THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1909. THE NATIVE LANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14209, 4 November 1909, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1909. THE NATIVE LANDS.

The return of Native Land areas laid on the table of the House by the Native Minister is ? so ". hopelessly vague that we may expect to hear that another Commission is being thought of by the Cabinet in order to do the work which, an energetic Native Department would have accomplished long ago. This is the Twentieth Century and New Zealand is alleged by its Prime Minister to be the most progressive country of this progressive age. Yet this small North Island of ours is blotted with great areas of land which are almost wholly unsurveyed and largely without defined titles, and the form of occupancy of which is officially almost unknown. The corrected area of Native Lands is now given at 7,401,825 acres, but although the figures sound exact they are only approximate. We may, however, accept the total as between 7,400,000 and 7,500,000 acres, forming a stupendous estate held by a comparatively small number of aboriginal citizens under law of entail, exemption from rating, special regulation as to leasing and other privileges of dubious value to the owners and gravely injurious to the community as a whole. Of this stupendous estate we are seriously asked to believe that 3,407,098 acres are -." profitably occupied," though how these acres are " occupied," what rent is paid, what conditions are prevalent, how many human beings, head of cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, fowls, fruit trees, and so on they carry, nobody seems to know, least of all the Native Department over whose lethargy Mr. Carroll fittingly presides. What the European does with his lands we know, for the tax-col-lector and the census enumerator and the inspectors of various Departments call at every European holding and report in detail upon every agricultural operation and upon every pastoral possession. But it is evidently supposed to be enough, when Native Lands are in question, to declare millions of acres " profitably occupied" as an effective and conclusive answer to the clamour against locking them up; and this although the native owners have members in Parliament who vote with the Government upon every measure affecting the European . settler and have an acknowledged claim to Old Age » Pension and are promised liberal' assistance from the Advances to Settlers Department. It is almost certain that not a quarter, and altogether certain that not- one half, of these estimated 3,407,098 acres are "profitably occupied," if we mean by " profitably" something commensurate with the occupation of equally desirable land to which European settlement has access upon reasonable terms. Anyone who approaches Auckland from the sea may witness for himself the "profitable occupation" of Orakei, and may compare it to the occupation which will sweep over it when the embargo is broken down. There are millions of acres of leased Native Lands which are only nominally occupied, and the reason why must be plain to those who realised why the bona-fide settler turned indignantly away from the Te Karae ballot. The European is not yet reduced to the desperate plight in which he may consent to transform the wilderness into farm and hand it over in a few years to idling owners and their rackrenting " Land Board." The European who leases Native Land gets what he can out of it without any avoidable improvementand very naturally. But although we may not regard the casual and nomadic occupation of land which industrious settlers would quickly turn into rich dairy farms as " profitable" to the country, the allocation under this heading serves the purpose of reducing the number of acres admitted by the Government as " available for_ European settlement." Of the approximate 4,000,000 acres which remain when 3,400,000 acres are shelved as profitably occupied," nearly half-a-million acres are tabooed as being without an investigated title. The negligence of the Continuous Administration in Native Affairs is so great that after eighteen years of most profound peace and unchallenged running of the Royal writ, it has not discovered to whom belong half-a-million acres in this small island. But why should this block settlement? The "taihoa" policy in all its forms and phases suits those who seek to block European settlement, but if, that policy were reversed although we might have disputes as to who were entitled to the money paid into Court for resumed Native Blocks we should have no more disputes as to the actual land ownership. However, half-a-million acres are thus conveniently thrust aside as " papatutu." In addition, we have: 466,000 acres locked up in the Urewera Reserves, which the Government make no attempt whatever to open by equitable arrangement with the native owners 190,000 acres sealed up in the Thermal Springs region, which land Mr. Carroll has promised shall be released so that the owners

may be enabled to do something with it; and 560,000 acres not yet dealt with in any way, even on paper, by this most successful of " taihoa" Departments. have the stupendous estate which lies as an incubus across the Island. and- sprawls over its two great peninsulas, reduced—on paper—to 2,228,000 acres including land held for Maori occupation. But here again Mr. Carroll warns us not to be too hopeful, seeing that 550,000 acres consist of poor lands in the Taupo and inland Patea districts, . which he. does not think the settlers who refused Te Karae would venture into. Finally, then, we are told that the area now available for European settlement is only 1,629,144 acres. Obviously, there is a Departmental determination, strong because it depends on doing nothing, to yield as little as possible to the European settler. But as there is an admitted 1,629,000 acres, why not settle this at once From even this reduced acreage more is to be expected- than the wretched dribblings which have been recently opened to European settlement, and while it was being occupied Parliament could make further inquiries into the five or six million acres which would remain, including the areas " profitably occupied."