NATIVE RATES

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11949, 20 May 1933, Page 7

NATIVE RATES

EVIDENCE AS TO PROBLEMS

TOUR. BY COMMISSION SESSION AT GISBORNE,

Still another commission sat at Gisborne yesterday, this constituting a further attempt by the Government- to deal with tho problem of Native rates. The Native Land Rating Corn-

mission nvas established very recently Y'and, held the first, of a series of sittings, for the taking of evidence, at Wairoa on Wednesday. Yesterday’s was the second session and the Coast circuit opens to-day at Tolaga Bay. The members of the Commission are Mr A. D. McLeod' (chairman), Chief Judge it. N. Jones, and Mr G. H. Reid, chairman of the Opotiki County Council. The chairman, in opening the sitting, pointed out that the order of

reference of the commission was wide

though really definitely limited to particular points. Outstanding points; to be noted were.' the diJßcuity Of collecting Native rates and the effect on local bodies which suffered in this way and ; recommendations to provide relief. The old practice of leaving all. difficult matters to the Govment'must. be departed from or, at Joast, not followed until all other avenues, had been fully explored'. The general opinion appeared to he that thd Maori should be treated in the pamo way as the pn.keha when it came to rating responsibilities, bur- it should bo realised that, before the Maori could he expected 1 to bear his fJijJl responsibilities, he must be relieved of serious difficulties affecting the use of his land. The commission would "welcome any practical suggestions from local bodies. Mr’ChasT Matthews, chairman of the Cook County Council extended a wels come to the members of the Commispion and assured them of the anxiety of local' bodies in •Poverty Bay to assist in solving tire various-problems of Native rating. The local ' bodies had decided to rely oh legal representtwtion in order to save the time nr the commission. Mr L. T. Burnard appeared lor cne Waikohu County Council. Mr_D. E. Olirisp for the Gisborne Borough Council and the Gisborne Harbor Board, and Dir G. I. Parker for the Cook County Council. Tho order of reference of the inquiry was set out as follows: (1) The operation of the existing law relating to the rating of Native

lands. (2) In what way, the present. system of collecting rates on Native lands could he improved. (3) Tho incidence, of liability f nr rates imposed in respect of. Native lands and how far the following matters, or any of them, should affect such, incidence: (a) Tn regard, to ownership of land in common": (b) the fact' that land is unoccupied or is not producing revenue: (c) the fact that land is without ndenuate menus of access: fd) the fact that land is reaping little er no benefit from tin general' expenditure of rates. " (j.y Jn view ef the well-known rliffieultv of collecting rates duo upon Native lands, what fif any) rendjustrnent is necessary nr evnerlienf m tho ■svstem of nrnnting Government puhsidio's to local authoditios for hospitals and other purposes. . .' . (5) Whether any .Special provision should bo made ,in respect of ' those local authorities in the district of •which a largo proportion-of . tho rateable;' property is Native land "It'is valuable to compare tho- procedure available for the collection of European fates with tha t provided for ', 'tho"--collection of rates frfm Natives,? stated Mr; Barnard. "Tn the- case 'of thb European; pi of cedurb is, simple'. .. A judgment >s rffitained- in the- Magistrate’s Court. Sis months, later' the local body can lodge a certificate 'of the judgment with the Registrar of the' Supreme

Court; when another six months naa elapsed, it becomes the duty of ...e Registrar to sell. In the case of Native .rates, the procedure is most cumbersome. The first stop is to apply for a charge in the Native Land Court, a court whose porcedurc is primarily regulated for the purpose of determining matters relating to Native lands nr-disputes between Native. and. Native. A delay of twelve months then takes place, "find the local body may then apply to

Native Land Court for an order vesting the land in the Native Trustee for the purpose of sale for the payment of the charge. The section which creates this right contains, however, two stipulations: (1) Tile local body lias to obtain the consent of the court: and (2). that consent i s nugatory unless the consent of tho Native Minister i s obtained,

“Even, however, when these two difficulties arc gof. over, there i? still no obligation on the Native Trusteeto sell the land. lie ran, if he chooses, fake no step at all. There are thus, in practice, three difiieujtio s t 0 got over, and the experience of all local bodies is that they are virtually insurmountable. Here the' •representalives of the various local bodies are informed b-v ihe officials of the court- that it is of no use applying for orders, as they would not he granted. It i? also the common experience in connection with ether matters in the Native Land Court., that the oonsenj of the Native Minister is frcquenilv withheld. even though an order is made, by the court, “The remedy therefore, is to abolish the cumbersome procedure- now provided for ihe collection of Native rates, and to assimilate the collection of those rate; as closely as practicable io ihe procedure available in the case of Europeans. There appeals to he no sound reason at ibis stage of the development, ot Native lands, and of the position of the Native race, why the procedure should noi he exactly iho same in both cases. *.Native land receives exactly tho tame benefits as European land, and it is quite unfair that the

additional burden due to the non-

payment of Native rates, should bo thrown upon the, European owner.

"In some counties, such as Mai. Icohu, til 3 payments due directly by individual Native owners arc not large hut there arc two other elements to consider. 1 A considerable quantity of land is owned hy Natives and leased to Europeans. Many such rates arc in arrear. If the owners of tlie land were Europeans, a judgment for rates payable by the lessee would, enable the land'to he sold: That procedure is not available in the case of Native lessors ? but there is clearly no .reason why it should not be.

"A second feature to remember is that many lands are directly vested in various statutory or semi-statu-tory trustees for Native owners. TTnfil the past year, the experience of the 'Waikohu County ha's been that these rate s have always boon met, hut tlioy arc now ope year’s rates m arrear. The procedure- available in thb case of Europeans should be made available in - the- case of these'statutory' or semi-statutory 'trustees.

The; proposal now made is a simple* one: To assimilate the' collection or Native rates to the same procedure as is available in of Europeans. Tf,' however, for any reason it is still considered necessary to give some form of protection to Native qwnfers, ' I have certain recommendatidh s to suggest.” Mr. Bernard then went on to detniljd'he' following points:—

(1 j No such protection should be given to statutory or quasi :• statutory trustees. j Such trusts Are; managed bv the Maori Land Board 'cr ’.by

other similar bodies with European officers, and the same duties should be expected of them as in the case of European owners.

(2) Thero should, in addition to such other powers as might be given, always bo available the (fight to sue for Native rates, and that right should be available, as against either the occupier or the legal or beneficial owners. There can obviously be no excuse for a Native failing io pay his rates if he. has the money to do so, and the right to- sue would enable recovery to bo effected by the ordinary process of the court. (?>) If an application Tor a charge is still to be made in the Native Land Court, Section IOS (o) should be amended so that dmay" will read as “shall.” It would then be clear that once- the court was satisfied that the rate s were payable, the making of a charging order would bo compulsory. (4) The cumbersome procedure, of Section 109 (1) should he amended. Tb‘e making of the charging o.rtkvr under Section 109 (5) should automatically vest, tho land in ihe. Native Trustee for purpose of sale. The power of veto in the Native Minister should he struck out. The period under Section 109 (11 should be reduced to six months, and it would then automatically become the dutv of the Native Trustee, six months after the granting of ihe charge, to realise on the. iand.

(b) The necessary amendment “may” being replaced by “shall, should bo made in Section 109 (2b and the Power of proscribing terms and conditions he limited by a condition that- the. amount- of cash prescribed must- not 'be Ess than Gin amount of rates then due, including of course current pates' ant. ouste.

(6) Tile period proscribed by Section 10S (2) should bo extended from two to three years, thus assimilating the, corresponding provision iji Gie ease of European lands. This would save expense both 'o ihe Naiite owners and: to tho local body. Tho limitation of nine'months in Section 1.09 (1) should, also disappear. (7) Provision should, also he mope for the charging order to carry interest n s front the date of its being made

(8) Certain saviug clauses .arc also necessary. Cases' have arisen in which a partition. • has Taken place between the time of the incurring of the rates* and the application for the charging order,- find flic Native hand Court has assigned that ns a. reason for refusing to make an °rdci. provision is required that rates should follow the land notwithstanding any sale, partition, or any other disposition of the land. ' , t "Broadly speaking,” 'concluded Tho speaker, "the control of the. collection of rates should remain at,-each point in -the local authority, 'a s'. in the case of European lands, and there should he a saving 'danse making m clear'that the various permissive sections of different Native Land Acts should in no .way interfere with local bodies' rights.” , Air. Clirisp stated that ho wished to adopt the arguments outlined by Mr. Burnard and stressed. the difficulties of collection under a system which was so cumbersome a s - to bo , practically useless. Local authorities were quickly realising that collection was., impossible unless the Native owner desired to pay. Be believed also' that it- .was entirely wrong for the Native Minister to •have the power of veto as mention or. by Mr. Burnard, fo r he was . too closely allied in interest to the owners. He' suggested the the simplest method would bo to /make the ' starting point a judgment against an occupier, after which the certificate of judgment could' ho .registered against tho land in the Native Land Court. ]n effect, -'thig should empower, tho Native Trustee to "effect a salo at a figure' which must ijot be loss ' than a.- gum required to meet the rates to the ’day of sale, pills • interest and costs. Tho Native owner should; first ,

be given an opportunity to sell by private contract hut if he failed to do this then the property should be offered by public auction. It was further suggested that, when qonrtilion of Native lands was made, the position of rates should also- he- ascertained and the liability dist rihnte ’ pro rata with tlio partitioning value. Mr. Chrisp considered that the only way in which the Government could escape payment of subsidies was by way of improving ihe methods of collection. It was not considered that common ownership should alter the position. Mr. Burnard agreed Lhnl l ?>' fourth and fifth points in the order of reference were well worthy of support. Tie considered, however, that care should he exorcised in the exemption of unoccupied lands from rates, such io he a permissive right and f°r a -fixed period only. Any sales hv the Public Trustee should he. lie considered, without reserve. Mr. Parker stated, that he was in accord with ihe arguments raised by the previous speakers. Regarding fiie position created wheu a, judgment was obtained, he believed ipo of this should he entered in the panui for six mouths, so that the Native could have the opportunity of lodging any desired objections. As faa- a s Took County was concerned, most of 'the. amounts due were very small and not worth suing for on account of the costs. Ff it was possible for the Native lands to stand on their o\vn feet, there should be compulsion directed to this end. It was not fair that the. South Island ratepayer should lie compelled to pay for the overdue, rates in the N n rf.n The chairman mentioned that schedules would be required from rlio different counties showing full details percentages and classification of the rating,