CONSOLIDATION LIKE A GAME OF DRAUGHTS

Northern Advocate, 7 January 1938, Page 4

CONSOLIDATION LIKE A GAME OF DRAUGHTS

There are few mere important matters confronting Northland, with its large Maori population, than the consolidation of native land titles. When this work has been completed, thousands of natives will be put into profitable production on their own holdings. Throughout the whole province, pockets of rich land, now given over to scrub and neglect will be cleared and tilled, and many subsidiary problems facing local bodies and private firms and individuals having dealings with the Maoris will be solved.

While seme impatience is voiced in certain quarters regarding the tempo at which the consolidation of Maori titles is being carried out in Northland. there is little conception of the tremendous amount of detail work involved and the complicated technical nature of the processes. Months of Searching.

Before the judge is in a position to approve final adjustments months of searching are often undertaken; court records dating back almost to the Treaty of Waitangi have to be consulted; genealogical trees and succession orders scrutinised; and a mass of evidence taken in order that justice may be done to all parties.

Consolidation itself may be likened to a game of draughts played on a board as large in area as the whole of Northland peninsula, and sometimes extending further than that. 4 The original surveys of New Zealand were not undertaken on a face, but in blocks of 1000 acres here and 50,000 acres there. When the surveys were completed Maoris applied to the Native Land Court to have their interests delienated. Basis of Research Work. The books of investigation of titles, as originally recorded, form the basis of present-day research work. The first such book for the Whangarei district dates from March 8, 1.865, and for this district alone the number of volumes, all entered in written script and properly indexed, has reached 18. Every other land district has its separate set of minute books, and in searching the title of any Maori, it is no uncommon thing to have to refer to books of far distant land districts.

Complementary to these works on the investigation of titles are massive files, thousands of them. For instance, a mass of papers, several inches thick, deals with the small Parangarahu block, near Matapouri. This shows how individual titles to pieces of land were first established in 1877, and how they have changed hands by succession, gift, arid purchase since that date. Carding System Adopted. The woi'k in this connection has been greatly simplified since about 1928 by the ,adoption of the carding system, one card to each Maori, showing his individual interests in lands. The preparation of this index system, in itself, was a colossal task. Many a native shown to be wealthy on these cards, remains little short of a pauper until such time as the completion of consolidation gives him the opportunity of developing compact holdings. A distressing feature of the position was that Maoris whose titles have still to be straightened out. until quite recently were not, eligible for pensions because of the assessed value of their lands.

The work of indexing and ascertaining individual ownership is made more difficult in some instances by the partiality of the Maori for assuming many names—some having as many as a dozen aliases. He Knows Them.

This factor causes little concern to the Tokerau Court, which is fortunate in having as its clerk, Mr C. P. Newton. Personally acquainted with practically every Maori in Northland, he knows their genealogical trees thoroughly and is conversant with their proper and assumed names as well.

11 is said that Mr Newton has such an expert knowledge of what is contained in the massive tomes and files (which are carried from court to court in hampers) that within five minutes he can produce any required document or check up on any reference.

Besides being such a storehouse of general information, Mr Newton is a cultured gentleman, master alike of his native Maori tongue and of the English language. A pretty problem in involved titles came before the last sitting cf the Tokerau Court at Whangarei. An Involved Problem. It was the-case of a Ngapuhi chief, owning 50 blocks of land, ranging in value from a few shillings to several hundreds of pounds, and representing in the aggregate property worth many thousands of pounds. His holdings are located from Kaeo to Motatau; from Ohaeawai to Rawhiti, from Pakaraka to Pipiwai and from Kaikohe to Whangarei. No single individual, white or brown, could farm successfully properties which are so scattered, few of which could stand on their own as separate producing units. Now at an advanced age, the chieftain is contemplating vesting his interests in his children, of which there are a large number by two unions. To assist and encourage him in his en-1 deavour of establishing each child on ( sufficient consolidated land to make j for profitable cultivation, the court 1 has undertaken the most far-reaching and searching investigations. i Yards of Foolscap. I

Yards of foolscap setting forth the position and value of his holdings and the whole of their history has been prepared. The first chart shows the land interests held by the old chieftain, a description of the titles and the valuation of the holdings. The names of the children and grandchildren are run out on the top of the sheet, which is ruled off. In the squares thus formed are shown, against the respective blocks, dispositions of property as suggested by the owner from time to time. Among the duties of the court is that of ensuring an equitable distribution of the land among all the children, and reconciling the wishes of their parent and the I individual preferences of the inherii tors. Another Intricate Chart, To assist in this object a correspondingly intricate chart is available showing the claims which the children j have to individual blocks in their own rights—whether from inheritance from father, mother or other relative. In this connection the succession files

have been thoroughly combed, a w in itself, entailing much research. Large Number Held tip.- ; While the land problems of this j ticular chieftain remain unsettled* very large number of other cons dations are held up. Final adjustme must be made on a face, and ac are used like pawns in the game, til the checkmate is given, once i for all. Meanwhile, consolidation in North has reached the final stage, Tckerau district, where the work, been carried out on a more intifn basis, being ahead of the rest of Dominion in this respect.