THE MAORI AND HIS LAND.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 280, 31 May 1909, Page 5

THE MAORI AND HIS LAND.

I^UAL LIABILITY WAX-TED. i THE UXKARXED INCREMENT. (Auckland Star of Friday). At this morning's conference of Farmers' Union : delegates, a remit was brought forward from tho Hamilton branch as folloAvs : "That as the continued unsatisfactory position Avith regard to tho opening up of natiA'e. lands is causing serious loss to the Avhole dominion and the Auckland province iv particular, the Government be again tu-ged to bring doAvn. more satisfactory legislation to enable these lands to be dealt Avith, and that the native lands be niade equally liable Avith Etiropean to contribute to local rates, and that the various local bodies be requested to co-operate Avith a committee set up by the Farmers' - Union conference." Mr J. Boddie (Te'Kuiti), in moA--ing its adoption, said that this Avas a question of questions, and ho hoped that it Avould receiA^e" the consideration it deserved at. the hands of Par- "< liament this session. The locking up of native' lands in Auckland proA'ince was one of the biggest existing bars against settlement and • progress. The position was so acute that it could not be alloAved to continue. In his district the European settlement ' had gone on by leaps and bounds, but a \ r ast proportion of the land Avas owned by natiA r es. , In the Te Kti'iti district they had hundreds of thousands of acres of splendid land Avhich they could not deA^elop Avithout roads. The present, rating prevented them . from building roads, and land on every hand Avas locked up and lying idle. Hoav long Avould this hide- : l)ound, conservatiA*e policy go on? How long would this injustice be continued? •Mr ShaAv (KaAvhia), in seconding ! the motion, said the, Maori land laAvs Avere tho most absurd on the Statute Book. In his district the greap proportion of the land Avas locked up, and the Maoris Avere no more to blame than they were. If they vent round the Maori kiangas they Avould find the natives in a state of semi- ; starvation. They owned the best of the lands,. but under the. present laws could not Avork them: At KaAvhia the harbour Avas locked in Avith native lands, and the Europeans had to -go into the back-blocks, and build . roads through natiA'e land to enable them to get there. The Europeans Avere being strangled, despite the fact that the KaAvhia district AA r as one of the richest in the dominion. .j Major Lusk (Te ICuiti) said the SiatiA r e land laAvs Avere in such a hopeless muddle that no one understood .: them. The only \vay. to satisfactorily ■ solve the difficulty was to wipe out all the existing legislation, but he thought there Avas too jinuch in the native vested interests to permit that. - Mr Thorp (Paeroa) said the Government had made no attempt to cope Avith the sitiiatioH. The Royal Commission could do. nothing, because Sir Robert Stout Avas wellknoAvn to be ,a faddist, and the natives Avere going to b.e the landlords., Until they turned out the Hon. James Carroll, they Avotild accomplish nothing. Mr Bennett (Te Puke.) said that more than one-fourth of the land mi his district Avas oAViled by the natiA-es, and the local authorities lost onefourth of their rates. Capt. Golbeck took tip tho attitude that the natives Aveve not entitled to tho unearned increment which ivonld attend freetrade. . The natives had I paid nothing for loading and railing j the land, and should not receive the j full A-alue of the improvements Europeans had effected. If freetrade Avas to'comc, and if- the Maoris Avere to be [placed on tho same footing as the Europeans, they should not be entitled t^o tho unearned increment, but be paid according to the A'aluo 1 of the land before the railways came. Mr G. J; Garland said he did not mind the natives getting the Ainearned increment, as long as tho land Avas settled and the natiA r e forced to pay his fates, and share his burden as a citizen of f be dominion. But until they got "rid of one member of the Ministry they would get nothing. Mr Boddie, .in reply, contended that Avhile there Avere many difficulties in the way, they Avere not such as could not be .overcome, .a-nd he hoped that the agitation now afoot Avould result in a. satisfactory settlement of the problem. The motion was carried.