GRIEVANCES OF MAORIS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19469, 27 October 1926, Page 14

GRIEVANCES OF MAORIS.

THE CONFISCATION OF LAND. QUESTION OF COMPENSATION. A COMMISSION APPOINTED. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON. Tuesday. The personnel was announced by the Attorney-General to-day of the Royal Commission which has been set np by the Government to inquire into and report upon the grievances of Maoris in respect of native lands which were confiscated after the Maori Wars. The commission is to consist of His Honor, Mr. Justice Sim (chairman), the Hon. Vernon Reed and Mr. W. Cooper. The commission is set up in accordance with the' intention expressed by the Primo Minister, Mr. Coates, when speaking in the House of Representatives in September last year. "The native tribes of the northern part of New Zealand," said Mr. Coates on that occasion, "have for many years given expression in various ways to a general sense on their part of unjust treatment in the confiscation of large parts of their territories following upon the Maori Wars. The failure to obtain consideration in the past has been due largely to the ill-advised attempts by the natives' advisers to rely on the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi. Property of Loyal Natives. "Tho obvious answer to that claim is that such reliance is propounded on l>2half of men who repudiated that treaty, and with the treaty the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, which was the basis of the treaty. But the treaty is in no sense an element in the benevolent consideration of the question whether the extent of the territorial confiscation was just and fair under the circumstances of the warfare and the action taken by natives and by Europeans. That question can be temperately and fairly considered after the long lapse of years since the confiscations. "There is a minor, but important, part, which in some cases constitutes a fully admitted grievance, efforts to remedy which have been made from time to time under special legislation. That part of the subject is the inclusion of the property of loyal natives within the confiscated areas, a necessary result of the intricate relation of individual to tribal rights under native customs. That part, also, it will bo the function of the commission to attempt to deal with fully and satisfactorily.

"The intention of the Government is to enable a complete investigation of the whole subject to be made, and thereby to ascertain what injustice (if any) had been done in the past, and then to provide such remedies as will remove tho sense of grievance from the native mind." Scope of the Inquiry. The commission is required to inquire into and report upon the following matters:— (1) Whether, having regard to all the circumstances and necessities of the period during which proclamations and Orders-in-Council under the said Acts were made and confiscations effected, such confiscations or any of them exceeded in quantity what was fair arid just, whether, as a penalty for rebellion and other acts of that nature, or as providing for protection by settlement as defined in the said Acts. (2) Whether any lands included in any confiscation were of such a nature that they should have been excluded for some special reason. (3) Whether any, and if so, what, natives (having a title to or interest in lands confiscated), are, in your opinion, justly entitled to claim compensation in respect of the confiscation of such title or interest, and if so, what natives or classes or families of natives are now entitled by descent or otherwise to claim and receive such compensation. (4) Whether reserves or other provision subsequently made for the support and maintenance of natives within one or more of the classes excepted were, in regard to any particular tribe or hapu, inadequate for the purpose. Question of Valuation, In considering question No. 1 the commission is not to have regard to any contention that natives who denied the sovereignty of Her, then, Majesty and repudiated her authority, could claim the benefit of the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi. No contention is to be ac\ cepted that the Acts referred to or any of them were ultra vires of the Parliament of the Dominion. The commission is to have regard to tho circumstances of the colonj' at the time, and in estimating the value of any excess of confiscation is to have regard to the value of the confiscated laud at the date of confiscation, and not to any later increment of tho value. If it finds that any of the confiscations were excessive the commission is required to report what compensation money, in its opinion, should be made, j and whether the amount of compensa- ! tion should be appropriated for the benefit of any special person, tribe or j hapu, or, having regard to the difficulty j of present ascertainment of title, in such manner that it may be applied for the ! benefit of the natives of the North Island. The commission is further authorised to inquire into the claims and allegations made by 56 native petitions, so far as those claims and allegations are not covered by the terms of the order of reference, and to make such recommendations in respect to them as appear to be in accord with good conscience and equity in each case. The commission is to report not later than June JO, 1927.