THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1909 THE NATIVE QUESTION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 171, 8 July 1909, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1909 THE NATIVE QUESTION.

IT is usual in referring to the Native Question to bark back to the Treaty of Waitangi. Allowing that conditions in' New Zealand, and the country's changed relations with the outside World, have altered materially, the existence of the Treaty bears witness to the fact that the country became a British possession, not by conquest,but by honourable treaty with the Natives. Allowing, also, that the terms of the treaty have, by reason of the altered conditions, become unworkable, it is still the obvious and insistent duty of our legislators to conserve the Native interests by working as closely to the treaty terms as is consistent with the altered conditions. When New Zea-

land undertook the responsibility of self-government it a'so incurred the great moral obligation of conserving the best interests of the Maori race. This fact bas evidenty influenced our legislators throughout the whole period during which they have attempted to deal with the question. These attempts were rendered difficult by reason of the spasmodic and uneven development of the race, which no doubt accounts in some measure for the many complexities and anomalies which exist in the laws affecting the Natives at present. Other forces no doubt exercised a contributing influence to a position which is widely recognised to have become intolerable. The fact of the existence in our country of 7,000, i 000 acres of Native land, mostly unproductive, and a fine race shackled with restrictions, under which it is impossible to conceive any people could rise to a position of self reliance and responsibility, are facts which no amount of specious argument or impassioned rhetoric can disperse or modify. It is useless to rail at the Government for allowing the position to become created. Sufficient to know that gigantic evil exists and that it is imperative that means should be adopted to remedy it. A tinkering policy with regard to our Native land laws has been persisted in for so long that it is incredible those -responsible for the legislation do not recognise the futility of their efforts to meet the exigencies of the case. The puerile efforts of our legislators would have been laughable but for the importance of the issues involved. The fact of passing legislation and making complete in every detail the machinery for collecting rates on Native lands, and vesting the power of veto ! in the Native Minister is evidence that the Government do not possess the slightest confidence in their own estimate of the situation. The knowledge that for years our politicians —Government and Opposition alikt-have shrunk from the task of mastering the question, and have refrained from propounding any useful or comprehensive method of establishing a practical and permanent scheme for allowing the Natives to Work out their own salvation is far from being creditable to our politcians as a body. It was fondly hoped that the Ward administration would take steps to have the question finally settled. The appointing of a special commission to collect evidence, and make reports on the subject lent colour to the belief that the Premier at least recognised the existence of a problem, and the necessity for action. It also pointed clearly to the fact that the administration as a body did not possess a knowledge of the subject, or sufficient confidence in their own power to handle the situation satisfactorily. Such a confession of weakness is not reassuring, and it is to be hoped those districts in which the big black blot exists will make known their disabilities with no uncertain sound.