PLYING SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 22, 26 June 1880, Page 4

PLYING SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT.

(TBOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) No. 111. Undoubtedly one of the most startling and surprising speeches ever made in Parliament was that delivered by Mr. Bryce when moving the second reading of the Native Land Sales Bill. It was pretty generally understood that what was really the Native Statement was then to be delivered, and so it proved. The instances of corruption and extravagance chosen as illustrations of the sort of evil practices which have,. prevailed in the past wer*' enough to make Englishmen feel ashamed of their countrymen. I have long held the opiuiou that no man could undertake dealings -with Maoris without soiling his hands, and if the practices -exposed and condemned by Mr. Bryce are as general as the facts cited would lead one to believe, the cori'ectness of my opinion is only too painfully evident. At Tauranga, we were told, a native agent had been found with no less than 120 blank vouchers, already signed by Maoris, which he had to fill up and forward to the Treasury to account for money supposed to have been paid by him to Maoris. Of course, as the vouchers were signed in blank, the agent was at liberty to fill in what figures he thought fit. As .£II,OOO had passed through the hands of that agent ■within the space o£ a few months, and a3 Mr. Bryce admitted that upon inquiry by an officer of the Treasury it was found that practically the whole system was rotten up on the East Coast, that the supposed advances and purchases might be fictitious, and were certainly unreliable, you may rest assured that reform in the Native Department is much needed, and that the Government stands to lose heavily on the transactions entered into in their name. In your neighborhood, matters appear to have been equally misconducted, although the system of blank vouchers has not been tolerated. A case was mentioned of a sum of iJIOOO, which was really wanted to cover some of the inordinate expense of the Waitara meeting. The agent in the district succeeded in obtaining from the Treasury the amount, by represeuting that the money was urgently needed to pay for land on the Wairaate Plains. When the matter came to be inquired into, it was discovered that the money had merely been raised by him to cover a small part of the expenses of the Waitara meeting ; and that the agent induced three Maoris to sign vouchers for the money, representing that they had received the money for land on the Waimate Plains, although these Maoris never professed to own an acre of land there. Among the other gross swindles, I may mention a case in which a block of land was bought and paid for, which was supposed to contain 60,000 acres, but upon being surveyed, it was found to contain 7000 only, or not much more than a tenth of the amount supposed to have been bought. At a place called (I think) Kaikaranui, the owners of a large block of land are said to have received advances in the shape of stores, buggies, horses, rum, &c, from a storekeeper there. These advances have been made under orders for goods granted to the supposed owners by the native agent. But inasmuch as, in most cases, receipts for the goods delivered have been signed only by one Maori owner, it appears that the storekeeper has but slender security for his money. As you may see from the above, the truth has at last been boldly stated that the borrowed money lavished by Government agents in the purchase of native lands, has been practically expended in demoralising the natives. Much of it has oeen simply thrown away ; much of it has been spent on land that has been bought at prices far exceeding its real value; much of it has been paid to Maoris who may or may not be the real owners; much of it has passed through channels which have been now proved to be of such a character that it is impossible to decide how much of the money has ever been •devoted to the purpose for which it was voted. This disgraceful state of affairs has been exposed, and no doubt Mr. Bryce has set himself vigorously to work to reform the department. I sincerely trust that he will succeed ; but I would point out that Major . Atkinson, in his financial statement, i reserved over a million sterling for . completing these purchases of native [lands. My own impression is, that ■ the money is far more urgently needed .for other purposes ; that it would be far truer economy, and better policy, 7 to abandon all claim to four-fifths of .the land upon which advances have -been made, and submit to this first .loss, as likely to be the least. I was , sorry that, although the Native Minister clearly expressed himself in favor ,oi a renewal of the exclusive right of of native land being vested an the Crown, he or his colleagues had jQOt the courage of their opinions, and ihave instead elaborated a most intri.cate system of native land purchase, ■which,' from my knowledge of Maori .character, limited though it be, is, I am .confident, unlikely to prove of a workable character. Every one whom I have spoken to on this subject hitherto has confirmed this view, and I have consulted those only upon whose opinions aud experience I could rely. I believe that, although a few years ago the House would not have listened to any proposal for renewing the exclusive right of the Crown to

purcnase native lands, yet if the proposal were made now, after the recent experience of the evils which have arisen under the present system, that the proposition would meet with the hearty support of a majority of the House. There is, however, some reason to fear that at least one member of the Cabinet would be strongly opposed to such a course. The House listened attentively to all the exposure of scandals, but when the dry details of the Land Sales Act were being explained, all interest in the speech seemed to die out. Mr. Bryce appeared to note this, and he therefore cut that part of his speech very short. The accounts showing the real nature of some of the expenditure have since been laid on the table, and I hear from one of the Napier members, who has seen them, that they are indescribably disgraceful. No v/onder that the last loans have melted like snow in the sun in summer time.