THE MAORI AND HIS LAND

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8190, 3 August 1912, Page 4

THE MAORI AND HIS LAND

“ The Maori will never find salvation until he is made to work.”—A member of the Farmers’ Union.

The Farmers’ Union acted very wisely, we think, .in rejecting the motion moved yesterday by Major Lusk in favour of Maoris being “ placed upon the same footing as their white fellowcitizens.” It is not necessary to entertain particular admiration for the public policy pursued by this country towards the Maori race in order to bo fearful of the results that would follow such a change as the mover of this resolution appears to advocate. It is all very well xo take selected members of the Maori race and argue the uselessness of applying “ distinctive legislation ” to them. That, however, is sheer sophistry when used to support the contention of a wide, general exemption. The great majority of the Maori men and women are not equipped to compete _ with Europeans on “the same footing,” and the certain result of making them do so would bo, within a generation, to reduce the Maori population to pauperdom. The eyes of those who use this plea for the “same footing” are fixed upon one thing—the Maoris’ land ’so keen is their desire, so apathetic is a great part of the electorate, that no little vigilance will be required to save the native race from being placed in a position to facilitate spoliation. Once let the Maori people bo completely _ divorced from the land and their ruination, will be absolute. Many estimable citizens seem to consider that the Maoris hold vast tracts of land, and j that this should be immediately ac- 1 quired for settlement purposes. As a matter of fact, there is comparatively little Maori land left to deal with in this way, and, in any case, the evils of such monopoly are npt to be compared with those the country has to endure from the, land monopoly enjoyed by pakehas. How “equal” the footing of the two races has been in the last twenty years, so far as providing land for settlement is concerned, can be seen from the following record of transactions. - Between the years 189 ■ and 1911 the Crown has purchased from Europeans 1,252,495 acres, for which £6,566,588 was paid, equal to £4 8s per acre. The area' purchased from natives was 3,192,399 acres, and for this the owners received £1,010,080, or 6s 3d an acre. It will thus be noticed that the Maori has been called upon to part with nearly three times as much -land as the pakeha for less than one-twelfth the consideration. 1 The machinery for bringing the Maori j land into occupation has been greatly improved in the last few years, and the rate of settlement is now going more rapidly forward than ever. We quite agree that the Maori will find salvation in work, but the theory_ that we should encourage him to this by first giving him the chance to become a pauper is altogether distasteful.