THE KING COUNTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20743, 10 December 1930, Page 15

THE KING COUNTRY.

MAKING MAORI FARMS, ORGANISED SETTLEMENTS. WAIMIHA AND MAHOENUI. PREPARATIONS FOR OCCUPATION* BY OUR SPECIAL CO&IMISSIONEB. 7 No. V. I have already pointed oufc some of the conditions existing :in the King Country; brought about "by the Maori land difficulties. It is not easy for the general public, and particularly for city men, to realise what a big handicap-these hava been to land settlement. , To understand thj position ifc must be remembered that when the North Island Main Trunk lino was already completed aa far as Te Awamutu all the land for a{ S hundred miles south, of that place longed to the Maoris, and the first port tion to be transferred to European owner* ship was the chain-wide strip which thai Maoris gave, along which the railway was' to be carried through their territory. The gradual acquisition of isolated areas by, the State for the purpose of and the operations of speculators and genuine farmers, in the way of obtaining land from the Maoris under lease, has resulted in the King Country being settled in a very haphazard fashion and piecemeal way with no great benefit to ths Maoris, and certainly with numerous drawbacks to Europeans. Waste ol Purchase Money. , How much money has been paid by that State and by private individuals for thai purchase of land in the King Country no one knows, bub. it must have totalled a vast amount, sufficient lam sure, if> wisely used, to have put the Maoris whoj, received it into a very comfortable posi-> tion. To our discredit as a nation, or ati any rate to those responsible for the welfare of the Maori race, practically all this money was frittered away. Looked at superficially, it seems as i{ the Maoris of the King Country, after; being forced by circumstances and by, education to give up their ideal of a Maori kingdom, in which they could live their own way without interference from the pakeha, resolved at any rate to retain as long gs possible their position of landlords. Bub alas for their dreams o$ perpetual rentals. They seem to havej reached a position now when most of their; lands have gone and there is discord and disillusionment regarding revenues from pakeha land workers. It is well for thei Maoris, and for tho Europeans in the King Country too, tha-fc! at such a time there should arise a leadei" like Sir Apirana Ngata with his and with his mana among Europeans well as among his own people. The pity, of it is that such a leader did not arisa. when the Maoris were receiving vast suma, of money from tha sale of Jheir lands« ; If he had been powerful enough what ajj different tale could be told of Kinjg Country development! I am taking ifc for granted, perhaps, the public know all about Sir Ngata's great plans for the Maori race, there has been much talk of it in out?. Parliament ap.d in. the public-press. Fob the benefit of those who have not yet] heard of it I may say that briefly it if somewhat as follows: Settlements on Modern Lines. The objects are to consolidate Maori in-* terests in land, turning numerous claims; on numerous blocks into compact which individual Maoris can farm; to heljj 1 those Maoris who have land, but no tal, to turn their holding to agricultural, use; to provide land for Maoris who have; an inclination toward and a knowledge ofi farming, but no holdings; to utilise thk' remaining resources of the Maori race iur' a practical and businesslike way; to.foimj group settlements for Maoris; to findlabour for Maoris independently of Euro* peans.

Much has already been done. Thera, are no fewej than 123 different settlements] at present being developed in different parts of the country. Two are now under way in the King Country, one at Waimiha, close to the Main Trunk line, and the other at Mahoenui, on the main road ' between Te Kuiti and New Plymouth. I ( saw both of then; recently. That at Waimiha is the largest and the most in-; teresting. I visited it in company with' Mr. C. M. Wright, late of the New Zear land Agricultural Department, who has; been appointed scientific and technical ad-| viser to the Maori Land Settlement Board.

A block of some 2000 acres out of ait: area of 6000 acres is being dealt with. 16 consists principally of light alluvial' soil,' being terraces and fiats of the Ongarna. River, and it is intended to break thi» area into farms oii from 80 to 100 acres and to prepare them for occupation by 1 Maori farmers. Earnestness of the Maori. Scrub is being cleared, small swamp* drained, fences erected, and land being: ploughed. The ploughing is being don® 1 with a caterpillar tractor, working al three-furrow share plough, and the Maori! driver was doing excellent work. I could; not fail to hear some of the conversation] that went <j]j between the Maoris and thai European adviser, and what struck m<*J about it was the note of - shown by the Maori worker, his keen in«| terest in performing his' task well andl economically. He evidently realises full® that the more efficiently he works tha cheaper and better will be the farm hflr is likely to acquire. . i The whole of the area seems capable oR making useful farms, and since it is lais] out on a good plan, and shelter belts haver already been planted, there should soort' be a score or more farms in operation, and' later the whole of the wide flats in thiaU part of tjje Ongarue Valley should ba' under cultivation, carrying Maori dairy*' ing herds and Maori flocks pf sheep. The Mahoenui settlement' consists ofl fibout 4000 acres of scrub and forest lancC' Skilled axemen are now at work on this, bush, and slashers have already felled at considerable area of scrub. The soil is sdr good that it should carry surface-sown grass, but. iyodern methods *will be usedj here, and the King Country will be the! richer when both settlements are in full work by increased pasture and increased flocks and herds.