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NATIVE LAND BILL.

The Native Land Settlement Bill, introduced by the Government, was the medium of some strong speeches in the House, on Tuesday. The Hon. J. Carroll, in moving the second reading of the Bill, said that the area of the land investigated by the Native Commission consisted of 556,561 acres, and the Commission recommended that it be disposed of as follows : —(a) By sale, 66,023 acres ; (b) by lease, 280,737 acres ; and, for Maori occupation, 209,801 acres, under various tenures. The question arose as to whether the Bill should apply to land already reported on, or made to apply to the areas to be reported on during the next twelve months. In view of the demand for land for settlement, he thought an unbiassed and disinterested mind would concede that the operations of the Bill should apply not merely to the areas already reported on, but to the areas to be reported on. In consequence of the great demand for land, and the amount unsettled I in the King Country, it was essential that this Bill should pass, and every delay meant setting back the question of the settlement of Native lands. Clause i 3, " the vesting of Native lands in Maori Land Boards," was, he agreed, perhaps the most important one in the Bill, and that disposed of there was no reason why the Bill should not be speedily passed, especially as, though members differed on minor points, they agreed on the principal ones. The question of how they were to deal with the larger areas, and how they were to place the Natives on their own lands, armed with provisions to allow of them occupying a similar position to that of Europeans, had not been considered. This was another reason why this Bill should be confined to a limited area, as they were only dealing with the question from the point of view of public settlement. Provision was made in the Bill for the vestiijj? of land in Maori Land Boards in cases where Native land is not required for occupation by Native owners. Referring to the question of settling Natives on their own lands, he said they would be losing a valuable asset to the State if they did not see to the Natives being so settled. Private dealings by the Natives with the land affected had, as far as possible, been done away with. In setting apart land for sale, the Crown was given the first option of taking it at a price fixed by the Board, and in such a case the very action of taking the land placed it under the ordinary land laws of the country, a deal of expense being avoided thereby, the land becoming converted to Crown lands without expense. Under part 2 provision was made for setting land apart for occupation by Maoris, and under the same section the Board acted as agents for the Maori owners. The Bill only dealt with land that the Commission had dealt with. It was divided into three sections —land for public sale, public lease and Maori occupation, and machinery was provided for the purposes. At present it was confined to an area of some 556,561 acres, but in twelve month's time it might include a million or a million and a-half acres. For that reason he urged that it was not wise in the interests of settlement, to limit operations of the Bill to the present area. The Minister went on to say that he hoped members would assist to place the measure on the Statute Book as a preliminary to a more comprehensive measure that would be brought down next session. Mr Ngata said that he claimed the right as a member of the House to vote in committee on the clauses dealing with the ultimate disposal of the land. The Commission had recommended 66,000 acres to be disposed of under sale, and 280,000 under lease. The House might say the Commission was biassed, but with the exception of a block in the King Country the land recommended for sale and lease was in accordance with the owners' views. The Maori ideal of land tenure was against the whole of the legislation from 1900 onwards. The Maori wanted to be left alone and to the fight to unrestricted freedom in dealing with Europeans, Since 1865 the Maori had been trying to disentangle himself from his fellows and individualise his land and adopt the same methods as the Pakeha. The Natives had been driven into a corner, and it was not right to say that the Pakeha should take what he wanted and leave the Maori the crumbs. He was opposed to the Bill when it first came down, but the Maori members had been met by the Government and the Bill had been amended in committee. If the Maori proved that he could farm his land then in a period of 40 or 50 years there would be more need for reserving land for the Maoris. 0)n these grounds the Jylaori members were opposed £0 the leasing of lands for a longer period than §0 years. Th e ? e were eases where Natives had not had the advantage of assistance from the Government, but had succeeded in making headway as agriculturalists and sheep farmers. Mr Kaihau said the Bill's provisions made a new departure in regard to Native lands. He asked if the Europeans would like to have their business administered by boards. The Maoris had not asked for the measure, and would not agree to it, as they desired to manage their o\yn affairs. Only a sma|l poftjor\ qf tlie

land remained in the hands of the Maoris and in his own electorate, if the land was divided, there would not be more than fifty to seventy acres for each man, woman and child of the Maori race. Notwithstanding this he was.prepared, in consideration of the large European population and assistance they had given and were giving, natives, to set aside a portion for Europeans. He urged that under no consideration should the Bill be passed as if it was trouble would begin. Within two years the whole land requirements of the Europeans could be provided if they would pay proper prices for the land. By the Treaty of Waitangi the Maoris were to be allowed to manage their own affairs, but this Act was confiscation. He had supported the Government for years, but if the Bill were passed he would support them no longer. He added that on one occasion his vote had saved the Government. In the Bill no provision was made for the value of the timber on the land. In some cases, land might be valued at 5s an acre where timber was valued at £SO per acre and flax lands might carry flax valued at from £3O to £SO per acre, yet no provision was made for payment for the flax. Similarly there was no provision in the Bill for mining rights. He went on to ask which portion of the lands were to be administered by the Board and which left to the Maoris themselves. He characterised _ the measure as a murderous one and if it were passed the House would be so full of petitions;from the Natives that members would not be able to get into it. He pressed the Government not to proceed with the measure this session, and he would undertake to provide some means of satisfying the cry of Europeans for Maori lands. It was true that the Government professed to assist and uplift the Maori, but the Land Purchase Department had been acquiring land at 2s, and as low as Is, per acre. If the Bill was postponed for two years he would undertake to provide from his own electorate sufficient land to satisfy the wants of every Pakeha in New Zealand. If the Bill was not postponed a number of Maori chiefs had decided to go direct to England with their objections. He urged that they should not be driven to this course, but the Bill should be deferred and the matter settled in New Zealand. He moved that the new Bill be postponed for hearing until next session. Mr Jennings said none of the speakers had placed the position before the House of the settlers who had gone out to wrestle with virgin bush lands on which to settle, and which were valueless to the Maoris until the strong arm of the Pakeha was introduced.

The Premier, replying to various mumbers who urged the postponement of the measure, said the Government intended to pass it. He was not going to have it said that he was putting it through in the early hours of the morning, and if necessary he would continue the session another week.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19071122.2.14

Bibliographic details

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 57, 22 November 1907, Page 3

Word Count
1,470

NATIVE LAND BILL. King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 57, 22 November 1907, Page 3

NATIVE LAND BILL. King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 57, 22 November 1907, Page 3