BID FOR VOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22240, 15 October 1935, Page 10

BID FOR VOTES

PKOMISES TO MAOEIS THE LAVISH DEMOCRATS' £ISOO ANNUITY FOR KING MANY OTHER CONCESSIONS [fbom our own correspondent] PUKEKOHE, Monday In its policy of something for everybody, the Democrat Party has not overlooked the Maori people. The programme being put before the native race to win their votes can fairly be said to transcend the limits of generosity, and to enter the atmosphere of magnanimity. Details aro enumerated in an attractively printed pamphlet which is at present being distributed among Maori electors in this district in support of the candidature of Mr. Jack Ashcr, of Tokaanu, Democratic nominee for Western Maori. On tho cover appears a large portrait of Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, the leader of the party, and the programme is signed by him. It is printed in both the English and the Maori language. The general programme outlined in this pamphlet has now been augmented by a supplementary pamphlet. "It is the desire and the expressed wish of this party,." it states, "that recognition of the Maori king be given effect to, and that the pillars for his foundation and authority be amply and safely protected under the guidance of the British .Empire, consistent with the native kingship of Tonga and similar Polynesian Groups."

Provision for Payment The next paragraph promises provision for all time of an annuity of £ISOO for thf> Maoii king, to be paid first to King Koroki, whom the pamphlet refers to as King Koroki V., descendant of those noble kinsmen, Potatau, Tawhiao, Mahutu and Te Rata. The annuity, it is specified, is to be provided solely from the funds of the Maori Purposes Board, administered by the Government of the day, and on no account whatsoever shall it be construed as becoming payable from any other source. In picturesque wording the main pamphlet blames past Governments for failing to satisfy Maori aspirations, and claims that for close on 100 years the Maori people have cried for justice under the Treaty of Waitangi. " Confiscated Lands " "The Maori people must see with new eyes," it continues. "The Democrat Party is a new party, which sees with new eyes, hears with new ears, and speaks with a true tongue." Major planks in the platform include the investigation of all Maori land grievances, whatsoever and wheresoever, that they may be rectified. This is elaborated in the following words:— "Compensation for and immediate settle<ment of confiscated lands in the North Island, particularly the Waikato and Ngai-Terangi, £10,750, Taranaki, £10,750, and the South Island, as the Ngautahu, £354,000, and tiuch other claims as have been recommended by various Royal Commissions or which have not yet been investigated, such as the Wanganui River, or the Orakei Maori Village, where the matter has been considered, but nothing done." Native Bating Question

It is also proposed:—"To provide redress in the matter of rents and royalties in such cases where the circumstances warrant and where the present payments are inadequate, unfair, and unreasonable. "To investigate the effects of the Waste Lands Act, 1854, and subsequent similar Acts in order to determine the rights of tho Maori people to surplus landa and to remove all existing anomalies and injustice. "To investigate means for placing the rating of Maori land on a basis of productive value, i.e., no revenue therefrom, no payment for rates due thereon."