NATIVE LANDS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 117, 12 July 1873, Page 5

NATIVE LANDS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL

Sir, —Among the hardest requirements of the present law relating to Native lands is the interpreter's declaration ; for when a man leases a bit of land, say at £lO a year, from numerous natives, a number of declarations have to be endorsed on the deed, so the deed has to be returned to the interpreters after they have sent it back to the lawyer to have the declaration drawn on it, and when it has been returned to the lawyer a second time by each interpreter, it has to pay a second visit to the Stamp Office to have the declarations stamped. In short, the expense and delay often make a man repent before the lease is complete, and then at the end of the first quarter, the Maoris are told that their lease is not completed, and therefore they cannot have their rent. Declarations made instead of oaths ought not to be absurd, but in this case the interpreter has to declare '' That his translation was correct, and was understood by such native." What a civilized language pure Maori must be, and what good lawyers old Maori women ! However necessary this declaration may have been in 1865, it was rendered unnecessary in 1870 by an Act which requires that all dealings by natives must be approved fey a commissioner before they can be registered.

The proposed new Native Land Act has plenty of provisions for protecting the natives (who, by the bye, are keen customers to deal with) from being cheated. Besides, it requires that all deeds shall be impounded by the recorder within thirty days after the execution until payment of the duty. The declaration, therefore, cannot be endorsed until after the dxity is paid, by which time one of the interpreters may not be at home, or may have forgotten all about it, and be unable to swear anything about it. I therefore hope that the promoters of the Act will substitute a solemn oath of office, to be taken by interpreters instead of all these silly declarations. —I am &c, G.H.E.W.