FATHER OF THE MAORIS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10138, 26 October 1925, Page 6

FATHER OF THE MAORIS.

MR COATES WELCOME© AT OTOROHANGA. j WHY NATIVE LANDS SHOULD PAY' RATES.TLTLES WANTED; THEN ADVANCES WILL BE GIVEN. MAORI MUST WORK LIKE THE PAKEHA. (Special to the Times. ) TE KUITT, Oct. 24. When the Prime Minister arrived at Otorolmnga on Saturday, lie was accorded a special welcome by the Maoris there and. prior to Mr Coates address, Mr Ormsby, speaking on behalf of the Natives, asked that several questions of interest to them should be given consideration. The question of rating, Mr Ormsby said, was a burning question. The natives considered that the ba.sis ot ratin< r was most inequitable and they asked that the Rating Act so far as it applied to them should be repealed. He doubted whether mere than one million of the sixty-six million acres of land in New Zealand now belonged to the Natives. As Native Minister and Prime Minister, Mr Coates was the ‘Father of the Maori People’, who had. a genuine appreciation of him and a strong desire that he should continue to hold' the portfolio of Native Affairs. The natives were pleased that a commission was to be set up to inquire into certain questions affecting them. . . Air Coates said that the legislation, ns it stood at present, placed the matter in the hands of the Native .Land Boards.” “Vic expect the Maoris to become useful citizens”, he continued. “We are very proud of our Maori -people and we believe that they are among the best citizens in the country. V/e realise that they were here before we came. But we also realise that no one can prosper who , doss not work and work hard and iuct as the pakeiia works so must the Maori. The unhappiest people = *n the world are those who don’t work. We don’t propose to give anyone a chance not to work. We propose to do all we can to assist the Maoris and help them to get along. We are not forcing them to pay rates unless they individualise their holdings. We ask them, how- J ever, to individualise their land and - gat titles and then money can be advanced for developmental purposes. “When you say that native lands should not pay rates, 1 don’t know that we are getting very far forward. V/e are only asking you to go to the Native Land Board and ask that Board to say whether you should pay rates or not. I don’t think anything could be fairer. The question is not left now to the pakeha to decide. Many Natives now are accepting their responsibilities and rt will pay them to do so. When you say that never again should Native land pay rates there is likely to be trouble. “Remember there is a lot of feeling developing in the other direc ticn, I have as Native Member to try to hold the balance. It is a tradition of the British race that they always try to be fair to the people they find in a country when they arrive.” (Applause from the Maoris.) Mr Coates also said that, after listening frequently to the relating of grievances of the Maoris he decided that, if he wished-to he fair, he had no alternative than to set up the commission, which Mr Ormsby had alluded to. Reverting to rating, Air Coates said a stock-taking was being made and the question of rating would he- carefully gone into.