MOKAU LANDS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7848, 10 July 1911, Page 1

MOKAU LANDS

POSITION OF THE STATE ■MR MASSEY’S ALLEGATIONS ANSWERED. It was suggested by Mr Massey in his Wellington speech that the throwing open of tho* Mokau lands locked up through jeaors of litigation had been accomplished under circumstances which made it desirable to hold a public inquiry. The matter was referred to by Sir James Carroll in his speech at Christchurch on Friday,-the Acting-Premier explaining in considerable detail the lengthy course of tho historic claim to tho Mokau lands by Mr Joshua Jones. The land comprises 56,000 acres of tho Mokau district, explained Sir James. Mr Joshua Jones claimed to have a right to lease this area, and a Tory Government liad confirmed that right and given him a fifty-sis years’ lease at a peppex-corn rental. The land was locked up for many years, and was a hindrance to tho settlement of tho district. Jones became involved in liabilities in England, and his rights under tho lease passed into other hands. Tho value of tho leasehold was greater than the value of tho freehold, and negotiations for tho purchase of the freehold were stifled. Finally the native owners were paid £25,000, only SO per cent, of tho value set upon it by the Valuer-General. The State had no liability in regard to tho land, but, nevertheless, the land was put under Native Land Act provisions, and could only ho dealt with in parcels under the limitations of the Act. The present Administration was in no way responsible for the locking up of the land, and on its disposal liad safeguarded the interests of the people.