NATIVE MINISTER'S STATEMENT,

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2993, 18 September 1878, Page 2

NATIVE MINISTER'S STATEMENT,

(Pee Peess Agency.)

HOUSE OF EEPBESENTATIVES.

Wellington, Tuesday.

In the House last night the Hon. J. Sheehan delivered his Statement as to the Native policy of the Government. He referred to the peaceful and satisfactory j state of the relations with the Natives, and the well-grounded hopes that might now be entertained of gradually elevating the ,Natives to a condition approaching that of Europeans. He referred to the very un- . satisfactory state in which he found questions of Native land purchases and sur-, veys when he took.office. So bad was this that he found large blocks of conn's-: cated land left untouched and apparently unclaimed—so long, in fact, that Maoris thought they had become theirs again. On One occasion he found a Native driving, cattle on to the Waimate Plains, which he alleged he had leased from Titokowaru and other natives. He very soon made that person aware that he was trespassing upon OrOwn lands, and he was very glad to say he. was upheld by the Court. On the whole he thought the management of native affairs previously showed a want of nerve and firmness, and he thought he would be able to show that the present Government had so acted as to restore the confidence of natives in the Legislature, and generally to.show the House that the conduct of the present Government had been such' as to justify .the Belief that they were worthy of being ' still'trusted ' with the management of native ' affairs.' He quoted statistics to show that the Maori race was slowly but surely: approaching ;extinction.;. Since. J1J874 the race had ; dtereasedrl996 persons. ,He attributed this to a want of proper pare for the very young, and the neglect of their pldj their poor diet. and. habitations ; 'their indulgence in-liquor,'and their well known communistic habits and depraved way of'living. -A hopeful sign as against all this was the fact that the half-caste was of superior physique to either the Maori or the European. There was also a considerable revival in the direction of religion, he having seen four different forms of worship -going on at the same time in one enclosure. .But this "was a matter the Government should' not interfere with. The good effects of this had been seen in the influence of Te Whiti, ,in restraining the r yiolent propensities of some of the Natives. Exceedingly hopeful, too, was the decrease in the taste for strong drink. During four days of the Hikurangi meeting 1 not a tingle .Maori was drunk,; and the, consequence; was a general < improvement in appearance. . The Maoris Werer. iealthi«r, •• better,. r dr«ised, n amk altogether'the happier.' He would* Wt prevent Maoris .obtaining a glass of liquor in a European settlement, bnt they would ask the .'assistance of the -House, ■io( ipW- 1 Vent the,use of alcoholic liquors & native' settlements..., As to education,-there were 60 schools, with an,attendance of over, £wo thousand children. They proposed to ■• spend. £14,000 this. year on native, Schools, and by raising the salaries of teachers obtain a better' quality.; It,}was jalso proposed to extend the system of boarding schools for native, children, bejcause when*.Maori boy left school and jwehH'bafekf'io: Jus i tribe, what was there [before him, but to take "up« and follow jways of the tribe. He strongly deprecated the action of religious bodies in regard^to large trusts of land. From the way in; which these bodies neglected thßir duty in these matters it was time the State interfered to compel them either to imake a proper use of .these trusts or give 'them back to the State.- He proposed {that Maoris should be' enabled to Bit as jurors in Courts of Justice. : Bespecting representation he/ thought it would be better to confine the Maoris' rights;to that of freehold only.. He believed thej were now on the eve of a final completion iand permanent settlement of peaceful rejlations with the natives.; referred to 'the negotiations with ithe Maori King, saying that itwii the moces«ion to office ■of Sir George G^wSigSled to the re- ! opening of negotiatioMrafad but for that 1 there would have been no negotiations. ; For days and days after they k took office {invitations to meet the King and I people literally poured in upon them. There' wi's^no*? ~an absolute : certainty that fthe prosposals made at Hikurangi i would be accepted, and made the basis of. ! a permanent arrangement with the King-; jites. The result of the Waitara-meeting, 'was ridiculed in some quarters, Jbut he ventured to say the Wai'tara meeting was (the keystone of. the arch, and as a proof he gave several instances of actions of cordiality on the part ot Kewi, shewing his anxious desire to work in harmoriy with the Europeans. .Ever since, neither he nor his people undertook anything of importance without telegraphing to the Premier or himself. Then he could point to the steamer built solely for Maori trade, and owned.by JRewi and other influential chiefs. A noticeable effect of the recant native meeting with' Ministers was the general spread yof law and order throughout the whole island. In a few days concessions would be made by which a line of road and. telegraph would be made where hitherto it had been impossible to do so. So important did he consider their work during the recess that he felt that a section of the members of. the House seemed animated by a desire to make light of the results of the exertions of the Ministry in Native matters. The hon. gentleman paid a high compliment to the assistance and invaluable services rendered by Major Brown in effecting an amicable adjustment of the*: difficulties which surrounded the work, and of getting the Waimate Plains surveyed peacefully. 'He instanced the case in which Te Whiti refused to accept a portion of the plunder of some thieving Maoris who 'sought refuge with him. Then another significant instance of the change which had come over the Maoris on the West Coast was the fact that a, turbulent chief, Tewhaio, only recently liberated, who threatened violence to some surveyors,' was arrested as a vagrant and fined £5. In regard to native land purchases he could assure the House that, although

they had been only some eight months employed, there had been three- titties the quantity of land put through the Courts than in the previous year. He lamented the injury and embarrassment caused by previous Governments in the acquisition of lands by private persons. Fortunately, the. Act of last session saved the present Government from that. He proposed to increase the number of native judges, and abandon the system of purchasing or holding leaseholds from natives if they could not acquire the freehold;' UsTyear'tfiey^" prohibited every officer in. the Native Department acquiring native land;'they now proposed, to go.further,,.and,,prevenfc every Government officer trafficing in native land. Begirding .the purchase of native lands, there were at present (of blocks in negotiation when taking office) 253 outstanding blocks of 3,143-00<i aerei/T on which £186,000 was: paid, and to com" ? plete which deSOS.OOO was yetto-be paid; but he believed^ the Government would have to abandon some of these blocks, jor» make some different arrangements with' the Maoris. He believed the Government would not^be able to acquire the freehbfr of all the Hot Lake district of EotomaV hana, but they would' prevent' it¥ aliena?" 0 tion to private parties, and thus keep it for,.the use, of *h* world. T A» r ,offer ,©f Ohinemutu had been made, and' tne Government intended -to aeqmire it as a i freehold. As to the removal of certain officers, which ;^em>mber for Wanfanui ! was moving to inquire into,' he "Would point out that the Naiire Department was a self-gdvernmenV aiftl whoever was at the head of it must hare the * power to change and remove fcii,'officer^: whenever the public interest required. ' afcd ;he had! orily ; iacted in. the public interest. Coming to the Native Land Bill he proposed to restrict .their land purchase operations, and tp allow no"title to be completed by v private, purchase without passing the ordeal of.the Governor-in-Council;., that, should the .Government * desire to ebtain any' block or bldckrfori the public, they could do so by the pay* * ment of the stipulated: pureaase-mdaey, with the incidental expenses connected with the purchase, or .any. portion ,o£ it, on the same terms, or insist upon'the cutting up of the blook into !smill>'allotments. The claims made>bjr%< South Island natives regarding certain "alleged promises made to them in regard Wueir land should be investigated/. He" Jbefrcd the time was not far distant when not only the .native• question. would.sb*, na mpre^ but the Native^DepartopnT; abolished;' 1 and both races would-be 3"Sbeying one law and' - sptak ing' one' ladgvagelC (Loud applause.). . ;— .