CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 117, 7 November 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE MOKAIJ AGAIN.

Mr. Hinc told tlio Stratford electors on Friday lliat the Crown could have bought the Mokau lauds just as easily as nilyoirt» else, and they would hav'e retained thS whole -in literal but that at the preswifc tipie which had purchased the estate was placing the land on the market and retaining the mineral wealth and rights itself. This is bunkum.' The (.'town eould not. have, and Mr. 11 ine knows it jus I: as well as wo do. The acquisition of this .estate would have been an entirely different matter to the .■U'i]iiisition of any other Maori estate in Xew liitiil The Crown can purchase any other Maori estates, as it has done and is doing, without difficulty. The Mokau would have been a problem, as it has been for years and years., Before the Crown could liave seemed the fee simple it would have had to settle with (I) the Maori owners; (2) the original lesee; (3) tlie sub-lessees:

j iind l b tin* pun-haser of the Kowler ini tc.rrstus. Uy the time it had aecotnj>l i-lu l *] this., tin' land may have Ikh-ii available in time for the use of our t'k.ltlrcii s children and co>t a sum much greater Hum it will stand the present ■syndicate in at. At the very complexity of the problem t.ho Crown had shied for .-years and years It saw a wav out of the labyrinth when the holder of tin l l'oivler interests came forward with a scheme to purchaso the Maoris' interests and set tie the property on lilies and conditions consistent with the I land laws. The fact that he subsequently sold his rights to a syndicate and that, tlie syndicate passed the rights on to another syndicate) does not alter '■lie position so v far as the Crown is concerned. Its demands aa to settlement were being carried out, the interests of tlic Maoris were being safeguarded. and it was powerless to prevent the speculators making money out of the rights. Tt seems to be overlooked that if the Ciovernment wanted to resume Ihe properly it may have had to' pay as big a price for the rights of Hermann Lewis as did the syndicate, and on toj> of this it would have had to settle with the. other interests. The statement of Mr. TTine tluit had (lie J C'rown purchased the estate set!lenient could have proceeded on much more favorable terms than will be the case now cannot therefore be borne out. In I'egard to the minerals on the property, the syndicate has not a monopoly by any means, for coal-bearing fields extend northwards ami right through almost to (lie Waiiganui river, some of the most, likely being ill the Tangarakau. It remains to be proved, too, whether the minerals on the property can hi! Worked profitably. Men experienced in mining have expressed their doubts on this point, for, unlike the deposit on tin; Auckland side of the river, the coal measures in the present blockare below the water line. Equally with Mr. Nine we deplore the fact that speculators should have reaped the harvest they have in connection with the Mokau, and would have dcarlv liked to see a spoke put in their wheel, but. as we have said before, once the Crown issued (he Order ill-Council, its part was ended. except to see that the conditions as to payment to the Maoris, etc.. and settlement of the property, were carried out. And the important point; is that without the isnue of the Order-in-Coun-cil the block would have remained a block to tin' sett lenient, of Northern Taranaki for many years to come. This fact Mr. lline should in future bear in mind.

>IIT,TTAT!Y PEXSTOX*. Thore lias lioon a mild agilatiou lately among old soldiers who fought, in the Manvi war for military pensions. and (lie now .Military Tensions Aot of the session is by war of securing what old soldiers desire. The old soldier under litis Aot will lii' able lo draw an amount orpinl lo the amount he would lie onlitlod lo as an old-age nonsioner. the only apparent did'erenee being that of name—and a monetary recognition of his services. The conditions giving the penshYh will be the same as lliosn governing old-age pensions, and this will not. of course, be absolutely agreeable to all old soldiers. At the veterans' mooting a. short while ago. it was put forward (hat Imperial military pensions were granted without conditions. This is true. The Army authorities simply make Hie grant. •«nd -tliAVs-all tluw is .to, ?£'■_ Tlwv do not trot the veteran up before a magistrate and stop his dole if-he has

"had a glass," a point emphasised lately at'"a local meeting Under the conditions giving the new military j pensions' it is obvious that searching examination (as the old age pension) will : be made as to the character of the pro- I posed recipients. Thus-the pension will not be paid because a man has served his ■ country, but because Ue is-an exemplary old fellow. If this system were introduced in Britain what a very large amount of money the country would save! We believe the State should take, tho view: "Here's an old soldier; he fought for us. and we pension him—and we will trust him." Instead, the State intends to be grandmother to a lot of old gentlemen many of whom will have to practice deceit to retain the dole which they have so well earned.