The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911. THE MOKAU LANDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 31, 31 July 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911. THE MOKAU LANDS.

fly this time the Mokau lands should be well advertised in and , out of the Dominion. No part of New Zealand has been so much in the public eye during the past thirty years, and no district' has been associated with so much litigation and wrangling. "The old man of the sea" has sat upon it and no mistake. At present it is the subject of a vehement controversy, the political gladiators crossing swords and making sparks fly in a way that must be dear to their hearts, for the average politician (as distinct from the statesman) loves a wrangle more than anything, whether the subject is worth powder and shot or not. Mr. Massey was the first to step into the ring. He charged the Government, in a delightfully vague way, with being party to defrauding the, Mokau native owners, to delaying settlement, and to playing into the hands of a "gang of speculators." The charges have been categorically rebutted, and one gentleman, solicitor for the Palmerston North Company that has acquired the property from the "gang" of Hawke's Bay speculators (who, by the way, are big landowners there and prominent supporters of Mr. Masse/a party), has gone the length of issuing a direct challenge, with a monetary penalty attached, to Mr. Massey to prove any one or all of his statements. Mr. Massey has not yet taken up the challenge, but has shifted his ground. To understand the position, it is necessary to say that the estate was secured by Mr. Joshua Jones in 1882 from Maoris under a fifty-six years' lease. In 1905 the owners' interest was valued at £II,OOO by the Valuation Department, while the lease had so long to run that it was worth but very little to the Maori owners. By that time the original lessee (Mr. Jones) had, through misfortunes and litigation, ceased to bold the property, and it passed to other hands, and later was secured in turn by two syndicates. The present holders are cutting up the land and are under obligations to dispose of it under the land laws at a date not very far off, and the whole is under the jurisdiction of the nearest Maori Council. The Maori owners' interests seem to have been well protected. In fact, according to the ActingPremier, the natives are being very liberally treated. They are being paid £25,000 in cash (though the valuation of their interests was only £14,881), besides retaining interests in the coal deposits. Mr. Massey states that the bargain is an improvident one for the Maoris, and he is supported by Mr. H. D. Bell, K.C., who is represented as saying: "The cash tempted them, as it has always tempted natives, to sell their inheritance for a mess of pottage," But Mr. C. P. Skerrett, KG, whose judgment is as sound as Mr. Bell's, and who acted for the natives in the deal, holds a different opinion. Mr. Skerrett was examined by the Parliamentary Committee that considered Mr. Joshua Jones' petition for redress last session, and his evidence bearing on the sale to Mr. Lewis is interesting. He said: I have taken the responsibility of advising the natives to accept that proposal in their own interests. I think the price. £25,000, is a fair one, having regard to the value of the land and the tremendous difficulties the position involves. ... I desire to say, speaking with a full feeling of responsibility, that this arrangement, if it can be carried out, is an extremely satisfactory one for my clients. . . . Tf this is to be settled in the interests of my clients, it has got to he settled at once. Tf not settled now there will be a huge mass of litigation, which will involve a very large amount of expense. The arrangement ultimately made, largely through the intervention of the Native Minister, was even more advantageous to the Maoris than the one which Mr. Skerrett said would be "an extremely satisfactory one" for his clients. Mr. Massey condemns the Government for facilitating the, sale to the "gang of

speculators," and alleges political jobbery because the present Minister for Justice is a member of a firm that was interested in the case, and an ex-Minister (Mr. McNab) was a member of the syndicate. The allegation has not been proved. If- he can prove that jobbery has taken place, then Mr. Massey will bring about the down; fall of the Government. But the task will not be easy. Mr. Massey maintains that if the proposition were good enough for private syndicates to take up, it was good enough for the Government to take over the block and do what the present syndicate are doing, namely, roading and cutting up the block preparatory to throwing it open for settlement. The argument seems sound enough and would apply to any other property not so hopelessly tangled up as the Mokau block was. There were to consider the interests of the Maori owners, the interests of the lessee, the j interests of the sub-lessees, and the I claims of Mr. Jones. The' Government would not take up the lands and open them for settlement. i The late Mr. Seddon would not take the risk, nor would the present Government, though implored to do so in sea- | son and out of season by Mr. W. T. Jennings, member for the district. The difficulties and risk, he was always told, were too great. By a combination of circumstances, a way has been found, to open tie land. The natives have been satisfied, the interests of the sub-lessees are protected, and the syndicate are taking any risk that may be involved and will deal with any claims made. If the Government has made any mistake in the matter and that has yet yet to be proved the all-import-ant result has been gained, namely, the lands that have blocked the progress of northern Taranaki for decades are being made ready for settlement and will shortly be in profitable occupation. For facilitating this desideratum, the Government deserve praise and not condemnation. If Mr. Massey and his friends had had their way, the lands would probably have been tied up for several more decades. If anything improper has been done by the Government in the matter, then out with it, by all means. Mr. Massey says he is going to press for an enquiry, and the Acting l Premier has given assurances that he will be only too pleased to afford enquiry, so that it is possible we will soon have the glare of the limelight on the whole transactions.