THE NATIVE LAND QUESTION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 14170, 19 September 1906, Page 8

THE NATIVE LAND QUESTION.

f s^S^ roND ’ s iDEBATE CO T^ EGISLATIVE 6’ i .-*riT THE GOVERNAIENT IS 1 .j -M?; DOING. few,, ■;.■■"•.. r Is 3 ] '1 / T HE ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S \’h.J ' DEFENCE. :’0 ! [From Our Correspondent.] Xfc- ’ 1 ‘WELLINGTON, September 18. In the Legislative Council to-day tlio Rebate on the Hon J. D. Ormond’s to Lav© a return of native lands with additional informaSfrition, was continued. ■ k tf' r ‘ i The Hon T. K. Macdonald said that 8” <£- tojrone who attempted to study Maori \ legislation immediately became involvi-?\- ed 'in a maze of difficulties. Hundreds %.t'of -Acts of Parliament have been passed ‘ jeiating to native lands. So far as 6b I could judge the long roll of legislation had one characteristic, and that -■Hi SP* & record of personal, selfishness. t;";3Eb« gambling in native lands had been disgrace. It appeared that they had the great point in dealing with \.i{- Maori lands. On© wondered why so legislation had been allowed to be put on the Statute Book. He atW; ; tributed this “negligence,” he might (•jhi alrooet say criminal negligence, to the -A- «pathy of the people in the South fi ;/Inland. In late years the Crown lands £ad been getting less and less, and the h'.l otate had been obliged to repurchase y.. at greatly increased valuations.. It did ' not appear to occur to many people . that the State had power to deal , with fi Maori lands -without interfering with ! ■ owners who wore at all events Paying taxes and cultivating their W-; ooldinjp. The Maoris contended j*.- that every child of theirs had a ■f-' right to land in the colony, but Wd not ©very white ! child a right j; Ito a share of that land too? He had '' in his hand a circular signed by Messrs 1 1 , Hake, Parata and Wi Per©, in which they affirmed that the balance of Maori '■ lands remaining should be retained for ’ the natives, and that such land “was Bot sufficient for the maintenance of the. Maori owners, their children and ‘, grandchildren.” It showed they would as he had frequently pre- .. ’ yiously argued, have to face the queslion of Maori poverty. The ] native lands were being vested in their chiefs, V- ivho were gaining possession of vast ■/-- Jjoldings. Every acre, should be taken the Grown. A Commission should , *" then be set up to go into the whole 1 question. This would not dispossess jy ’} tue natives. It would dismiss tho whole crowd of pakeha agents who did no- '% thing .but set the Maoris by the ears «ad take their money. The .Commie-. , ■ rion which he suggested should be set y -up should ascertain 1 the value of the . Maori lands and. sea what was necesfor tho personal requirements of natures. He considered a million . acres would be - sufficient, and that twenty acres would be sufficient for ' jteaoh individual native, and the balance Ay could bo thrown open for settlement. O'.(When, the value of the land had been ;, kaoertained, the Government should .tissue, through the Public Trust Office, bonds for that amount, and these bonds' iCrown had satisfied itself to whom the ••nd belonged and .to what extent the Individual was interested, instead of .. giving, as they wore at present, pre- .. . vents to the chiefs. This would change k things, so that the fight would bo one ' ; iot money, and not for land, as was tho - |fve at present. The creation'of Maori r Councils and Land Boards had been an fi .jabject failure, ] and] the most recent ~l effort in this direction would not bo a ■ r success. He was afraid tho Native Minister would never be able to carry out a policy such as he had outlined. , -“Pulled” as. he was by Maori chi©fs. It,would be impossible for him to deal k with the question in the, way he , (Mr - i Macdonald) had recommended. Tho , question should be transferred to the - European Minister for Lands. - i Ho Hon Mahuta said He felt some- ’ /what reluctant in expressing all ho '■dmight say regarding the way native land had been treated. He agreed with ~K- jMr Macdonald’s suggestion that there L Ishould be an absolute abolition of the -MjCld laws relating to the question, and a ~;now and good law substituted. They if enable the Maori to work his -ir -own _ land, and so do away with the ' that the native was indolent ■> mnd laay. He also suggested that the j-whole of tho native affairs elfould not t Ibe placed on the shoulders of the Maori '' ‘members only; all should join together -’for mutual help. If a more satisfactory ;■-Jlaw were not established, the Maoris jwouldi never agree to anyone occupying ’; their lands. That was why the,Maoris ■- j were so afraid to agree to anything ■uggesfced by the Government. ; % In replying, the Attorney-General i -jtraversed Mr Ormond’s attitude to the .‘jtond proposals of the Government in (the past. The budget clearly outlined V Ithe Government’s Native land proposj jabs. He referred to these proposals at - - jaoone length and then went on to say 1 1 that the burden of Mr Macdonald’s i j Jtpeecti’wW that nothing had been don© I j!)//’™ Natl>^Department. He would iVaspw him that'.* deal had. been i do»e. The tollowmg purcliases bad been ■ mode under the Maori Land for Settle- ;. - tnente Act, 1905Taranaki and Wel- - I lington districts—-‘Whakaihuwa.lca block ; A 0,938 acres; Taumatamoho© block 5 ; 16,696 acres; total 57,634 acresHawke’s Bay district—Waimarama and . ether blocks in process of purchase and ■ .well forward, 15,000 acres; Auckland , 'district (King Country)—Rangitcto j Puhua, under negotiation and near completion, 40,000 acres, not including i am area of 10,000 acres, representing , survey liens, - which the Government had i taken .over, and, which, is at present ;; being cut out by the Courts; also the | To Akau block (under arrangement ; i with natives for purchase ‘by the Crown), 20,000 acres; total 70,000 ! acres; Bay of Plenty district—Kapuafangi block (being acquired under cor.s pomtion), 11,000 acres, and Tahora and j Waimara blocks (under negotiation), . 6000 acres; total 104,000 acres; grand total of purchase 161;634 acres. In i addition to 'these figures 74,003 ; acres had been claimed by the Native Minister for vesting in i’ boards for leasing ’ under section j 8 of the Maori Lands Settlement Act, j 1906. Further native lands of an area j j. ■ of 48,209 acres, had been leased direct ; by the Maori owners with the approval | || ; of various boards during the year, and > further area of 40,270 acres had been leased in the same way tince the close af the last financial year. He condemned Mr Macdonald’s proposals that . the Government should take over all - the native land in the colony, and was , - jEurprieod ■at a man of his intelligence suggesting the things he had. What i would Mr!Ormond say if it wa-3 wro- ; . posed ,to take over the European lands ' In the way Mr Macdonald had sug- i geated? Ho oould well picture him 3 calling it .“a monstrous and cold- * blooded proposal.’’l-(Laughter.) The 1 ..trend tho debate had taken on tho | 1 of supplementing a Parliamen- i ; tary return, had come as a surprise to j *lm, and ho wished it to bo understood | in voting for the proposal he in £ - '\r endorsed either the remarks of ) or those of Mr Ormond. ) .’l_ Ak Ormond had replied it was * r

agreed that tho return should be supplemented with tho information desired, the Hon J, Rigg being the only member to record his objection.