THE H.B. TRIBUNE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1911. MARKETING MAORI LANDS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 53, 13 February 1911, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1911. MARKETING MAORI LANDS.

It has too often been truthfully said that the Native Department, as Cowper wrote, "moves in a mysterious way.” It has the reputation for a fondness for Marathonic events, where the sought for goal is on the horizon of time. It brings into bold relief the policy of “Taihoa” —the policy of tempos omnia revelat or “don’t worry, the sun will shine to-morrow” class of philosophy. The silent acquiescence of the general public in such a drifting has always been puzzling, for when we consider the urgent clamour for land for settlement, the millions spent in acquiring private estates for closer occupation, the absence of agitation, the indifference to* a bold policy of placing the superfluous land of the Maori on. the market is incomprehensible. Is j it that we are ignorant of the quesi tion and have been intentionally i kept in ignorance by those in [ power ? Is it that for the last fifty i years not a session of Parliament | has passed without an amendment, I an alteration or a complete change ! of the legislation dealing with Na- ; tive lands ? Until, from year to j year, we know not where we are,

; and fear holds our steps trona ven-, I taring into a field that is beset with ! legal quagmires, mazed with techniI cal conundrums. Or does not the ; truth lie in the fact that successive ‘ Governments have made the Maori | and his lands their plaything, tab- | ling the latter in the laboratory of experiment, the former, wet-nurs-ing until his individuality has been. sapped, his independence and manhood become but history. But, we are perhaps wandering from our intention to-day, which was to deal with the urgent necessity for immediately bringing many of the thousands of acres of waste lands of the Maori into the market and profitable use. It is true that there has been legislation on the Statute Book for years authorising the Crown to purchase Native lands, but sufficient advantage has not been taken of that power and a lack of activity has been displayed in “getting a move on.” Under the Native Land Act of 1909, a Native. Land Purchase Board was set up, consisting of the Native Minister, the L’nder-Seeretary for Crown Lands, the Under-Secretary of the Native Department, and the Valuer-General. Inis board is authorised to undertake the control and carry out all negotiations for. the purchase of Native land by the Crown. They ean purchase from the individual, through the Maori Land Board or by a resolution car-

ried by a majority of the owners in meeting assembled. The latter process seems the simpler and most expeditious, and in transactions between Europeans and Natives has been found to work satisfactorily and inexpensively to all concerned. The Native Land Purchase Board may, where they consider land is suitable for acquisition, recommend to the Governor the putchase of it. Then an Order-in-Coun-cil is issued prohibiting, for any period not exceeding a year, all alienations of that land except to the Crown. We are pleased to notice that the Board is carrying out their powers and more than pleased that their attention has been turned towards Hawke’s Bay. By recent proclamations the following blocks have had this statutory embargo placed upon them, which of course means that in the near future the whole or the greater part will be purchased and placed on the market for settlement. The blocks are Tahoraiti, over 9000 acres ( immediately adjoining Dannevirke); Ahuaturanga, a small but rich block of some 1200 acres adjoining the Woodville railway station, Manawaangiangi, Mangaorapa, Mangamaire and Porangahau (all in the Porangahau district) containing a total of quite 60,000 acres. These lands, it may be stated are not virgin, in a state of nature, but have been more or less improved by the Europeans who have held them under lease for the last thirty

or forty years. With this advantage, j it requires no word from us to im- J press the public with the importance to the district of such a large area being thrown open for settlement. While fully appreciating the work of the Board, we would point anrt that there are still “other worlds to conquer,” in this district, and on a future occasion we propose to deal with them, and also discuss other problems that appear to us to require analysis and ventilation. In conclusion, it is only fair to the much-criticised Native Department to say that even at this late hour their pulse indicates a Tope that they may become con walescent and immuned from that -dread sleeping-sickness from which they have so long been victims. A eonsummation devoutly to be wished *