TO CURE DEPRESSION

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 555, 9 July 1909, Page 7

TO CURE DEPRESSION

♦ SWELL THE EXPORTS. BY ÜBINQ NATIVE LANDS. SUGGESTIONS BY MR, E. NEWMAN, M.1 , . At tho deputation which waited upoa tlio ■>'>;» Hon. Mr. Millar, Minister for Labour, Mr. Edward Newman, M.P. for Manawalu, in tho courso of his remarks, suggested that ono solution of tho uncmplojcd question was to get as many ae poseiblo of tho un« cmployod on to tho land. • Interviewed by a representative of this I journal, Mr. Newman more fully explained lus views on this question, and also in a . matter of paramount and pressing importance to tho wholo Dominion, namely, tho, profitable development of tho surplus Native lands I "I want," said Mr. Nouman, "tho same facilities offered to tho unemplojed men who are willing to undertake tho work as tho Government have offered to pubho , servants who havo been retrenched lam i glud to see that tho Hon. Mr. Buddo has acted on thio suggestion, according to press leporta, aud I trust ho will bo nblo to find suitable blocks of land for the scheme, and that it will prove to tho advantage of workers out of emplo.vment and eventually to the J State The onlv thing I fear is that, on account of tho Government's dotormination not to give tho right of purchase, men wilh not tacklo tho job with much heart Mcu wnnt tho incentive of a bit of land they can.i call their own, to bring out their beet efforts. Needless to eaj, I sjmpathise with} this feclmg." Ministry Now Admits Depression, ' "Unemployment," added Mr. Newman, , has many causes—tightness in money, fall' in value of produce, certain labour legislation that practically prevents tho employ-1 ment of casual labour, both in the country and in tho town, and general want of con-, fidence. Tho Government until lately did not | admit the cxistcnco of depression, but now tho Hon Mr Millar—and I feel sure this action has added to his reputation—has done ' so In hie speech ho baa placed the situation plainly before the couutiy. Ho eaye, in. . effect, wo must either curtail our expenditure, or bonow moro millions, or increase taxation, ajid he had tho couiago to reiterate what ho has previously stated, that in his ) opinion we have about reached the limit of s our power to borrow safely Our debt m I 1891 was about £38,000,000: now it approximates £71,000,000 Still the cry is for public works m tho cities and from tho | country Mr Millar mentioned that £200,000 was about to l>o spent on two public buildings—ono m Auckland, and ono in Wellington. Ono cannot help thinking that, howover ' necessary theso buildings aro, that £200,000 would have been better spent on roads and bridges, and land settlements, thus increasing tho number of proJucors in tho Dominion largely, piov ldmg homes, and n permanent I living for many taen who are now classwl amonsst tho unemployed, Borrow, Tax, or Co Without. ' "Thoposition, then, according to the Hon. Mr Millar, is that we havo two courses open. | Reduction in expenditure on public worku, or laigely increased borrowing or moro taxa-. tion I think thero is another road open.) to sound national prosperity. Wo must increase our exports without any delay that | can bo avoided The exports of this country should exceed tho imports by at least 3J millions to make the financial position sound. Thoro is only ono way to bring about tho I rosult indicated, viz, by immediate action , m the direction of close settlement of our remaining Crown and Native lands, and by releasing the largo sum 'of ' money that is now sunk m .lands held by tenants under tho Land.for Settlements Act, in order that further estates suitablo for close ocoupation may, bo acquired and resold to small farmers "But the greatest difficulty to be overcome is in tho direction of settlement by Europeans of tho surplus Maori lands I desire to say hero that I have for years lived in a district where there are many Maoris, but I havo ncvor dealt in an aero of Maori land in my ■> life, and, fuither, I nould not bo a party to any injustice to the Maori raco, for whom I havo tbo Eieatest admiration Maori's Salvation: Work, Not Rent. I "But I contend tho present Native jpolicy is neither in tho mtorest of tho Maoris nor of tho Dominion It is not in tho true inteiest of the Maoris to mako a rent-receiving class—to provide them with n living without labour. 1 behove the salvatiqn of tho Maori race lies in their havirig to work for then living, as our settlers do Tho Maoris, as a people, have been treated by tho Governments of Now Zealand with moro than liboialitv. Under the Treaty of Waitangi tho title of nil lands occupied by Maoris was recognised, but will any sane man contend that at that period \ tho Maoris ( 'occupied' tho* vast blocks of i s land in the interior of the North Island, of which land we have declared they aro owners? It was not so The Maoris chiefly occupied tho fiontages to tho inns, and to the sea coast in places, but tho back country, except in some isolated instances, was to all intents and purposes no-man's land. Tho i time has now como that these lands, after j ample reserves Jiave been provided for tbo Maoris, must be iottlcd, m small blocks, > I «ith careful restrictions as to area and eare- ' i guards against rraßgregation—and on ,i teliuie that will gno tho occupants tho right I of purchase in ordei to ensuro early settle- ' i ment, and full and rapid dev clopmeiit 1 i Settlement to Procodo Indlvlduallsatlon. I "The Government, for the last seventeen or eighteen years, have been slowly, and with i marvellous deliberation, individualising tbV titles of the Natives I contend that settlement of the surplus Nativo hnd must take placo first, and individiialisition of titlo can be mado afterwards Neither the land nor the Natives will run away. When Euro]>eaiis block settlement, wo take tho est-vte under tho Lind for Settlements Act-Rafter , pajing for it, as 1 a rule, generously Why' should we not do tho simo with Maori lands? I would not rob the Maoris of ono penny, but I believe that wo mubt seltlo tho country in order to save ourselves from a financial crisis, and it is qmto clear that tho present Nativo pohev will never do it The position of tho Dominion, with the produce of millions of acrca now unproductive, adddd to its oxport trade , , would bo very much sounder than it is now. No mjustico need he dono to tho N.itives, and our linds would be occupied bv a community nf indiistiious settloib, with holdings stnctly limited in area, bui sufficient tor then reasonable wants, wluKt the "Maoris would lnvo, in tho hands of tho Public Trustee, or otherwise invested, largo sums of moncv, tho proceeds of tho sain of their suiplus lands, and would also have lesenod to them sufficient land on. which to cam their living as their fellowsottlers do "This matter," concluded Mr Newman, "presents many dilhculties, and it would\ lie necessary to borrow fqr tho rosdmg, etc of this land, but a loan, oil marked for this purpose, would bo a good investment for tho Dominion Jho question must bo faced, and it is to bo hoped that Pailument will approach tins subject with a dotcimination to sctllo it, and scekvfor a solution that will bo just and beneficial to tho Natives, and ' at tho same time, will provide for tho specdv sottloment of then binplus lands, which now to a larpe extent, lorin tho wisto hnds of the Dominion, more especially m tho North Island