Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1882.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 20 October 1882, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1882.

A PABAanAPn in the Home News of September 7th announces that " two important meetings were held £it the latter end of the session in the Conference Eoom of the House of Com« mons, at which many -prominent members of Parliament and otherß were present,- to take into consideration a scheme for the arrest of the decay of, the native race in NewZealand, and for the establishment of permanent peace between the Native and European - races." It is further stated that the scheme was suggested by the presence in England of three native chiefs who were about to return to New Zealand. It appears that the outlines of this pretentious scheme were unfolded to the meetings, and,' as we shall see presently, the first steps were taken for attracting the attention of the public and enlisting the sympathies and securing the co-operation and C6ns»nt of the Maori race. After giving a very few particulars of what is proposed to be done, the paragraph proceeds as follows : — " Although suggested in the interests of the natives, it is said to be somewhat doubtful if the co-operation of the race can be secured, seeing the inter-tribal jealousies -which exist, and the host of enemies which it will arouse, as it is calculated to overturn the^existing system of land-sharking, by which unscrupulous men have • lived and fattened on the natives, [ and who will necessarily misconstrue ■ and malign the motives which have suggested the innovation, and who will do their utmost to arouse the suspicions and opposition of the natives. The chiefs at present in this country are said to strongly I advocate the plan, but it is doubtful whether their influence is such as to , secure perfect accord among the tribes whose support it is desirable to obtain, in order to carry out the scheme in its entirety." The first point which will strike a person at all acquainted with native affairs is the huge blunder which appears to • have been committed by these philanthropists in London in believing that " the three chie'ts " woto possessed of any influence worth speaking about in connection with a scheme for dealing with the whole of the Maori land in New Zealand". , Wiremu Eeweti Te Puhi Hihi, Hireni Eowiri Te Taiwhauga, and Hakena Te Paroro, may be chiefs, but if so they are only chiefs of the r Ngapuhi tribe, and of no great importance even amongst their own people- A mild doubt is cast upon the ability of those chiefs " to securo 1 perfect accord among ho bos whose support it is desirablo to obtain," whereas it is certain that thov can do next to nothing to assist tho schemo, and would have as littlo weight in causing the tribes to rush into the arms of tho philanthropists

as :'any one of the three bishops whose names we find amongst the promoters. Recently there have been forwarded to us two papers relating to this vast scheme for dealing wholesale with the Maori lands. The first is headed " Considerations in favour of a schomo for the pacification of, tho aboriginal people of New Zealand by dealing with their lands on just principles, for the lasting benefit of both European and Native races " ; aud'the second is an address in the Maori language (with translation attached) to the chiefs of the. native race in New Zealand, commencing in fine style with the words 0 ! Our distinguished friends. Salutations! 'Let us now- turn '■ to > the ; scheme as it is set forth in the first document wev>have mentioned, namely, " the considerations " as the "philanthropists call it, or the rough sketch of the prospectus of the new land-sharking company, as it would be more fitly designated. It is proposed, then", to form an association in London * called " the Maori Lands and Perpetual Annuities Association, Limited," with a capital of £1,000,000 and power to increase. The Association propose that ample reserves be made for the Maoris of such lands as they can beneficially occupy,- and that the remainder of the Maori land^i 'throughout the North Island be surveyed and valued according to quality at : the current prices in the colony fpr Maori lands, or at such prices and upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the natives and the Association. The fee simple of all this vast area is then to be " transferred by the natives -to the Association after the titles have been individualised by the ordinary Land Courts of the Colony." The Association is to deal with those lands by opening them up, selling them, and planting settlers 'thereon. The purchase money to be paid by the Association is not to be handed to the natives but to the Government, who are to pay the native owners and their heirs perpetual annuities. , The capital sum paid, to the Government is to be used for public works. In other words the first price of the vast Maori estate is to' be a loan to the Government ; and we presume the Association regard this as a substantial bait in a oountry which since the year 1870 has shown such strongly developed borrowing proclivities. The position of the Maoris would be that they would part with their lands, except the reserves, and become in fact pensioners of the New Zealand Government. We have not sufficient space at our disposal to go into the scheme exhaustively, but we have so far shown the principal advantage which the Maori land owners would derive from falling in with the views of the Association. The advantages to the English shareholders are set forth in the two following paragraphs, which also show how neatly philanthropy and ten per cent, dividends and a full half share in a fund calculated to total up to the respectable sum of twelve millions sterling, can be dovetailed : — " They would enjoy the satisfnction of solving, to the lasting benefit of both races, a political difficulty which has long overshadowed, our relations with the natives, and on several occasions has loft its dark traces in blood, and, humanly speaking, arrest the decay, or at least mitigate tho sufferings connected with the decline of a noble race. By means of a relatively small capital paid-up, say £200,000, and by the exercise of borrowing powers as may bo required, they would realise after the first year or two of their operations a 10 per cent, dividend for a, period of years, then receive back a sum equal to their paid-up capital, and finally share equally with the native certificateholders [the annuitants J in a fund of about £12,000,000 sterling." All this is very interesting; but whom are the A6sociation about to serve — Is it God or Mammon ? The words of the first sentences we have quoted, placed over signatures which include those of three right reverend prelates, and a sprinkling of other though lesser church dignitaries, would lead one to think that the Association had proposed to themselves a high and holy mission, but they spoil all in the latter sentences by invoking, or rather let us say providing, a blessing on the work in the shape of a ten per cent, dividend, and pickings out of Native lands to the extent of £6,000,000. It is scarcely necessary to explain that all this vast profit is proposed to be made by buying in the cheapest market, that is from savages who do not know tho value of what they are parting with, and selling in the dearest, that is, to Europeans who are desirous of settling on the land. The proposed Association is neither more nor less than a land jobbing company, to be organised on a scale of stupendous magnitude. They mean to do business and make money out of it, and it would have been much better had all mention of higher aims been omitted. But those philanthropic and plausible references were introduced for the purposo of obtaining powerful support which would otherwise have been wanting. The bishops, deans, and canons, whose names are affixed to the proipectus, are not the true promoters of the Association. Wo are quite willing to believe that the church dignitaries were influenced by purely philanthropic motives in ' taking up thiß' scheme ; but behind them is a knot of capitalists whose sole object is to make a great deal of money out of native' lands. If we were to admit the practicability of any Association acquiring the foe simple of all the native lands in New Zealand we should have to remind tho philanthropists that in. ordev to .command succoss their agents would have to adopt on a gigantic scale those very land- sharking tactics which this prospectus denounces. The business of loud buying is not to be done by a clap-trap lettor to the New Zealaud chiefs. Tlio modern Maori is not easily caught with chaff, and such. , greetings as — " O ! Oiu 1 dis ; tinguished friends. Salutations " will have no eii'ect on him, save to excite his laughter. But this grand scheme can never bo carried out, nor is it at all desirable that it should bo. New Zoa- ; land colonists cuu uiauago their own

national affairs (and this is large i enough to be considered such), without the assistance of another land jobbing- association on the banks of the Thames. ' If £6,000,000 and ten per cent on invested capital can be honestly made by wholesnle trafficking in. native lands it is bettor that tho Government of the colony should reap so rich a harvest, than that a f ew London-speculators should have a monopoly of it. If tho Government cannot take advantage of the opportunity then there are plenty of- private citizens in the colony who can. One word in conclusion about the dread which the promoters entertain of tho Maoris being deprived entirely of their lands and left to die but in abject poverty. The thing is impossible. The Legislature of the colony is fully alive to the necessity of preventing Buch a catastrophe. There are inalienable reserves in all directions, and more will be made as the opportunity arises and as the necessities of the case may seem, to dictate. The legislation of last session has already placed many thousands of acres in the hands of the Public Trustee for the use of the Natives, and as more reserves are made they will come under the same control and safekeeping. The Maoris are not quite so " badly off, and not in quite sucli imminent danger of extinction, as the ; promoters of "the Maori Lands and Perpetual Annuities Association, Limited," wouldlead people to believe.' ■-, • ''•■'.