MOKAU

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7943, 28 October 1911, Page 4

MOKAU

) _ « • ■ Wo find it a little difficult to believe 1 that the public is now very much con- ’ corned about tho transactions leading - up to the sale and subdivision of the’ ■ Mokau lands. Two or three months ago i when Mr Massey was waylaying report- > ers and talking about the matter in an ; altogether reckless way—when Opposi- > tion newspapers, eagerly taking the i .'cue, were promising “revelations”— * there was, no doubt, some curiosity I concerning tho facts of this business, . tempered .by the recollection of pre- , vious alarms from the same quarter. , Wo were asked, in effect, to believe . that something in tho nature of a ( swindle had been perpetrated on the [ native owners and on tjio community in , tho interests of “a gang of speculators” I all with tho cognisance and connivance t of the Native Minister. Not a shred of justification for this was ever put ’ forward. Indeed, tho innuendoes and assertions of tho platform vanished, into thin air as soon as Parliament met and publication of the evidence given at * the first sittings of the Native Affairs ! Committee convinced the community ' that all they had been listening to was ’ tho explosion of another Opposition squib. We have neither tho inclination * j nor the space to again traverse .the ' extraordinarily tangled skein presented by Mokau. It is /enough to say that ■ I for over a generation this groat block * j of land had boon tho subject of litiga- •; tion in various forms, remaining tho 1 whole of that period closed against 1. settlement. The task of reconciling the I conflicting interests of owners, lessee fj aud mortgagees was one of almost in--1 superablo difficulty, and ono tho Gol verument could not possibly touch with- - out itself ■ becoming involved in heavy i j liabilities and costly litigation. When >. it transpired that tho natives were willing to sell their reversionary inter- . est to tho purchaser of the leases there was for the first time offered a way out , I of what had been so long a grievous ; 1 perplexity to everyone. This was f acili- , tated by tho Government permitting . tho purchase under conditions compel- , ling subdivision and sale within three j years. That tho natives wore adequate- ’ ly paid for their remote interests in r the block is hardly open to question. At any rat© tho Native minister, who in these matters has , never , been accused of unduly favouring tho 1 . pakehn, was satisfied they were, ! and in this view ho finds support from members of the Opposition. Some rather , grotesque efforts have been made to present ebrtain individuals as the “villains of the piece,” and to insinuate general impropriety in tho transaction. So laboured are these efforts —so obviously are they intended to conceal tho truth and suggest the : false—that even tho most embittered | opponents of the Ministry have come to i look upon them with the derision they ; deserve. Tho debate in the House of Representatives yesterday shows how thoroughly the original suggestions had . been discredited. The ono impressive j fact to-day is that a great block of native-owned lands, hitherto shut i against settlement, has at last been \ opened to occupation in limited areas, ! this being accomplished by permitting i the only transaction by which such a result could be secured. Much is being made of the fact that the purchaser of tho natives' interest made a substantial j profit on ro-sale. No doubt Jie did, j but it has to be remembered that his interest in the land was greater than that of tho natives, since be held a forty years’ lease at a nominal rental. If the Government had bought the natives out they would still have had to buy tbe lessee’s interest, have had to face the litigation involved by a claim on tho Land Assurance Fund, and have had to pay thousands of pounds to tho New Plymouth Harbour Board. The case for the Crown keeping its fingers out of the pie was something more than strong. From the discussion reported in our news columns this morning the public will learn how much remains of the statements which first directed attention to Mokau and how much respect they now receive even from the Opposition.