WAIMARAMA LAND

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 186, 1 May 1908, Page 5

WAIMARAMA LAND

MISS ftTEINERTZHACEN'S CLAIM.' DISCUSSED BY HAWKE'S BAY LAND ,BOARD. (by TELKOnAni.—SPECIAL COBKESrONDENT.) Napier, April 30., Miss who lias conducted' with marked ability a dogged fight for what she considors her rtht full chare of the Wainiarama land, appeared at a special meeting of tho Ilawke's Bay Land Board this morning to further prosccute her claim. Tho object of the meeting was to hoar an application by Miss Meinortzhagcn that a decision of tho Board passed on March 2, cancelling' the lease to her of grazing lands in,the Wainiarama block, should bo reconsidered. All :tho members of tho Board were in attendance, and Mr.- A. B. Camphell was present on behalf of Mr. G. P. Donnelly. . ' ' After dealing at considerable length with the legal aspect, of tho question, Miss Mqinortzhagen' submitted the two -following grounds for her application: — (1) That'tho Board had the jurisdiction, to deal with these lands because they were bought under Section 20 of tho Maori Lands Settlement Act, 1905, and by the terms of that Act came under the jurisdiction of the Board as soon as the purchases were , complete. - ■ : (2) That Section 250 and the proclamation required thereunder, did not .apply to the temporary occupation' of Crown lands for grazing purposes, ~but woro only . necessary bofbro the. Board could sell or othorwise finally, dispose of the land. ■> Dealing with the merits of her. application, tho speaker claimed that sho was deserving ,of preference in the matters. _ She. said that there could only be a (;uestion of two real applicants for the land, herself and Mr. Donnelly. No outsider could profitably occupy it, for tho simnle reason that, ho would have' to erect something like fifteen miles of fencing, and that, if ansv man could be found foolish enough to desire to erect such fencing with the prospect of occupying only. for r, period at best lasting six or. nine months, lie would find it a physical impossibility to complete, tho task in the time. She understood that an application had'been received from Mr. Goorgo Bee and Mr Frank Donnelly. She had not heard of any personal application from Mr. G. P. Donnolly until Mr. Bell, K.C., stated before the Court of Appeal that when the Board on February 19 granted her application there was actually' before them an application from Mr. Donnelly offering a rental of ss. por aero. It was, possible, howevor, that Mr. Bell had confuscd Mr. Bee's offer with an intended offer by Mr..,Donnelly. . With the aid of maps. Miss'Mcincrtzhaijen explained her Native lcasos ' and the difficulties with which sho had to contend. Miss Meinertzhagen wont on to point out that she was in an extremely difficult position. In November, 1907, she had on tho block in. her possession a'flock of somo 34,000 sheep, and 1500 head of cattle. Owing to the' fact that she could not obtain any indication of what area her leaso wa3 likely to cover, sho was .unable to .take.advantage of tlio "spring sales, and was in consequenco .caught by the .drought. She had not up till now boon able to. reduce her Sock, to any appreciable extent, and could ;not do so at'-.tho present moment without incurring considerable loss. Miss Meinertzhagen concluded an able exposition of her case as fol-' lows:— .

"I may „say I think, with truth, that throughout the whole of this unfortunate quarrel I have shown no viiidictiveness to anyone. I desire to repeat what I liavo already said that I should not dosiro to occupy tils Crown lands on Mr. Donnelly's side of the fenco, but only to uso my rights over them as,a quid pro quo for Mrs. Donnelly's rights to' lands within my boundaries. ' ; I havo for. over two years, through no fault of ■niy own, beon involved in a terrible strugglo, not to inalco any, largo profit, but merely to 'rotain my homo and' save myself from almost complete-ruin. 1 do beseech the Board to do mo .-tho baro justico of allowing mo to continuo under a temporary grazing' license to run my stock on tlio Crown lands." The Commissioner (Mr. 11. Trent) thanked Miss Moinertzhagen -for her statement of her case, which he said had been placed before tho Hoajd in tho most ablo .Mariner. . A long discussion ensued, which at timo grew somewhat heated. • . Mr. Eustaco Lane, who has, recently , been .elected to the Board as the Representative of ■ the' Crown . tenants, adversely criticised tho Lands Department for sending contra- , dictory. instructions to the Board. Ho said political influence had been brought to bear in the matter. As a member of the Board he'was forced io .'make that assertion. He. was an eye-witness of .a Cabinet meeting between Mr. Donnelly, and the Premier, and they had since had the benefit of political, influence in the matter. Mr. Groom: That is only assertion. Mr. Campbell drew attention to tho presence of the Press, and said that suoli statements should not bo made. Mr. Lane said he hoped the Press would publish tho instructions . received • by the Board. They were contradictory and would themselves. Ho moved to the effect tha.t Miss Meinertzhagen's lease be reaffirmed. . This lapsed for want of a seconder. In another] reference to political influence, Mr.. Lane said ho saw the meeting between • the Premier arid Mr. Donnelly. Mr. Donnelly went into tho reading-room and pulled the Premier's buttonhole. Mr.' Campbell asked Mr. . Lane if ho heard .what: was said on that occasion, or if lie. could in any way'connect it with the present proceedings. Mr. Lane: No, I did not hear what was said. 'Mr. Campbell: Then you have no right to mako such statements; ; Miss'Meinertzhagcn said she did not think Sir Joseph Ward would interfere in such a matter. The difference-'in the instructions ,was : possibly accounted for by two Departments being concerned.. ' v Tho Commissioner said that the Board ha'd, nothing to do with these-outside matters. They had to deal with what -.was before' them. _ Mr., Lane said that the Board were childish in not seconding his resolution, and they had tried to sit\ ori him. He had been told -that this'would bo done.-but lie. was like a bubbling hot spring and would come up every time. It was for the people to judge of his actions. : • ' : ' v A long discussion ensued regarding Miss Meinertzhagen's position,' and it was pointed out that by tho action of the Board she was liable to be called upon to remove her stock at once, which would be disastrous. Incidentally Miss Meinertzhagcn mentioned that'tho report of the Royal Commission apportioning her' share of tho Waima.rama Block had beon placed in the hands of the Governor on February 10. Mr. Donnelly, was awaro of the. decision arrived-at, but for some reason tho report ;had been withheld from her. The Commissioner stated that tho Board had no desiro to be hard on Miss Meinertzhagen, but'were simply thero.to carry out tho law. It was ultimately decided, on tho motion of: Mr. Hyde, "That 011 tho requisition of .Miss Meinertzhagcn tho statement of a case under Section 55 of the Land Act, 1892, bp'mado for tho opinion of a. Judge of the Supreme Court as to whether the conditions of Section 20 of tho Maori Land Settlement Act, 1905, do not govorn- the acquisition of ' Native land .by the Crown under Section 150 of tho Land Act, 1892."