The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1095, 1 July 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exaot justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious

or political. Here shall the Press the People's right

maintain, Unawed by influence and xaihribed by gain.

' TUESDAY, JULY 1, 1879.

I Of all the questions that agitate^the public mind at the present time, there is hone possessing halfthe importance to the North Island as what is known as the Native Land Question. A glance at the map prepared last session, will show at once that civilization is represented by a thin border round the edges of a vast tract of territory, still held by the natives under their traditions and customs. Millions of acres there are on which the face of a white man is rarely seen, and which are covered by ti-tree, fern, timber, and other indigenous growths, instead of the grass which would cover them, if they were accessible to European capitalj and enterprise. It is no breach of the tenth commandment, to look with longing eyes into this' tapued country, for not a tithe of it is required for the. subsistence of the aboriginal owners, and when we look at the millions toiling, m a state of semi-starvation, m the older European countries, we cannot but feel the pity it is that this land and those millions cannot be brought together. We propose to consider the present of this matter, and shall make no apology for doing so, at considerable leagth. The question must come before Parliament this session, and it is well the public should have a clear and iotelligible statement of the case before them, that they may not be misled by persons inside and outside of the House of Assembly, who, for ( party purposes, and to stir up the 1 worst passions of people m order to rendei them ' more facile tools, rave about capitalists, lands-sharks, robbers of poor men, and use other offensive terms. The opinions we intend to express, are founded upon carefully considered facts, and we are confident that, sooner or later, their truth will be recognised- by the country. The salvation of the North Island depends upon a settlement of this vital question, and delays, as will be shewn later on m this article, render that settlement more difficult every day, and will finally render it impossible. The first general principle laid down m reference fco the acquisition of native land m New Zealand was that of the pre-emptive right of the Grown. It was, unquestionably, a sound one, calculated to protect and further the best interests of the colonists, and had it been carried into practical effect more vigorously m the very early days of the colony, would have been no doubt a triumphant success. But, as European ideas crept gradually into the native mind, discontent at a system which left but one purchaser m the field kept constantly increasing m .strength, Then the land league was formed. Then the Waitara war broke out, caused almost wholly by Government land buying and thereupon the system was, to our mind, broken down for ever. The affair between Hapuku and Mananui m Hawke's Bay, settled the question there, and it was not until the Native .Land Court went' down there some time later than any titles could be obtained by the settlers to the lands they were occupying. In 1865 appeared the Native Lands Act. The moment that Bill was assented to by the Orown and became law, the preemtive right, of the Crown vanished. That right, which had been specially reserved by the treaty of Waitangi, was abrogated m favor of granting free and unreserved power to the natives to sell their land m whatever market they pleased. That was fourteen years ago, and will the upholders of the system of Government dabbling m native land venture to assert that after fourteen years of unreserved freedom m the sale of his land, the Maori will revert to the' system of having but one purchaser to whom he can offer his acres. *• We say, unhesitatingly, that any attempt to force the patives into this position will bringyon a second land league and. a second war. ' We have gone quitei far enough m that direction/already—dangerously far. Wtja;fc is known of the " proclamation V system, which is nothing raors than an attempt to set up a bastard preemptive right of the Crown, has irritated the natives beyond alb measure, and the course taken, of deliberately undermining the Native Land Court, through constant interference on the part of the Government, by ordering adjournments, etc., has destroyed, irretrievably, the only machinery we possessed, to has* en tho settlement of those

millions ■of acres ot waste lands. The natives have been deliberately taught that the Courts were under the thumb of the Government, whilst fchat Government was, at the same time, a suitor m those courts' as a purchaser of lands' they were adjudicating upon. We state it as a fact, not disputed or denied by any man with the slightest acquaintance with Maoris, that the power of the Native Lands Court is nearly, if not quite, annihilated. Formerly, the Maoris con-« sidered that the Court was independent of the Government, and was, strong enough to do them justice m the teeth of the Government. Now under this wretched proclamation system, they see the Courts ordered about at the will of the Government, adjourned to suit the convenience of some , Maori political magnate, and its power for good is no more; It has, m their minds, become the slave of those who wish to force the Maori by " proclaiming " his land to recognise the pre-6mpbive right, and they end by despising the Government and the Court together. _sut let us consider the nature of these proclamations. We do not believe one quarter of the people of this island understand their nature, or they would not try to force such an injustice npon a race so intelligent as the Maoris. The first' heard of them was m 1873, when Sir Donald McLean'sfamousohstructivemeasure became law. The object sought then to be attained, was to prevent persons acquiring native lands adjacent to a projected railway, m order that the State might reap the benefit of public expenditure. Nothing could be fairer than this, and possibly no objection would have been raised by the natives to such a course of purchase. But when these powers were stretched to such an extent as to include areas of land numbering hundreds of . 'thousands of acres, through which no railway was even talked of, discontent began to arise. That any Ministry should have the power by " Order m Council" of placing restrictions indiscriminately over land, the recognised property of British subjects, was seen to be injnstice. No man saw this more forcibly than Sir George Grey. Upon no subject were his utterances more decisive, we had almost said more denunciatory, than upon that of "Ord9rs m Conncil." Yet we find that, subject to slight alterations, the Aots giving the power of issuing those " Orders m Council," proclaiming land, remain as they were upon his assuming power. At Wanganui, on the East Coast, at Patatere, m the North, the " Orders m Council " have been growing m frequency and scope until now there is hardly a hapu that is not smarting under a sense of undue interference by a power that they cannot control, and which seems like the octopus, to be still reaching forth its all powerful limbs, to crush their rights. This, we assert, is founded on absolute facts, and can be ascertained by any person taking the slightest trouble to question the natives on the matter.

Now, the danger of delay m at once rectifying this state, of things is obvious. We are borrowing money m this country to spend upon public woiks. The interest of this money has to be paid oat of the land of the conntry. We manufacture nothing for export to speak of, onr profits, therefore, or, m other words, our purohasino; power from this source is next to nil. The money which enables the population to purchase dutiable articles, and thereby to contribute towards the payment of the interest on the borrowed money, comes from the natural resources of the land, m the shape of flax, gum, timber, minerals, cereals and wool. These natural resources are every day becoming more exhausted m oar limited area of country, and yet twenty millions of acres must lie idle and unproductive to satisfy a hopeless political fad, m the shape of a return to the preemptive right of the Crown. But further, these millions of acres pay no taxes. Not only do they, not contribute to the actual producing and purchasing power of the country, bat they cannot be reached by direst taxation. No land tax, no road board or county rates affect the owners of these vast tracts of country. The quiet, gradual, but certain growth of the colony m population, renders this property, year by year, more valuable, until at last it will be impossible to find the money to pay the vast sums demanded to satisfy tho " unearned increment " accrued to the dark skinned landed aristocracy which will have arisen. We can tax a white sqnatocracy, which is so hateful to our philanthropic Premier, but the brown one must go free. In ten years, all chance of getting land for settlement will have gone by, £tnd if the whole country is to continue to be locked up by "■ Proclamation,'' our producing taxpaj-iiag power will be, by no means, adequate to sustain, the drain of a million and a-half ready money leaving the country yearly m payment of interest. The fact is, free trade m native lands is the only safe policy to pursue, either from a political or financial point of view. We quite agree with those who think that large estates are not desirable, but we do say that when m the hands of white men they can be made to contribute to the revenue, whilst m the hands of Maoris, they are simply gaining m value by our exertions, and paying nothing to assist those exertions. And that the Government system of purchase is a complete failure.

is made abundantly clear by such instances as the Aroua, Piako, Patatere. Wanganui, and other" blocks. Any amount of worthless clay hills, and back timber country they can get, but once approach good payable flat land suitable for; settlement, and the difficulties are found to be insurmountable. .Let the Government conclude all out-' standing purchases m the shortest and piu* 07 P ossible > and leave the rest ot the country to be dealt with as thn natural law of supply and "demand directs. There will be plenty of work then for all trustworthy agents they can obtain, and they will probably save the oountry the expense of a war. We would entreat the earnest consideration of all North Island settiers to this most important question. It is life or death to them, and we, for our part, saa u not g^^k from the iullest discussion upon a subject which we believe to be a vital one to the Northern Provinces, and to which we have therefore endeavored to give the most minute consideration.