"MUCH IMPRESSED"

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 4638, 11 May 1938, Page 7

"MUCH IMPRESSED"

NATIVE LAND DEVELOPMENT. MR. BROADFOOT COMMENTS ON TOUR WITH MINISTER. Mr. W. J. Broadfoot, M.P. for Waitomo, mentioned in the course of a chat with a newspaper representative some of his impressions gained while touring the greater part of his electorate recently with the Hon. F. Langstone, Minister of Lands and Minister-in-Charge of Native Affairs. He said the tour had been undertaken with the object of securing first-hand information bearing on the progress of the native land development schemes in various parts of the electorate, and to gain a general knowledge of the problems of Crown tenants. Tour Full of Interest. Mr. Broadfoot said the whole tour was full of interest, for he had been afforded opportunity of seeing, and hearing, the two sides of the problem—the departmental viewpoint and the Crown tenants' viewpoint, in respect to the development plants. "The native land development scheme is functioning in dozens of places, notably in the Northern King Country," he said.

"Out at Mahoenui we went over a property of just on 7000 acres, where good progress has been made. About 3500 acres of this area have been grassed, of which total 1100 was accomplished this year. This area is carrying a lot of stock at the present time.

"One of the oldest native land development schemes is out at Waimiha, where, out of a total area of 6000 acres of pumice country, some 3000 acres have been developed. A number of Maori farmers are now milking their dairy herds there—the place is subdivided into dairy farms. At Ngutunui, on the way to Kawhia, some 2000 acres of nice rolling country were seen being developed. Though this property has not reached the heavy stocking stage, great progress has been made. The Department is now taking in hand Barton's Block at Ngahape, of about 1000 acres. "At Kawhia, where about 4000 acres are under development, there are a good many individual units being worked by Maori farmers. Some of them are showing excellent results. One place on the Aotea Harbour in particular impressed me. Sixty cows and 300 sheep were being run on the property. Altogether the units in the Kawhia district are shaping very well.

"About the 6-mile on the Awakino Road is the Eketone Block of 800 acres, while just beyond Pio Pio is another 1000 acres of very nice country under development. Excellent work is being done of the 400 acres in the Mangapu area. Then there are the smaller schemes, too numerous to mention, and the base farm."

Mr. Broadfoot strongly favoured the procedure of letting the work on contract that way followed on base farms. In this manner much better value for money spent was being secured than if weekly wages were paid, as was done in the European development schemes.

The scheme is now reaching the stage when something can be seen of its magnitude and its importance in the. general economic life of the country. Hitherto great blocks of native owned land, absolutely or almost unproductive, were a menace to improved European-owned lands near by. Now, that menace is being removed, and the intention is to select young Maoris of good character, experienced in farming practice, and put them on individual farms with small but well appointed homes and milking sheds, and they will be encouraged to carry onto success. Certain Maoris have achieved success by their individual effort in various parts of the Northern King Country, and there is really no reason why those successes cannot be emulated to a degree that will be astounding to scoffers at the value of the scheme." An Honest Endeavour. "But," said Mr. Broadfoot, "what ; ever comes of it, I believe it is a really honest endeavour to solve a problem that has baffled earlier administrators on behalf of the Maori race; and what I saw on this trip convinces me that the development work has been planned along sound lines. I predict success in almost every part where the scheme is operating. The Maoris themselves are keen about it, and with the changing life, from communal enterprise (or lack of it) to individual endeavour, there is no reason why it should not succeed."