The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1933. NATIVE LAND PROBLEMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 296, 15 December 1933, Page 6

The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1933. NATIVE LAND PROBLEMS.

For the cause that lacks assistance. For the wrong that needs resistance For the future in the distance, And the good that Vj6 can do

Arising out of tlie efforts which have been made in New Zealand during the past few years to assist Maoris to become prosperous farmers, the country is faced to-day with a many-sided problem. One clear need is to establish the development schemes on a proper basis, and another is to determine to what extent the natives should be liable for the payment of annual rates. On the development side the progress made, particularly since 1929, has been allowed to get ahead of Departmental organisation. It has become so widespread, in the desire to achieve quick results, that the system of general control has been unable to cope with it, the accounts have become muddled, and there have not been enough field experts who understand the psychology of the Maori. Nearly eighteen months ago the National Expenditure Commission made recommendations to put the schemes on a better footing, and the audit reports have shown the weaknesses in the accounts. . •.'

• The Government, therefore, knows what action is needed", and there is no reason for delay or for going to the expense of another investigation before anything is done. Not only Avould that prolong a state of affairs which should be amended as soon as possible, in the interests of the native race as well as the country, but itjnight check progress which should be pursued, provided it be along the right lines. Much of the work now in hand may require only sound business direction to bring it to success, and it would be for the' ultimate benefit of the Maori settlers, by keeping down the capital charges upon their estates, if measures to co-ordinate all activities were taken promptly. Loose methods of allocating costs tend to extravagance and waste, and the sooner they cease the better it.will be. Too.much work has been thrown on the shoulders of the Native Minister, and in the midst of his other duties it appears that he has endeavoured with increasing difficulty to direct a, multiplicity of schemes under conditions which gave him no effective control. The proposal to Parliament to establish a Native Lands Development Board, and to amalgamate various branches of native administration, appears sound.

Not only should native land be required to. pay its way when brought into use, but it should also bear its share of the rates. There is no ground for discriminating between Europeans and" Maoris in this respect. County Councils and the Main Highways Board provide roading facilities which are beneficial to all settlers, and to grant exemption to the natives would add more to the burden on the remaining ratepayers. Further, it would bear more heavily on European -settlers in some counties than in others. Non-payment of native rates to-day is embarrassing to some of the local bodies in the Auckland province, and when added to.the total of unpaid rates on Crown property strengthens the demand for rural derating. The remedy is to distribute rate levies as widely as possible and to require "natives and the Crown to pay their share.