KING COUNTRY TOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 105, 4 May 1923, Page 6

KING COUNTRY TOUR.

CONCLUDING CONFERENCE. FACING THE NATIVE PBOBI/EM "BARBARIAN CUSTOM" CONDEMNED. HOME TRUTHS FOR M.P.'S. fßy TelegTaph—Special to ".Star.") TE KUITL this day. The difficulties, their remedy, and th possibilities of the King Country, as typi fied in Waitomo County, were placed be fore a well attended conference in l< Kuiti Municipal Hall last evening, Mr J. C. Rolleston, M.P. for Waitomo, pre 6iding. The gathering marked tlie concludinj stage of the three days' Parliamentar; tour of the district arranged by Waitomi County Council, Tc Kuiti Borough Coun Oil, and Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce There were present the fifteen member of Parliament -who participated in th' tour, representatives of the three publi' bodies associated with the town, am numerous citizens. Mr. G. P. Finlay, an ex-Mayor of T. Kuiti, dealt with "the subject of nativi lands. The complaint of "nativitis," hi said, extended over a large portion o the North Island, and thus interested i great many people. Tie asked thi visitors to realise that the desire of tin district was not to get something fo nothing. They were not speculators wh( were grabbing the land. The land grabbers were now working either on the wharves or were bankrupt. Xor wen tlie local bodies trying to do the native: any injustice. "We have no complaint in regard t< the disabilities under which the Maori are labouring," continued Mr. Findlay who added that it was no concern of thi local bodies if it suited Parliament ti rank the native in the same categor; si 9 infants and lunatics, although thi Maori had no right to be in that late gory. •CLOSER SETTLEMENT ESSENTIAL The native grievance, said Mr. Finlay boiled down to one of the most seriou; problems facing the country to-day namely the question of closer settlement Where there were large tracts of un occupied country not required by thi owners, who numbered dozens and some times hundreds, none of whom wantei it or needed it, then, wherever the lan< was, there was just as urgent a problen there as in the Waitomo County, the onl; probable difference being that in Wai' tomo the natives were the owners. " Native ownership is based on th< barbarian custom which existed befon the -white man came here; it is an an achronism if that old system is appliec to land tenure under modern conditions and it will cause trouble. It must g< whether that communal ownership ii native or European, because it is firs and foremost the most rigid bar to close! settlement," said the speaker. He de clared tlie problem in Waitomo was thi roading of a roadless district, or a practi cally roadless district. The few metallec roads over which the Parliariientariam had motored were mud tracks less thar ten years ago. The proposal was thai tlie Government should make a radica departure from what previously obtainec m regard to payment for these roads and should treat the Maori and tlu European alike. When a road was made enhancing Ihe value of adjacent land the owners should pay a fair proportior of the cost for the benefits received. RATES, YET NOT RATES. Tlie difficulty experienced by loca bodies in collecting rates from "native! was illustrated by Mr. Finlay quoting the position in Waitomo County Councf last year, when the special rate' amounted to £12,000 of which £110( should have been borne by native land owners, who had practically not paid s penny, their contributions amounting tc £20. The total rates on tlie whole coun ty were £32.000, a sum of £3400 beino on native land. The total rates col looted were £20.400, the native rate< yielding £200, of which only £20 were paid voluntarily by tlie natives, the balance being paid by Europeans or Irrehold native land. Jt was true, he said, the local bodies had power to rate the native land, but they could not collect the rates. A rate on native land produced practicality nothing. He explained that to get a lien on a native title would involve the expenditure of a large sum of money tc get the title registered. They had a principle, •but they wanted "workable machinery. The Government's answer however, had always been that it was not their policy, but the local bodies wanted

to he able to collect from the native in the same way as they collected from the European ratepayers. There was no rtes.re to sell the native's land over his head; they wanted to secure the rates without doing any injustice. TIRED OF NATIVE LEASES. Referring to the present machinery Mr. Finlay said the feeling in Waitomo was that no other native leases would be taken up. If a lien on tho land could be tiled, the local bodies would have their claims established when the titles were finally registered. If the Crown bouMit, the native land, it should not remain Crown land, because as such it -would not be ratable. A measure of relief was needed for the struggling lessees of native land, who were unable to raise money on their leases and were at the end of their financial tether. The suggestion was that the native land should be taken out of the hands of the Maori Land Hoard and should be treated as ordinary down Land. It was immaterial to tho local 'bodies what terms it was disposed on, so long as men were put on it, but their recommendation war. that it should be made freehold. Leasehold might be the proper title if the whole of the Dominion were leasehold. but when the most of tlie Dominion was held in freehold then the leasehold man was in an unfortunate position. If the Government told the capitalist that he must lend on leasehold then leasehold would be acceptable. On the matter of valuations put upon Maori lands, the speaker said the right of appeal was wanted against the unaided judgment of one man. All these problems must be solved if the country was to attain its rightful state of development. In answer to a question, Mr. Finlay agreed that the fencing question was liin'cult, but suggested that fences might be paid for in tlie same way as tlie Crown paid for surveying, namely, by taking ;i piece of land from tlie owners. Xmmigation and land settlement were iealt with by Mr. J. X. Boddie, who advocated the selection of suitable men from Great Britain's surplus population, so' that Xew Zealand might become the lairy farm of the Empire, lie urged the Government to convene a conference of representative men to consider and assist in formulating a sane and practical scheme. ,

THE TOUKIST TRADE. The possibilities of New Zealand ai a tourist centre, and of Waitomo in par ticular, were emphasised by Mr. W. J Broadfoot. He mentioned that 90 pel cent of those who visited the Waitomt Caves were New Zealanders, and h< thought something should be done t< encourage the tourist industry—for ii was an industry—both locally anc throughout New Zealand. Good 'hote accommodation was much needed. H< criticised the lack of room at the Wai tomo Hotel, and stated that if thert were 200 bedrooms in the establishmeni he 'believed they would not be too many Te Kuiti, he thought, could be' made th( pivot of the tourist traffic of the district ' and he knew the borough would rise tc the occasion if it got any encourage ' ment. There were many fine fishing ' streams in the vicinity, and if a roaci • were pushed through to Taupo (36 mile 3) it would give much needed motoring faci lities as well as opening up the land. ' Mr. R. M. Somerville, speaking as a practical farmer, gave details of the ' various grades of land in the country, and reviewed the progress in develop- • ment already achieved. ! TOWNSHIP LEASES. • Mr. J. A. Young, M.P., announced that , within a fortnight the Government nativet land purchase officer would visit • Te Kuiti to deal with applications for i the freehold of native township lease- : holds. On the conclusion of the business, Sir • John Luke moved a hearty vote ot ! thanks to the organisers of the tour, and '- others who had assisted in entertaining ' the party during the past three days. ■ He said one of the most pleasant features had been that the visitors had ! been guests in various homes, instead of ! being in hotels. ; Thursday's tour was through the Otorohanga district, where a considerable > amount of settlement was observed, ali though it was pointed out that the farm- , ers there were suffering from the same • disabilities as in the other localities iJ At Waitomo Hostel the visitors were (the guests of the settlers, and after ! lunch was partaken, the caves were in . spected. The whole tour proved thoroughly successful from start to finish, excep- • tionally good arrangements having been , made by the committee in charge. Mr. i J. W. Cochrane led the party and others , who rendered invaluable assistance were: . The Mayor of Te Kuiti (Mr. H. Roth- • cry), Councillor W. G. §omerville (con- : venor of the committee) who was chiefly • responsible for the success of the tour, . and Messrs. W. Lee, W. Gadsby, J. D. . Vernon, J. E. Walker, B. Brewer, J. N. i Boddie, A. P. Gray, W. T. Broadfoot, ■ Moyston Jones, and A. F. Howarth.