MAORI GRIEVANCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13701, 18 March 1908, Page 8

MAORI GRIEVANCES.

NATIVE MINISTER'S REPLY.

I si) I(J NANT CHIEF'S KISJ 01 DISR.

WELLINGTON HOSTE LR V WANTED. I in* TKXEORAI'If. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] • Wellington, Tuesday. The Native Minister, before leaving Wellington, gave a reporter his views regardjng'thc complaint of Wiremu Kauika, chief of'the Waitotara tribe of natives, that Maoris arc unable to obtain board and lodgings when attending the Native Land Court at Wellington. The Minister said that accommodation under ordinary circumstances could always be found for the Maori* at certain hotels, but anyone, whether Maori or European, was liable on special 1 occasions to find it difficult to obtain rooms. He did not entertain seriously the suggestion to start a Maori hostelry at ■ Wellington. Such an institution would certainly not pay its way ; besides it was quite unnecessary. The cum of £7000, referred to by Wiremu Kauika, as having' been donated by Queen Victoria for the benefit, of the Maori race, was, said the Minister, an annual grant by the British Government. It had been paid to the New Zealand Government since the time when it first undertook the responsibility of looking after the Maoris. The sum was properly administered by the Native Department; £3000 of it was transferred to the Health Department annually for medicines for the natives and for doctors, nurses, etc. The balance was spent in providing pensions for some, of the old natives, and for assistance in indigent cases.. , • : The Minister's reply has not satisfied the aggrieved chieftain, who in a second interview stated that he was surprised to' learn that the Native Minister thinks certain" hotels are proper domiciles for old men, old women and mothers with children. " Our Native Minister," he says, "tells mo that these 'certain' hotels are proper places for the aged and very young, but in my opinion they are most unsuitable. It is all very well for the Native Minister to say that sometimes Europeans fail to find accommodation in hotels. This surely is on very rare occasions, such as the visit of the Duke and Duchess, of York. Our Native Minister knows that such places as he mentions are very, very few, two or three at the outside,, and on the occasions of which I speak, I entirely failed to get accommodation. Our Minister says that the establishment of a hostelry in Wellington is quite unnecessary, and would' not pay its way. I can bring forward evidence of independent citizens of Wellington to prove that during the last eight years they have from time to time been put to a great deal of trouble to "find lodgings for their native friends during sittings of the Native Land Court and Parliament. I certainly insist that wo natives should get better treatment than this, when it incurs expense, so much of which goes into the pockets of the Government."

Inspecting the grant of £7000 for the benefit of the native people, the chief said : — I understood there was only one £7000. I am surprised "to learn that it is an annual grant to the natives of New Zealand from the Imperial Government. 1 would ask our' Native Minister how many native chiefs in New Zealand know this? We are told repeatedly that the finances of New Zealand are 'simply magnificent,' and yet we have been ignorant of the fact | that the Government received £7000 anj nually for the benefit of the Maori we i were quite ignorant of this until yesterday. J Our Minister accounts for au annual expenditure of £3000 (of the £7000) and he i appears to climb over himself in trying to account for the disposition of tlie balance I in disbursements to Maori pensioners and indigent Maoris. How many Maori, pensioners are there dependent on the-bounty i off the Government? Will our Native I Minister supply me with a list of names j and of the amount of their pensions? Will he also inform us how many indigent cases have been relieved during all the years ho informs us the Government has been receiving this money from the Imperial Government, and what they have cost? "When he has done that will he tell mo how milch information he wants as to the requirements of the natives who frequently have to come to ' Wellington, and if he ; could not, apart from the simply magni- ! iiceiit wealth of the Dominion, spare at i least £7000 out of the foreign capital rei ceived for the benefit of the natives in providing for them a comfortable home in I Wellington?" ■ '; THE LAND QUESTION. PETITION PROM WANGAXUI. [BY TELEGRAM. —PRESS ASSOCIATION'.] Wellington. Tuesday. The movement of the Maori people for (ho fuller recognition of their rights under ihe Treaty of W&itangi appears now to be more or less general. In addition to the petition to the Xing, which has been prepared by the- king Maoris, and which will be discussed at Waharoa by His Excellency the Governor this'week, the newly-formed Maori Association, which was inaugurated at Wanganui last, month, has framed a petition to be presented to Parliament during the coming- session. Translated, the text is as follows : — "To the Honorable Speaker and members of the House of Representatives, in Parliament assembled, —Greetings. We, the Maori people of New Zealand, residing under the mana of our father, King Edward VII., are being oppressed by the laws which are from time to time passed by your honourable House regarding our lands, and our property is gradually being impoverished thereby. From the time of the Treaty of Waita.ngi down to the present day your native people have resided together with the Europeans, and have intermingled with them. £hey have watched carefully, and have learned the crafts and the agricultural and pastoral industries of the pa.kelia. They fiave also had the advantage of education at the schools and colleges established for them. That period has now been reached when all the disabilities and the differences between the two races should be removed from your Maori people with regard to their lands and their property. Therefore wo now pray that the sole control and power to administer our surplus lands shall be granted to us the same as is granted to the other subjects of His Majesty the King." This document, which has been lying at the office of the secretary of the association (Mr. C. 11. Paratu) has already over 100 signatures of Maoris), representing all the tribes from Ngapuhi to Ngaitahu. Invitations are being sent out for a conference of delegates representing all branches of the association, which is to be held in Wellington during the first month of the Parliamentary session.