MAORI LAND.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19213, 20 January 1928, Page 3

MAORI LAND.

:—-4 .. AGENTS CRITICISED. [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, January 19. Some of the difficulties encountered in the task of inducing f Natives to settle down were explained by Dr. Ellison,'Director of Maori Hygiene, at a conference of Native school teachers this morning. "If the Maori land agents were made to adopt definite charges, and not rely upon the thankfulness and gratitude of the Maori, there would not to-day be so much poverty among the Maori people/' he.said. The Maori could never receive a gift or a service without makin some acknowledgment. The agent who had helped the Maori to secure his land knew this very well. He made no charge, but he did hold out his hand. The Maori would not know just what the agent had done for him in the matter, and the result was that the agent usually came out with flying colours. Dr. Ellison ' explained that Maori land belonged, in most instances, i to large numbers of Natives. A Maori might be able to claim a fiftieth or some other fractional part of a block. One could well imagine the trouble and difficultv which might be experienced before a Maori actually had his portion fenced off. It was a costly business, but it could be made less expensive if there was a proper scale of charges. '