leased , from the Maoris? Mr Beethatn says i twenty to one of tlie native land Ironsac- | torn* will U ar investigation >ii the light of day. lH»es he, sir, mean in this j world .* For other* may think differently, j and believe that in many ca * the laud traffic blinds men to honor and truth, i They may pass our law court. 1 have j often been fold that -omr things arc j merely *neee-*fnl evasions <»f the law : but tiiere is such a thing as public opinion ami aotiieuiue* -ever# jw*ot»lc‘s I judgment, when* them is all own lo be a ‘ want of equity and g • *1 conscience. Now’, let me point out to Mr Bcctham ; an.l the | oblic a few facts. Uiem | turn to the Hawk. Bay Native Alienation (\»ininn ion. h7H. In one instance, out of AV4O, TdTO w w taken m wine or spirits as part of the consideration. In another, out of A.'-1• * was | pan! in w ine and apinU, and »w> on m a j minor way in other transaction*, al- I • grog to the Maori. Now turn to the I lleretaunga case. Mr Justice Richmond aavs that secret gratuities only occurred in the IB rctauiiga cu*e, and he iul.U. •' Th* parties should r» iiieiuU r that the ) validity of such transaction* may at any i time have to U» indgd of Upon the severe principle* of an l .nghsh Court of E jmfy.’* *

! On- Knroix-an \viln< - atated v.iih rfirar'l I o Knraitiaim and hi* tRMM), “ It was ! imply question in mv mind whether it vr* .iev.rnhle to give liim tlii* hribe in i infer to secure hi* co-operation*" ami on |

l«mg -• -k'.* l by a lawyer, “ Ho you con- ; id. > t’u.t a fair practice n* regard* the purc*» or Ins co-grantee*?" rci»lie«l, *• Very nndcnirable : unfair. ! should say, • - Tin <■ cuini -i »n occup:» 17‘i pages, and n twithstarwling Messrs Jfecthain, Ormond, A:., doe* not give one a high opinion of the dealing* with the natives. In fact, it has a taste of what Mr Justice

Richmond would call ** Oriental finesse.* But they say the natives are *o corrupt! 1 ask, who corrupted them but wo who pride ourselves on l»cing a superior race and Christians? When I came to this country, more than twenty years ago, 1 may say more than *200,(109 acres were held tinder Maori landlords. Ye*, on the wont! of honor of u Maori. I remember • : • large holde r telling me that his Maori landlords had been tempted by a higher rent and a bonus to throw him over; but the Maoris were true to their word. Surely such conduct dc*served better treatment than they afterwards received in too many cu-es. A large block ha* been held on Maori honor at l’orangahau for more than twenty-five year*, and i* held «> *tdl. More honor to both the Maori landlords nnd their tenant* ! Now, let me ask who did away with the old pre-emptive right in New Zealand? Was it dune away with for the benefit of the public ? Why, the colony did not even get a mess of pottage for their birthright. No ? It wosd< me a way with by the few, f< >r the benefit of the few. and I would ask Mr ()mond who were the few ? Mr Ormond is r»rv; ' oxious to return to tho preempl’.ve ight, but is he sincere ? Ho i* - to: r;»,iy changeable. No game*, mind, this twx ,as the school boy says. Some say, chiefly those interested, why rake up th* past ? Our opjament* force us to do i». You must judge men by their past. It they worked tor themselves only in the past are they likely to work for tho colony in the future ? Is their earth hunger satisfied ? Moreover, what went on in the p ,st going on in the present ; with less run probably, but more <»f Oriental finesse. Let the private traffic in native land cease, rmd I l-« here rill would be well willing to let the dead past bury it* dead, but as 1 ng as a method of dealing lasts that can onlv benefit large speculators, some of tl » in utterly unscrupulous, and with an iii-afliiU. earth greed, so long will the strife ' f refuthersund the rest of the British Empire and otir American cousins on this matter of pre-emptive right ? What has the loss of it brought ns in New Zealand but strife, bitterness, and in many cases .< actions and after regret? L« t demand, in the interest of the colony as a whole, and for the furthcruu* i't settlement, that the Government , have the profit Iroin native lands. Let ! th* nriTiv* h * iHkjgnise what is done for their welfare. Bo They know that simple nursery rhym of the spider and the fly? And do they understand its moral? They are no match for Uriah Heeps and M. lnotte- among tin* Luro|>caiis, the banditti of modern days. Let them see the i 1< mi of s. llin : to the Government or of having their land sold by the Government. We have heard our legislators ,in both the Upper and Lower 1 Luis. frequently use the expression Inti ly, that righteousness exaltcth a nation. ’.Yell, 1 hope before long it may exalt the young New Zealand nation, or (tod help her in the near future. —I am,Ac., H. H. R. Inly 10th, IKSfi.