New Zealand Times. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4219, 28 September 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1874.

The announcement in the Gazelle of the 17th inst., that the Government had succeeded in arranging for leases of various tracts of land, amounting to nearly a million acres, and others the areas of which were not given, all situated in the North Island, is of a very satisfactory nature. These leases are current for from twenty to thirty years, and it is very well understood that in all human probability the purchase of the estates in foe simple will follow. Indeed, this is the prospective advantage that attaches to a lease of Native territory. The Natives, it must be patent to every one, have a title to a portion of the country utterly disproportionate to their numbers. They cannot cultivate it, and they have not the capital to stock it with sheep. Nobody wishes to see them dispossessed of the amount of land that they require for purposes of cultivation ; but we may all be glad to find that the agents of the Government have been successful in persuading them to allow Europeans to have control ovor such a very large slice of estate. When it shall be occupied, a very important step will be taken towards the successful settle- | ment of the North Island. A tribute may then be paid to the Immigration and Public Works of the Government under the authority of the Acts for which the leases have been acquired. This is a so much more satisfactory way of dealing ■with ths Natives than with the sword and rifle. Most or all of the land seems to be situated in various portions of the Province of Auckland, and if the agents of the Government continue to be as zealous and successful in the future as they have been in the past, in coming to agreements with the Natives, the time will soon be at hand when the rasidents in the Middle Island will have cause to look with something like envy on the magnificent estate that is falling into the hands of the people of the North. The subject of the acquisition by lease or otherwise of lands In the North Island was brought before Parliament on two or three occasions in the session that has recently been brought to a close. Mr. Gillies moved for a return of the persons employed purchasing, on what terms they were employed, and the quantity, etc., of the land they obtained. This brought from the Premier the reply, that considering the number of persons interested in defeating the objects of the Government, and the machinations and intrigues of those who were striving to obtain land from the Natives, the Government would only feel justified in affording such information as it would be prudent to give. Mr. Waterhouse, in?the other branch of the Legislature, had also a good deal to say relating to the same subject. He thought the Government had too much power in the disposal of lands that were acquired. He instanced the lease to one squatter of 150,000 acres, and the sale of a marsh to some speculators. But Dr. Pollen showed that the Government must necessarily have considerable discretion in dealing with such matters. There circumstances sometimes in connection with such sales or leases that werif'iUipendent upen affairs with which no legislation could deal. In one of the cases cited by Mr. Waterhouse the proposition to purchase tho swamp, drain it, and make a road through it, had been acceded to, partly because near it there was a settlement of somewhat disaffected Natives, who had been a danger to the peace of the country. They usuallyretreated into inaccessible country, but through this being rendered accessible they had submitted to the laws, and had become amenable to the customs of civilisation. There is no denying that this has been tho usual experience in respect to tiio «.o a ni<<ftion of land by the Europeans, either by purchaso or leuao, and such, we may presume, will be the result when this million or more of acres now leased shall be settled. Notwithstanding that there was an attempt made in Parliament to depreciate the value of the labors of the agents and to cast a slur upon their characters, they appear to have been doing very good service. A good deal of negotiation must have taken place before the control of such large blocks of land as those described in the Gazette would be parted with. . The wisdom of the policy of leaving the entire Native policy of the Government to Sir Donald McLean is being daily rendered more manifest. New Zealand may be credited with possessing a form of government democratic enough for all practical purposes, but one portion of it must be purely despotic. Not oven Parliament would be justified in calling upon the Native Minister to give reasons substantiating his course of conduct. His policy must be judged by its success; and of this thero is daily evidence. The Natives will do for him what they would not do for any other European, they respect him, and. have full confidence in his integrity and honor. We expect that he has to deal with them in a manner that no Minister would feel justified in dealing with the white population ; but there is full justification for this in the vast difference that thero is between the circumstances of the two races. They, not knowing our laws and customs, and having entirely difforent ones of their own, cannot be expected to at onco see the justice of ours nor the importance wo attach to the observance of them. As Sir Donald hits been so successful in dealing with fchem, and as ho alone knows tho threads of his policy, it is to be hoped he may be spared to tho Colony for many years to como, until ho may see every object he has in viow fairly accomplished. Tho hope is not an unreasonable one, for

the prospect of there ever being again a Native difficulty is rapidly fading away. The lease or acquisition of a few more million acres of land, and the country being gradually populated with the thousands of immigrants yearly being imported, will soon put a Native difficulty out of the question.