NATIVE LANDS COMMISSION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 147, 16 March 1908, Page 9

NATIVE LANDS COMMISSION.

WAIAPU COUNTY'. ; : ■ Tho latest report of tho Native "Lands Commission deals with. Natiyo lands in the Waiapu County. 'Tho area in-tho county is 705,228 acres, .approximately. Of this area 150,000 acres were acquired'.by. the Crown, and 172,000 acres sold to Europeans, making a total of 322,000, tho freehold of which tho Maoris havo parted with. \They own/.a 'balance of, roughly, ' 380,000 • acres, • of which 113,025 ; acres .are under .lease to Europeans. The price givpn'.tp tho Maoris for, tho_ inland land they sold was from Is. to .3s.- per acre, and. most of it went to tho, Crown. ; Othor portions were sold to Europeans, at from: 2s. to ss'. 'per' acre. Between; 1876, and 1893, large areas of tho lands r'e■served for sale'wero; leased' to Europeans; They'.'.■.comprise the: well-known Yi'aipiro, Tuparoa,, laora, and Tokomaru, leaseholds. ' The area .available for general settlement in-the county, the Commission says, is limited for the following /reasons: —(l) Tho bulk'of tho lands suitable and availablo for general settlement ' is ' 'papatupu—that is, tho titles have' not been ascertained definitely. The proposed to ! deal! specially with theso ; blocks. (2) Some larger blocks' which • might have been dealt with Under; part I. of .tho Native Land Settle-;! ment' Act of 1907 have been leased privatoly by tho Maori owners to European tenants.' (3), A number of small blocks are' suit-ablo for Maori occupation and, indeed, the ownors had arranged;to lease the same to some of, their number. Leases for theso had been partly executed, and in most cases the proposed Maori lessees had entered into occupation' and made improvements, on the Understanding that leases would be 'issued to them eventually:. ,In rogardto the main papatupu;:blocks' the. Commission says, the Maori people, do not seem to' have .hesitated-, of 'late years, at any; rate, to enter upon somo' of tlieir tribal lands, and carry out their methods' of farming, which have proved fairly successful on the lands, which liavo passed .the Court.'. Tho Natives cannot bo blamed for , the action they seem to have 'been forced t9 take in the year 1894, owing - to the indiscriminate -purchase by the Nativo Land Purchase officers of portions of their papakainga blocks,: of withdrawing the papatupu lands from the jurisdiction of the Native Land Court. The position can only'bo retrieved by the prompt settlement of long-standing disputes as to trivial and other claims by means of tho Isative; Land Court.".Arrangements have been made to hold sittings of the Court for this purpose. Commission estimates that whon'.tho titles are ascertained, onethird at' least. of. these lands will be avail-, able for genoral settlement. l

Tho Commission express themselves as impressed wjth the shown by tho Maoris in this block to become sheep-farm-, ers and graziers.- They,, have cleared 57,000 acres, and sown that .area in grass. ■ They possess ,83,000 sheep, 3200 cattle, and 8200 pigs. It would be calamitous if the Maori development' hero, were interfered with in; any way. /Tho. Commission referred to tho , impossibility ,of individualising titles, and states .that co-operative, farming is being carried on in the district—a system which, " in these days of social experiments, merits consideration and. careful watching." _ The system should receive a full arid fair trial.

A .largo, area of the Nativo lands now leased to Europeans will revert to the Maori ownors in six or. seven years. .An opportunity, states tho Commission, should be givon tho owners of tho Tuparoa and Waipiro holdings (about 50,000' ; acres) to consolidate at least the family holdings. The pastoral areas should: no doubt bo cut up into smaller areas than are now held, but tho lands' that will bo available for settlement within tho noxt two years must bo disposed of in fairly large areas in order to attract settlement. Tho area- of tho papatupu blocks is 149,285 acres, approximately. The Commission estimates, after, the Maoris have been provided for, that an area of 46,024 acres will bo availablo for genera! settlement. ■