THE MAORI AND HIS LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 127, 29 May 1919, Page 4

THE MAORI AND HIS LAND.

That perennial question, the putting into use of native lands, is of more importance than ever now that the Dominion is carrying a huge war debt, and must increase production to meet it. Bishop Averill, whose experience in two dioceses where there are large Maori populations gives his views weight, puts the urgency of the problem briefly and forcibly. " When I was Bishop of Waiapu, I used to ride through Uisborne, the East Coast and Opotiki, and I passed through miles and miles of Maori land, all virgin bush, and absolutely untouched. I came to the King Country, and found the same difficulties here, and when you think of the tremendous burden we have to boar in the future owing to the war, we must realise that all this class of country must be made properly productive if we are to carry the load." Bishop Averill complains of the lack of a bold statesmanlike policy in dealing with native lands. He would like to see a Minister for Native Affairs come forward with the moral courage to dispose of much of this unused land, after making ample reserves for the natives, and invest the proceeds from the sale with the Public Trustee for investment and distribution. There is much to be said for such a solution, but almost everything would depend on the use to which t'lis invested money was put. As the Bishop says, the Maori should not 'be encouraged to loaf, and if he received interest on the proceeds of the sale of his land, without any obligation to work, a large class of lazy, independent natives might be created. " What the Maori wants is honest work," says the Bishop, going to the root of the matter. More should be done to encourage the Maori to farm his own lands. Mr. J. Ormsby did well to emphasise this point at the Farmers Union conference yesterday. The native lands difficulty is a Maori as well as a European problem. It is not to be satisfactorily' solt»ed u -e'tt;ept"to: European speculators—'by buying out the Maori in a hurry and rushing his lands on to the market. Such a method uould give us more land to cultivate but the idle native would remain on our hands. In many cases he would soon run through his money and swell the ranks of unskilled labour or be a burden on the community. In doing so little to encourage the Maori to be a selfreliant farmer the State has failed in its duty to him. It does not, for instance, offer him the benefits of loans under the Advances to Settlers' Act. It does not provide him with any special facilities for learning farming. It would be interesting to know what proportion of boys who leave the Maori colleges become successful farmers. The task is admittedly difficult, but what has been done by Maori land-owners in the Gisborne district under the stimulus of Mr. Ngata and his Young Maori party shows what ■ can be achieved by knowledge, enthusiasm and patience. The present condition of things is very unsatisfactory. The bulk of native lands lie idle at a time when the country needs more production and population, and the native, instead of being helped to selfreliance, is encouraged to take the line of least resistance, to sell his land and dissipate the proceods.