THE NATIVE LANDS PROBLEM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13387, 13 September 1905, Page 4

THE NATIVE LANDS PROBLEM.

Tun Premier lias never been particularly explicit when discussing tho Native land question, and his roply on Wednesday to the deputation of settlers at Levin was as vague and as indefinite as most of his previous utterances 011 tho subject. Mr Seddon was hopeful "that beforo the session ended the Government would be able to take a very big step towards settling tho Native land question." But as to the nature of the step it is proposed to take we are as much in tho dark as ever. For many years the people of the North Island have been hoping against hope that Native lands would be opened for settlement, and that thus a stimulus would be given to the development of the country, but hundreds of thousands of acres still remain a wilderness, and the chief purpose these large areas sprve is to provide space for the unlimited propagation of noxious weeds. The adjoining settlers have to bear the whole burden of local taxation while tho Native lands are free from imposition, and their owners have, in the majority of instances, neither the capacity nor the inclination to put their land to profitable use. The only solution the Land Commission was able to offer was comprised in tho simple suggestion that Native laud should be acquired in the ordinary way for settlement, and that tho proceeds of its sale should be lodged with tho Public Trustee on behalf of the Native owners. Possibly the Premier, who has been casting about for a long time in search of a Native land policy, will proceed on this basis. Last week lio gave notice to movo an amendment to his land proposals by the addition of a provision for the classification' of Native lands, for the'application of the Land for Settlements Act to surplus Native lands, for the extension of the period of leasing such lands' from 21 to 50 years, and for the granting of such monetary assistance to Natives-as to enable them

to utilise their own lands to advantage. At tho present time there nre somo 40,000 Natives in the North Island, who own an area of somo 5,000,000 acres of land, the greater part of which : is fit for settlement. The colony simply cannot afford to continue to allow this huge area to remain nnoccnpiod or partially unoccupied, and there is no reason why, after the necessary reservations are made in tho int'erpsts of tho Natives, this land should not ho settled without delay. The Ivntive as a. land-owner is a proved failtire: if lie is to remain a land-owner then, in his own interests, the State must handle the business for him. The deputation pointed out on Wednesday that Maoris aro receiving only some £400 for land at Levin which should be bringing in about £2000, and the Premier himself admitted that there are Natives owning largo and valuable areas of land, who, instead of being possessed of independent means, are living in a state of misery. As a preliminary to the big.step" lie contemplates, the Premier says that the Government must find out what. is best suited to the interests of the Natives. The inference is that the Government ,Ims not yet devised a' Native land policy any more than it has with rospect to the disposal of the Crown lands of the colony, and that it is only, just realising that the Native land question. is inextricably involved with the whole question of the future of tho Maori. But tho time for tomporising over the matter is exhausted, and a policy of drift and indifference must give way to one with a definite objective. The Maori must be taught to adapt himself more closely to the pakeha's conditions of life, making tho best of his opportunities to improve his social and economic position. If nothing short cf necessity will induce him to go on the land and Cultivate it, then the sooner lie is faced with the alternative the better for himself mid the country. But in the meantime the large area of land over and above what tho Natives can profitably occupy should be thrown open for settlement. Security of tenure is all that prospective occupants require, and it does not matter vcrv much whether the administration of Nativo lands ultimately falls into tho hands of the Public Trustee or not. The Government must see that the Natives do not suffer, and the manner in which the revenue from Native lands is distributed amongst those entitled to it is merely a question of detail.

In the Legislative Council yesterday tho Marriage Validation Bill and the Shipping ancV Seamen Act Amendment Bills •were passed, and two local bills wero advanced a stage.

In tho House of Representatives yesterday, alter petitions and formal business, the Education Act Amendment and Lincoln Collcgo Bilb wero read a first time. Tho Shops and Oflieca Act Amendment Bill was recommitted, and the remainder of the afternoon and tho whole'of tl;o evening sitting devoted to it. At 1 a.m. tho bill was reported.

Up to the present nothing appears to have been accomplished in tho direction of providing work for tho unemployed, concerning whom representations wero mado to his Worship the Mayor on Friday last. Mr S. Boroham informs us that ho knows Hat more than 300 men, upon whom 1100 pooplo are dependent for sustenance, aro idlo at the present time, and liavo been unemployed for sonio months. Theso pcoplo have been in very straitened circumstances, but so far they havo carefully avoided anything in tho nature of a demonstration, preferring to procure employment otherwise if possible. The men do not complain about the Government giving profcrenco of employment to Australians, but they contend that they, a3 ratepayers, should have received more consideration at tho hands of the City Corporation and Drainage Board when these bodies required workmen. It is asserted that a very largo proportion of tiio men employed by tho City Council and Drainage Board aro exAustralians—many of them single men,— while tho claims of local men have been passed over. Wo aro assured that strong efforts have been mado to secure employment on tho Oiago Central and Midland railway works, but without success, visits to the Labour Bureau having elicited the information that there is no work available. Wo regret to say that information has been received that tho shipment of chilled beef, which was sent Homo by tho Tokoniaru as an experimental consignment from the Burnside Freezing Works, has been landed in an unsatisfactory condition, and has, in fact, been condemned. The Kaikoura, which arrived in England a few days in advance of the Tokomaru, carried 500 quarters of chilled liccf from tho Waitara works, and tho accounts that have been received by oablo of tho result of that shipment havo been conflicting, one message, published by us on tho sih inst,, referring to it as "fairly successful, but too hard," and quoting prices for it tliat suggested it had been frozen on tho voyago to provont tho risk of a total loss, and a later message, in our columns of yesterday, describing it as " unsatisfactory." In the ease of tho Tokomaru shipment all tho risk of landing the beef in a chilled, rather than a frozen, state seems to havo been accepted, with tho unfortunate issue wo havo mentioned. The result was to some extent dreaded from tho first, but tho shippers had lately been quietly hopeful for tho -reason that very good results havo followed the local test. Meat killed at tho same time as that shipped by tho Tokomaru, which had been ohilled in tho Burnside works, has lately been frequently, sampled on the dinner tables of local residents; and it was only, last week that joints from carcases 70 days old wore consumed, and pronounced to bo not only very lender, but also perfectly swoet—" magnificent" being tho description applied by ono local consumer to tho meat.

"Art in Photography" is tho title of an interesting series of animal studies in this week's illustrations of the Witness, accompanied by impropriate descriptive letterpress. The recent gathering of Maoris at tho Nativo Land Court sitting at Puketcraki is pleasingly illustrated in this issue, and among tho other attractive features are portraits of tho principal characters in tho amateur production of "Rip Van Winkle," a capital picture of Miss Jessie Maclachlan, tho ship's bell and tho gunnery shield presented by tho children of Now Zealand for the battleship named aftor tho colony, and many charming views, and the usual ndmber of amusing cartoons. A dock of waterfowl resembling small geeso or swans was seen swimming about in Mussel Bay, Port Chalmers, during tho past few ,days, and their appcaranco was so unusual that several persons who saw thorn wroto to Mr D. Russell, secretary of tho Acclimatisation Society, describing them as being grey, -having a body liko a swan or a goose, Mr Deans was at once communicated with, and he went down tho harbour yesterday, but was u'nablo to see the birds and so determine their identity. From'descriptions furnished to him, Mr Deans i 3 of opinion that they wore Canadian gocse, but as nono havo been liberated nearer , than Cantorbury aud Southland their appcaranco hero is somewhat surprising. They aro described as having young ones with them which arc unable to fly, thus making their appcaranco still more incxplicablo. Tho only explanation which' presents itself is: that, favoured by tho exceptionally mild winter, the gecso havo roared n brood since their liberation, and, having probably, been carried to sea by a flooded . 'river, made their way along

tho coast until they found a refuge in thas.': Lovycr Harbour. It cannot bo too widely known that these birds aro protected : by law, and it. i 9 to ba hoped that thoy) will; riot Im molested iti any way by thoughtless and foolish persons. : . Shortly after 9 o'clock last evening a fire broke out in a row of cottages situated in King, street, between St. Andrew and Hanover streets, as a result of whioh a. four-7 roomed cottage ocoupicdby a Mrs Kirk was practically gutted, and two others ad-; joining, occupied respectively by Mrs Walker and Mrs Hewitt, woro. somewhat damaged. Mrs Kirk is at present an • inmate of tho Hospital, but all was appar* ontly safe when her son William Kirk left the house at 7 o'clock, though a firo was left burning in tho grate. Tho firo was discovered by a neighbour, who gave tho alarm. The cottages had been originally roofed with shingle, ovor which iron had been put, and tho burning shingles gavo tho Firo Brigade cor.sidorablo difficulty, though tho brigade quickly subdued th« flames ollieriviso Tho oottages aro understood to bo owned by Mrs J. Hartley and to be insured, Mrs Kirk's furniture, which was destroyed, being also insured. The heavy rainfall of a little over a week ago will still bo remembered, and Dr P. Marshall's estimate of the. amount.of mud and mineral matter in suspension carried down by our own particular noblo stream, the AVater of Leith, during such n period, as communicated by him to the members of the Otago Institute last evening, is decidedly interesting. Dr Marshall's calculations showed hihi that tho flood-walcr contained on an average ono part in 3000 of its . own weight in mineral matter, and, assuming that tho flood continued for 30 hours, considerably ovor 12,000 tons of euspendod matter (after drying) would bo carried down by the stream in that time. Pursuing the calculation further, in reference to tho area from which tho Leith drains /uid derives its water, Dr Marshall said this would mean that five-sixths of a ton of material was derived from every aero of land from which tho Leith flowed, or 51b from every square yard, which was tho same as saying that tho surfaoe of tho land from whioh tho Leith derived its water was lowered one-two-thousand-seven-hundredth part of a foot by the flood, or that one such flood a year would lower it a foot in 2700 years. This might seem startling as a. result, but i.t must ho remembered that in ono such flood tho stream probably carricd down moro silt than it would in a year under normal circumstances. Tho Doctov said his hearers could feel reassured, for a comparison with larger and different-flowing streams elsewhere made the Leith carry down material just rather moro quickfy perhaps than they

At last night's meeting of tlie Mornington Borough Council Cr Nicol moved— "That, owing to tho financial position of tho borough, it is tho duty of tho council to reduce expenditure as soon as possible, and that tho servioos of two inspectors and llto consulting engineer bo dispensed with." Tiio motion lapsed for want of a seconder. On tho motion of Cr Dickson, seconded by Cr M'Carthy, it was resolved to recommend tho Tramways Committee to tako into consideration tho reduction of fares on the main tramway line. Tho flat between Alexandra, and Clydo presents a very busy appearance (says the Dunstan Times), thero being several gangs of men at work on the construction of tho railway. Tho work is progressing rapidly, and tho site of operations of the foremost gang is on tho Clydo sid© of Muttontcnra Gully. Tho gully in question is to bo crossed by a viaduct—a. wooden pilo bridge, In tho opinion of Ihoso in charge tho lino should bo opened to Clydo within 18 months.

When Nelson achieved his famous victory at Trafalgar a special medal, struck to commemorate tho event, was presented to each of the commissioned officers aboard the flagship Victory. One of theso—tha total number issued is said to bo only 13— h in possession of Mr D. L. Turner, of Manners street, Wellington, who obtained it from tho son of the officer to whom it was originally presented. It is a largo bronzo medal, bearing on its faco a raised representation of tha hero of Trafalgar, sur- \ rounded with tho words " Horatio Viscount Nelson, K. 8., Duke of Bronte." On tho obverse of the medal appears Nelson's signal-beforc-aetion, "England Expects Every Man to do his Duty," and " Trafalgar, October 21. 1805." Thero is also a representation of the fleet as it went into action in form of a crescent moon, and tho rim is inscribed "Presontcd to tho Heroes of Trafalgar."

At tho fortnightly meeting of the" Dunedin Accountant Students' Society, held in the Stock Exchange Buildings last evening, Mr J. M. Gallaway delivered a lecturo on the "Conversion of a Business into a Limited Liability Company." Mr Gallaway, in his paper, dealt with the subject; fully and ably, and at the close answered some questions which were asked. There was a largo attendance of members, and tho chair was occupied by Mr Peter Barr. A hearty vote of thanks, moved by Mr Reid and seconded by Mr Bogors, was accorded Mr Gallaway for his valuablo paper. Mr P. Hercus moved that the members of the society congratulate Mr Barr on his re-election as president of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants, and Mr James Brown testified to the esteem in which Mr' Barr is held by tho members of the institute. The remarks of tho speaker were heartily applauded, and Mr Barr returned thanks for the kind speeches and for the motion passed by the members. It was 'decided that tho Duncdin Accountant Students' Society should join the Students' Sooicty TJnion. Speaking at the Otago Institute's meeting! last evening with reference to the proposed introduction of tho owl into Now Zealand, Dr Hock™ said that so many mischievous animals had been introduced that it was veiy important to mako euro that another mistake was not being made. Ho had gone into this matter, and looked up authorities, and found the owl much praised as. a very suitable bird to introduce, and its food consisted almost entirely of field mico and other small animals, with a small bird now and again, but very rarely. He did not \ think any mischief need be feared from tha owl, and believed its introduction would bo quite safe.

A movement, initiated by members of the Royal Institution of British Architects in Now Zealand, is on foot for tho formation of a Now Zealand Instituto of Architects (says tho New Zealand Herald). At present the architects of tho four centres oE the colony have local institutes, which look tho colony havo local institutes, which look after their institutes, but these bodies have no locus standi outside tho particular cities in which they aro situated. It has been recognised that thcro is a need for some such body as i 3 proposed, in view of tho fact that builders and contractors have a similar institution watching their interests throughout tho colony as a whole.

Three years ago last. March (says tho Timarti Post) a Timaru merchant purchased soveral boxc3 of the South Canterbury Dairy Company's Filbert butter, but owic£ to an oversight it was allowed to lio in the freezing chambers at Smithficld till lust month, when it was shipped to Melbourne, where it realised tho satisfactory prico of 9d por lb. The butter was in good marketable order, and no one could havo suspected that it was nearly three' years and a-half old. The fact is a remarkablo tribute to tho keeping qualities of tho butter, and au excellent testimonial to tho methods, of tho manager and his staff. It is sometimes astonishing how news regarding mines "leaks out." Tho Thames Star thus throws light upon cmo method used to acquaint outsiders with dovolopments below:—"lt i 3 stated" (says the journal ijamed) " that a. prominent mining man of Thames'discovered a somewhat elaborate system of signalling from a Thames mine,. and that ho watched its oporation with : considerable interest tho other day. Tho signals, wero worked on tho semaphore system, and tho operation was evidently attended with success, for the day aftor-shares had advanced 6d."-

A young-' in3u iv 11 Q was refused i! dmll - taiice to the- Alharr.bra Theatre lwst ' evening, as lie was under the influence of liquor, immediately proceeded to create a disturbance 'in Dowling street-, and was arrested, and will bo charged this morning vrith us injj obseeno language'in a public place. Messrs Jas. Samson and Co. Trill hold; a sain of furniture, etc., also trunks, bags, etc., at their rooms to-morrow. On' Saturday, 16th inst., they will holt! a salo of freehold property. _ Messrs Park, Reynolds, and Co. will hold a sale 1 of city and suburban property at their rcoma on Monday, 18th inst-. The City Council notifies tliat applications for drivers' licenses for' the half-year beginning on October 1 must bo mado by Saturday, 30th inst. . _ The annual meeting of the Carisbrook Cricket Club will be held in the Grand Hotel on Saturday, lGlh inst. The conditions of-enrolment of free pupils at the Otago Boys' and Girls' High Schools are advertised in (Mb issue. A meeting of ratepayers in tho. Borough of l!os!yn will bo held on Thursday, 21st inst-., to consider a proposal to borrow £12,000 for a ,water supply. Braomai House School for Girls will be reopened on Tuesday, 19th inst. Tho anniversary soiree and public, meeting in connection with the Eos'lyn Methodist Sunday School will be held this evening. Tenders arc invited ior the • supply of primping engines for the Port Chalmers graving dock. The next term at St. Hilda's Collcgiafe School for Girls will begin on /Wednesday, 20th ins!. Tenders are invited for the purchase of the leasehold and buildings of tho Taipo Explosive Syndicate (in liquidation). A meeting of shareholders in the Southern Starr-Bowk'ctt Society will be held in the Dunedin Stock Exchange on Monday, 18th inst. A carrying plant in full employment and a contract for two years for one of the largest mercantile businesses in "Wellington is advertised for sale. A Hare Opnortunity.—Mollisons (Limited) have purchased at a big discount all the Kaiapoi Woollen Comnany's samples, which comprise boys', youths', and men's clothing.— Advt. See the disnlay of spring and summer goods at Dallas and "Watt's, 60 and 62 George street, Dnnedin.—Advt. Pending the erection upon their old site of new and specially-planned dental rooms, the Messrs Myers now occupy temporary premises a few doors lower down in the Octagon.—Advt. It.is a wise plan to havo your watches, clocks, jewellery, anfl silverware repaired by Messrs 6-. ard T. Young, SS "Princes street. WJ'ile their cliarsres aro verv reasonable, their repair work is characterised by thoroughness ard neatness.—Advt. "When you are asleep Ghollah's great Indian Cure might be at work removing your rheumatism. Begin its use, now.—Advt. Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, for coughs and colds, never fails. Is 6d.—Advt. "Who is Peter Dick?— The most reliable Watchmaker, and Jewciler. opposite CofFee Palace. Moray place, Dunedin. Charges strictly *locierate.—Advt.