OUR READERS’ OPINIONS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11953, 25 May 1933, Page 2

OUR READERS’ OPINIONS

RELIEF CAMPS. (To the E'liior.) Sir, —We are constantly .reminded of the difficulty the Unemployment. Board is facing as to future finance for relief works. The need for conserving funds is being repeatedly stressed in order io meet coming needs. The board Has discovered that, camps are the. ideal means to meet, the situation, and, so far, the single relief worker is going, under practical compulsion, to he sent to some outside district—Taupo is definitely stated —or he denied relief. For some time past a selected number of men, classed as single in Gisborne, have been allowed 36s per month out. of which, of course, do thing, food, levy, etc., has to be found. The board now finds that it can best conserve the funds by sending these chaps io camps and will pay them 10s per week and sup ply food gratis. This works out as £2 per month in cash and such must b’3 supplemented by the cost to tlm board for food, the men doing thr-ir ow n cooking after work, of course. Therefore, for every 1000 sent to camp, the board will used £2OO per month in wages above the present allocation, and, ,if 10s per week per man is Allowed for food, a further £2OOO will be the bill per month.Upon this basis the board is prepared to exceed previous allocations by £2200 per month if the single m«n go t-o camp. Will some enlightened reader show-, by logical .reasoning, where the funds are to be conserved? It would appear io ho cheaper to pay single men 15s each per week in town on work to lighten the ratepayers’ burden.—l am, yours, etc..

SAM J. PEARSON

the native rates problem

(To the unitor.) Sir. —It seems astonishing that n° one takes up the cudgels on beliaif of the Natives with regard to the confiscation proposals recently made before the Native Land Rates Commission. Advocates fall over and after each other to voice the hardships of local bodies and parrot-like they cry, “Take their land away so that we may sell it- to pay our debts/’ debts mind "you that the poor old Maori had no voice in incurring.

What a wonderful race our Maori people are ? How loyal they arc ? How nobly they answered the call for more troops at the Front? Ilow th'ey appreciate our benevolent- laws and how they respond to our guardianship of their rights. Yes, we are a great nation; wo use them when ,we want them, but afterwards . . . The hour is approaching when we will again require their assistance and what will their answer be? •Colonial history reeks with the at-tempts-of the voracious white man in his endeavours to filch the land and it is, thenefore, not altogether surprising t-o find 'Us carrying on the pernicious practice right down to the present time. ' It would appear that, there are three methods of denuding the Maori -of his land. ' Firstly: The parasites of the early days used rum. Secondly: The Crown, urged by Slntt.leme.nt Associations, used the ride. ' ■

Thirdly: The parasites of the present day, try rates, , Governor Hobson wn.s sent out to plop the rum traffic. Governor Groy came hack and piled the .rifles. Who will arise to stop the latest and most up-to-date nefarious practice? Will the Maoris have to appeal to the Imperial authorities to intervene on behalf of thoste signatories to the Treaty of AVaitnngi • who 'Signed or made their marks thereto in the belief that they would" have preserved to them, their heritage ? , Heaven help New Zealand if we cannot live without sequestrating the whole of “God’s Own Country” from the Maori people. Wo have . Begged, stolen and. bought; '(for,, heads and coloured trinkets) pnough of it already.. The honour’of the British people i s at stake, —-I am, yours, etc.. ■. “OLD SETTLER.

IS THE PAKEHA RESPONSIBLE FOR. THE NATIVE RATE DILEMMA ? (To the Editor.) Sir, —It is probably true that o great number of people and local authorities arc following, with concern and interest, the »va.rious sittings and activities of the Native Rate Commission which is now’ making investigations into the unpaid Native rates question. Now it appears to rne that the counsel for tho local bodies .have pleaded well as from a legal standpoint, hut have missed the main point by ignoring ilie psychology of the Native farmer. Any well-informed, unprejudiced person acquainted with our Maori friends and their happy-go-lucky style, and who has followed the working of the Native and his land, is forced to the conclusion that individualisation of Native land is 100 years before its time. We have so often flattered the Maori about his many great qualities, that it is no wonder that. Sir A pirn no Ngata thought it was safe to launch him, each on his own, out amongst the treacherous shoals and quicksands °f commercial life. To my mind this is expecting one to run before he can walk, or like dropping him in an open boat in the middle of the Tasman Sea without, sail, oar, and compass, and expecting him to make a safe haven. The Native farmer, though improvident, is remarkably quick to adapt himself to European ways °f physically working the land, but he is hopelessly lost when it comes to the executive and financial side of the business, and it is this last point which is mainly the cause of unpaid rates to-day.

AYith their wonderful advantages, in not having to buy their land, it is probably true, that of all Native farmers, not more than 15 per cent, have succeeded who have tried wholly to manage their own affairs. As tho pakeha approved the legislation which has brought about the sorry plight ■of the WNative - farmer, it would l;e unfair, at present, to apply sanctions such as selling his land as this would he equivalent to a dentist cutting ofF his patient’s head to cure a toothache. The Na-

tive farmer’s trouble, in normal rtimea, is not so,much insufficient income, as irregular farming methods, and tho irregular distribution of tho income received. That being so. what then, is the remedy? 1

I contend that, where a Native farmer, or farmers, cannot or will not meet his or their obligations, his or their farms be regrouped (say 5 or 10 farms to make one group) a nr. that each owner and bis family continue to live on and work his owe place, on wages, under a very competent .pakeha, who would he givenstatutory powers to manage 'the group, and each owner to : receive the balancfo of profit from his own farm after rates, wages, etc., ban been paid. -The cost of an expert manager, spread over a group of, say, 10 farms, would he. only £25 or £3q per year each. Unless' some such method is adopted it would bo manifestly unfair to .sell Native land, and, to my mind, we are at present only beating tho air, and are as likely to see water running uphill as to got' rates paid under the existing legislation, the responsibility for which lies .with the pakeha, who holds tho balance of power, and not with the Maori. Thanking you tor your valued space.—l am, yours, etc..

AY. S. THOMPSON, Waipiro Bay, May 22/ 1933/ '

TllE DOUGLAS CREDIT

SYSTEM

(To the. Editor.) Sir— I had no intention: of encroaching on ■ your valuable space, yet the matter of ending' the present depression is one. of such vital importance that .1 ask y.bur indulgence. It may he hold that" -the aims of ; the’ Douglas; Credit Association and, the:New Zealand Legion •are similar. Surely it is clear that there is a vast difference in the aims and nature of the two bodies. Thd’New' Zealand ,L«gion is nebulous, inasmuch as ' it hg'S ' ho ' definite’'oh-

jec-t. On the other hand, the Doug las Credit System' “exists fo r the purpose of bringing before the public certain facts relating to finance, and to show that, by applying ceraim mathematical principles to the present financial system, mil purchasing power will be given to the individual„ thereby ending the depression in New Zealand once ana for all time. However, apart Horn putting mere purchasing power into the hands of the consumer, another vital purpose is served, rind that is the Douglas Social Credit propaganda is malting alt classes of peopusee that their interests are one, because nil arc consumers, all want money and its equivalent in goods and services. It 1 should be quite clear to the people that, if the control of finance is not vested in the people’s interests, another world war must eventuate; there is no other course. Another claim can be made concerning the Douglas system People feel that it is right, and subsequent investigation of its claims proves that that feeling or intuition is correct. Furthermore, the Douglas ideas are bringing hope and. joy into people’s hearts because they know that at least a way trend the depression has been found, and they can immediately work for a definite object.—l am, Yours etc G. H. HfGNETT