The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1889. Native Lands Courts.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3264, 24 July 1889, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1889. Native Lands Courts.

The honorable and gallant Major who has charge of the colony's breeches pocket, appears to take rather a one sided view of the duties of his position, He has taken credi tor having kept the public servav from dipping too deeply into thi pocket, yet there is such a thing :

undue caution in sucb a matter. Tl

public bave needs which must be attended to, or business and settle, ment suffer. There are now departmoots cut down to such an extent that small economies made are lost in the larger inconvenience and expense suffered by all who directly or indirectly have dealings with them, Many in the Wuirara'pa will know how, after long and patient expectation, a Native land court did at last make a start at Greytown, with the avowed object of settling the claims to the large, the very large, area of land requiring adjudication throughout the district, Only those who have a knowledge of the manner in which settlement is retarded in Native lands when titles are incomplete can understand tfhat a boon to a district it is to have these matters settled, Then tho secured farmer or grazier who takes up these lands can venture on improvements, can fall and grass, can plough and sow, In this district tho Natives fell in readily with the Legislative plan of individualising their titles, and were ripe for the Court long before it came. It is easy to imagine, then, the number of persons interested in this matter— Natives, settlers, agents, surveyors, storekeepers, who in one way or another were financially concerned, to say nothing jf.fche general progress of the Colony, and increased valuo of lands. Well, this Court did at last make a start under Judge Macltay, and all went as merry as a rather steady-going marriage bell, by dipping into the large amount of work before it, and for a few months getting through a moderate amount of business, Will it be believed by those who have not bad dealings with these Courts, that the wholo proceedings, while still in their infancy, were brought' to a sudden standstill by the removal of the whole Court, bag and baggage, to Wellington, aud thence to tho West Coast. Claimants and others interested, have now to cultivate tho old timo patience of a chancery sujtpr, Letters or matters left in abeyance by the Greytown Court receive spirit fionrtesy jn Wpilingtpn, where they lie unanswered, or are sent after tho Court to .take their tardy chance with other press of matters in hand. This seems fairly a casewliere.too strict a witch on the breeohes pocket has led to wholesale loss and jnconvenienco. If the West Coast so urgently jeouired a Court then a fresh one should have been appointed, for tho expense of such a course would be absurdly small compared to the loss being-incurred by the district and colony. Wo thin)? it only reasonable' to suggest that tto» every depart-

inont should include a prompt I attention to thoso who iiave dealings with them. At present complaints are rife thai ouly by worrying on the spot, either personally or by. an ngont. can business, bo gob through in the Wellington offices, leading to expcnso and delays of a serious nature to those not living in the