NATIVE INQUIRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 87, 13 April 1934, Page 12

NATIVE INQUIRY.

AUDITOR'S FINDINGS.

METHODS OF THE MINISTER. INSTRUCTIONS BY TELEPHONE (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. Statements that development scheme stores had been. used for improvement of private properties, that out of a total of 27,492 ewes purchased in the Rotorua district no fewer than 3530 were unaccounted for, that unemployment money had been paid to Maoris who were not entitled to relief, and that sums up to £400 had been paid to well-to-do farmers for ploughing and grassing their own lands were made in evidence given to-day before the Royal Commission on Native Affairs. The principal witness was the Comptroller and Auditor-General, Colonel G. F. C. Campbell, as a direct result of whose last anuual report to Parliament the commission was appointed. In evidence, he said that ir the opinion of the Audit Office audit difficulties would seem to have been the result; of the system adoptad by the .Native Minister, which was to assume control of administrative matters and issue instructions, frequently by telephone, direct to local subordinate officers instead of through the Department. The witness state« that, the Minister's toll account for one year came to £781, which was greater than the amount voted by Parliament to cover toll calls of all the Ministers of the Crown. Colonel Campbell gave several instances of how the usual rules of stores accounting had been disregarded, and said it was not surprising that the Department was unable to comply with audit requirements. He stated that a good deal had been said regarding the necessity for studying the psychology of the native when considering the expenditure of public money, but he pointed out that a due regard for native psychology was not necessarily opposed to efficiency in administration and economy in spending. Statement by Minister. Complying with a desire expressed by the Native Inquiry Commission yesterday, the Minister of Native Affairs, Sir Apirana Ngata, to-day presented a statement in reply to a number of questions put to him. He dealt first with the main object of the consolidation schemes, and quoted from his statement on native land development presented to Parliament in 1931. Explaining the intentioif of the legislation dealing with native land settlement, the Minister said the United Government took office in 1928, with land settlement as one of the major planks of its policy, as applied to European lands, including Crown lands, and native lands. The then Minister of Lands introduced a land Act in 1929, which in Section 6 provided for the development of Crown lands, the policy being to prepare suitable areaas by clearing or cultivation and by the provision of fencing, buildings, water supply if necessary and road access before selection. The Minister was armed with extensive powers, exercisable on the recommendation of the Development Board. The wisdom of having such a board was much debated at the tima. When the Native Land Bill was finally presented to Parliament in the same session it was decided to eliminate the board in the corresponding development provisions, a step which was approved by both the Native Affairs Committee and Parliament.

Sir Apirana Ngata added: "Native lands have ascertained beneficial owners with rights that cannot be disregarded and with strong views regarding their control and management. The Native Department must serve their interests, use their labour, develop the human material in the course of developing the land and regard the development of that material as its supreme job. A general plan may be conceived and laid down, but those responsible for its execution must be prepared to vary and adjust it to the circumstances of each Maori community, for no two are alike. In the circumstances, the powers of the controlling authority, be it a Minister or a board, must be elastic and extensive, but cannot be absolute, as in the case of Crown lands." Remedial Measures. The Under-Sccretary of Native Affairs, Mr. P. G. Pearce, concluded his evidence by referring to the remedial measures he had taken since assuming office in November. Answering questions, he eaid he was very much in favour of the abolition-of.a number of boards and of their functions being brought under the control of the head office. He undertook to prepare a memorandum showing how he thought a reorganisation should be carried out. The Chairman, Mr. Justice Smith: You are, having difficulty in carrying out the administrative duties? Witness replied that there wsrp difficulties in the way oi the Department operating smoothly.