JUSTICE FOR MAORIS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 113, 5 February 1908, Page 8

JUSTICE FOR MAORIS

HOW IT IS SERVED OUT.

A VISIT TO THE NATIVE LAND- COURT.

, The Native Land 'Court now sitting in, •Wellington does-not seem to ,be regarded by the Maoris who have, come to'town to .attend ifc. with., t-liafc respect and confidence which

should- lio inspired bv any court of law or

justice. Certain -complaints having readied the. offico: of.'l'iik Dominion, a reporter-went

along,,.to i the Primitive .Methodist-' schoolroom m .Sydney Street, .where tlio Court is located. Outside the building ho met Mr. H. M. ■Stowell,n'ho has had some 40 years' oxporionce -iu-nativorland matters, and who kindly, consented to'-act as interpreter. With his assistance tho. Pressman made some investigations.. ■/.'• - , jlt may be presumed, without fear of contradiction that tho proceedings of any court of justice which, is.worthy of tho name are conducted in -words which, can be heard and understood, not only'by the ' parties : 'interested, but by any person of ordinary intelligence who- happens to be in tho room. In .such a court;, cases -are called'upon, examinations conducted;'' and judicial comments made. iu - a .perfectly, clear'and audible manner^^i;

WHAT'THE MAORIS SAY. " • Noifi'.for" the .prqceedmgs in Sydney Street, as iiYiowed-. bv. tho -Natives themseh'es. Tho pressman: entered into conversation ' with several of- them, one after auother. They wereTMaoriSioLgoodi.standing, and lie took doivn. -thou .names..To one after another ho put the same questions, and thoir answers ■were-almost identical.' They could not- liear what.,tho 'judge fsaid; He could not speak Maori lvell."'.Ho snoke it like a p.ikelia, He mumbjed. . (One Maori, in telling- the Pressman of this; made ; unmistakable signs with his fingers, beforo his mouth.) Consequently, those., who,..wero jiot, sitting in , tlio front, near.-the; judge's table, often-did not know what caseMvas'heing heard. • ' .Tho Pressman asked.if i(i was possible for a caso to i)e,-.(lcaH."viilh ■«hilo people concerned in 'it. were, m the room, aiid' did not knW that iit;was before- the Court.'' Yes, lib was told that that had actually Happened. Tlio parties did not know anything of--what,was" : 59.W6- P.u, jpitil, the : .judgment was pronounced in a loud voice. . , . And when Uie judgments were given, were tha-.'parties.isatisfied.rtvitli.therii?,. Well, that would.. be;.showii/.bj^,the-number of-appeals. The. repprt-er obtained some particulars of ten cases <and'.;]earnt, that-five of them would be taken.to ; thoi,Native Appellate Court. Of course, it does not follow that the sanio pro- ( portion will hold good throughout, the 400 cases.that, are gazetted for hearing at tho present: sittings >of the Land. Court. ' >

< SOME )C VSES FOR APPEAL. • One ca'so was heard; by Chief. Judge Jack..soil Palmer- wheu lie opened tho Court 'on January 25. It was a succession casej"'aiHl only., one/of was represented.. In such circumstances it is stated to'bo the correct practice for-tho Court to re-open tlio if application' is mado within fourteoii ' days on;.bslia'Jf 'of' 'aliy 1 other pcrs'oti who is a 'party. to - tlio casb. application was made to/Judgo: Johnson, who lias' beeii coiiducting tho lsittiiigs sincc January 28. ; Ho', 'however,: Tofu'sed, to ; ,reo[x;n; .the ease, thus ,thxs» : the.^aj>plicant;tho onus of taking it- to; the' Appellate;!Court;,,urider what : is regarded'as tlie "spriolis disadvantage, of not having, had, the opportunity of a preliiniuary in :thp. present C.ourt, ..... . v Another; case was ;partly, heard ono day last week,., anil was adjourned, with no nien■tion of. the day or :hour, when it would bo resumed.. ■It - was 'called again last Monday morningj-'in .. tho' absence, of two out of the tliree native agents iwho; wero appearing in it./ Thojlerli/of .'the sCourt went outside to ■find- tliem.vbut soon, returned to-say that they were "riot about': . Tho Judge,/ howerer, proceeded -to hoar the. agent who was present, and announccd-th'at judgment would lio given. at 2.30. that hour,arrived the other-two agents, appeared,, and asked to be hoard. Their request;''was refused, and ,menfc was-given against them. ' '/. •

• vTIREO -OF .WAITING

i Another 'griqvanco is the slowness of the' :C'o.ur.t a.5;,,at/'ps§riftt' oondiictcd./ It was 'stated that;-somo--Judges are,accustomed to v put through .forty single unopposed cases ;in •a day,'while another''Judgo, only dispatches '.four "otifiVe.--: Tho result is,that Natives get tired-, of waiting." t Some havo gone. back. to. • places „ as, distant as tljo Upper Wanganui .without 'getting a Rearing. The e.iperise of lolig jourhcys and stav.ing for weeks in the city :is. 110 light matter. The choice of tho native ; assessor is' another 'grievance. "-No. objeotioii, apparently, is, taken <on. persftnal grounds to the Maori gentleman who is .'occupying that /position at the. present) Court, but it .seems that .a valued, custom has been disregarded. ( The assessor is usually, a Native of same part !of{.the- colony, qthor.thiin. that which is .-the .sccno of: the proceedings and where'tlio. lands dealt with aro;'situated.', 'Otherwise,'it'is pos'siblp .that ho -inay bo'personally interested in; .sonio of' ! th.o/ blocks"'of land 'that ..are concorned, and 'at.any i ! (ite it. is held that impartiality comes easier.to one who is.-a comparativojstrangcr.fto all the parties. In tho 'present .1 list.alice, libw'oyeri. tlie Court, is dealing with cn:'ses' from the .territory; strctchiiig -from .Wellington to the, Upper Wanga'nni, and khe 'assessor'is.-'a/native.of Otaki.

NO '.INTERPRETER. .'The Native Larid C<?urt 1 usually 'an interpreter/ biit' in" iljp, present instance there is/'ho ' such .official.j'^jroni. what .has. been ■written!'abpye. /it-'jsi clear that the Natives

do .'not - consider.; that the/ present ' j u'dge's command of;the.-Maori language is such as to. justify 'him in"doing, without an iin'tcr-pret-ar.',/ Crfes.-of i J-Spealf up," "Wo can't hear," or'the'Maori equivalents/;are to have beeji frequeiit m the Conrt last-week. ../But,there/was .nothing of that sort when tlie ■„Court • yesterday ni'orniiig. .-There wcrc'bnly,abou t liaif a'dozen. Maoris; in/the:, auditorium, and they were very quiet: .Tho "Pressman was 'told, that/at' the oar.lier .sittings: some/,2so'a'ttended, 'and-'lis-tened eagerly, as Maoris usually do -at their Land Courts, but' now having found it useless to. listen they, stay away. They' may be fouiid in "the. neighbouring hotel and billiard room,-1 or-walking the streets.

■ Though riot a Maori 'soliolar, the Pressman could not. fail io notico .a .marked difference »etwcen;. ; thc 'cinmciatioh of. the Natives on the .ono' r hand 'and the Judge', on tlio other, and ' lie' cbulcl^SvQll'Mibliovo/that "some of the. Maoris .'"might .find it difficult tp understauci much of-what was addressed to them. After every; answer .to./one of his I questions, the Judge: occupied Vwha't seeiricd quite a,n unreasonable' tinie;!in .writing his notes. .This may account for the alleged slowness. of the Court,

CONVEESATIONAL PROCEEDINGS. . . One case (was dealt with in a conversation carricd •■on in. subdued iones around " the Judge's table bv himcelf, the assessor, the clerk, "a Maori, and the agent who was acting for'/'him: ■" Probably most ,of those in ' the room did not know what it was all 'about'. Evod. when tho Judge was speaking English, iho:..reporter; cou|d. only catch:a word now and thou.

' ■•The-Native. Land .Court may not always he as'it has been represented in. the present' instance, but complaint was made of. the procedure-'of the' Court in other instances.