THE NATIVE LAND PROBLEM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 128, 17 October 1912, Page 4

THE NATIVE LAND PROBLEM.

Mr.' Massey announced last week that the Government proposed to apply the provisions of the new Land Act to native lands, and that it was the most important provision in regard to land settlement of the last 20 years. "We are going," lie said, "to enable owners of native land to hand over their land to the Minister of Lands, who will survey and subdivide it, and put settlers 011 it, the net proceeds going to the natives." Provision is also made to hand over the proceeds to a board of trustees, to use the money in the best interests of the native owners. If any native owner prefers his land to be disposed of by way of lease, then the Minister may make arrangements accordingly. ,- I consider that tins proposal in the Bill," he continued, "will really be the solution of the native land difficulty; although it will take some little time to put it into opeJation." Presumably the hon. the Prime Minister, has not fully studied the past history of native lands, or he would hare discovered the scheme was no new one. Indeed, a scheme somewhat similar in terms was, according to the Pov-

erty Bay Herald, tried over a quarter of a century ago, when the Native Land Administration Act of 1880 was passed. By this Act native-owned land was to be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Land Acts then in force, by a commissioner, who was to have all the powers of a land board. When land was put into his hands the commissioner was empowered to lay off and dedicate roads, lay off reserves, make surveys, and generally to put the land on the market. To make the scheme exempt from interference, and to give it fair play, anyone dealing direct with owners was to be liable to not less than three months' or more than 12 months' imprisonment, or to a fine of not less than £2O nor more than £SOO, together with forfeiture of the land dealt with. The revenue received, after deducting five per cent, for the Crown, and payment of the cost of cutting up and other liabilities, could either lie paid to the owners or invested to the best advantage for them. It will bo noticed that this lias all the essentials of the scheme proposed by Mr. Massey, who noted with satisfaction that the native chiefs were offering to hand over a quarter of a million acres, to be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the new proposal. The same thing (says our contemporary) was supposed to'be done by Sir James (then Mr.) Carroll in the King Country, but when it was tried to utilise this there were so many inter-tribal and family quarrels that nothing ever came of it* It is quite clear that no such scheme can be worked unless it is made compulsory, even to the extent of forcing the disposal of the land without the natives' consent, The present boards, while their constitution might be simplified, have ample power to deal with native lands if the natives will permit them, but it will invariably be found that it is only when some prospective buyer or lessee gets to work that the

native will move at all. The history of the 1886 Act was summed up by tin: Stout-Ngata Commission in a few pregnant words. "The Act was inoperative," the report says, "owing to two reasons, the first of these being that the control of their lands was taken away from the Maoris and placed in the hands of persons not in any way responsible to them; the second, that the Act was made optional, not imperative. 'No lands were brought under its operation.' The Maon objected to being deprived of all autlij ority and management of their ancestral lands, and therefore they refused to bring those lands under the Act." Again, under the Native Land Act of 1894, the natives were given the right to hand their land to the Land Board of the district for disposal in the same manner as Crown lands, with the exception that every sale should be made by public auction. The Government was to find the money for surveying, laying oil', and constructing roads, and executing any works for the purpose of rendering such lands available for settlement; also of advertising and conducting any sale or lease. Then advances were to be deducted, and could be spread over seven years, and the whole balance without any charges whatever, were payable through the Public Trustee to the native owners. Surely more liberal terms could not be offered to anyone (continues the Herald), and yet not a single acre of nativo land in the Gisborne district was handed to the Land Board to dispose of. Later, in 1900, a similar system was submitted to the natives to have their land administered under Land Board regulations, 'with still the same result—not a scrap of land was ever so disposed of. Yet some have hopes thatthe thrice-repeated panacea will work, and that the native land problem is finally solved! Hope is a splendid- thing, but after the storm of criticism over the manner in which the Ward Administration dealt with native land matters, it was expected that something better would be offered in the way of solution than an attempt to repeat the failures of history.