NATIVE LAND BILL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15892, 11 October 1913, Page 4

NATIVE LAND BILL.

NEW PROVISIONS. PURCHASE FROM INDIVIDUALS. NEW MAORI LAND BOARDS. (Fbom Oto Own Cobbespondknt.) WELLINGTON, October 10. . The mtrodtptiion of, the Government's Native Land Bill this afternoon, led to a, general discussion on tlio 6ubject of Maori land settlement, Tlio Minister of Native Affaire (the Hon. W, H. Herrioa) said that ho proposed to take the eooond reading pro forma, but did not propose to take tho Bill in tho Native Affairs Committeo for about a fortnight. Tho Bill /was fiot a, new one, but was an amendment of the' Act of 1909. Qno of tho prinoipal alterations related to the constitution of the Maori land boards. It ma proposed that in eadh district there .should be a judge and 1 a registrar,■ and that three officials should constitute the Maori Land Board. The present Maori land boards would be abolished. He had found it impossible to abolish theso bodies altogether although a largely expressed wish to that effect had come from tho Natives. The Bill enabled a judge, if ho thought proper, to report to the Minister that a--block should be partitioned. The Native Minister, if ho thought proper, could instruct the Maori Land Board to partition the block. The £ame applied to succession orders. If heirs did not apply for succession orders within six months the judge himself could apply for tliein. TTie main objcct was to get the titles, of the Native land clean. There was on£ great alteration with regard to the purchase of Native land by the Crown at present. If there were over 10 owners, and the Crown had to call a meeting, of the assembled owners, and they found that it was almost _ impossible for the Crown to purchase in that way, the Bill proposed the option of a reversion to tho old system of purchasing individual interests, always under the same rules us were in the present Act, and with the proviso that the Crown did not thereby render tho Natives landless, and did not give any lera for the land than the Government valuation. It was proposed to empower the Crown to purchase any vested land or individual interest invested in land in the hands of the Public Trustee and the Maori Land Board, the Nativo Trust Commissioner, or any other .trustee. Tenants would bo given the right of purchasing from the Crown the freehold of land that the Crown had acquired from the Natives. These were the principal new items in the Bill. .

RATING OF NATIVE LANDS. Sir Joseph Ward: Is any alteration in the system of rating Natve lands proposed? Mi- Horriee: Not in this Bill. That is coming down in another Bill which will bo introduced, probably next week. Sir Joseph Ward: Do you intend to put the Bill through this session ? s Air Herriea: Certainly, Mr Ng&ta asked tlio Minister whether he had fully considered the question of retaining an adequacy of land for the Natives. The provisions in the 1909 Act were weak in respect that the bodies responsible for tho administration of • the Act had not kept sufficiently before them the necessity of seeing that provision was for Native owners. The alteration now in'view of tho Minister proposed lo revert to the old system of purchasing from individual _ owners. He mis afraid that the necessary inquiry would not be made. They wore coming now almost to the end of the available Native land that was suitable for settlement. Neither the Native Ministers nor Irs colleagues were desiring the pumice land in the Taupo district. It was tho best land that was wanted. A MODEST-DEMAND. Mr H. G. Ell asked that a list of nil tho Natives interested in the Bill should bo laid upon the table. He- was not going to remain idle, ho added, while an attempt was_ being made to wheedle out of the Natives their little remaining land. Mr G. V. I'carce condemned tho system by which the Native land board 6 put tenants on Native lands. These settlers were in such a. position that they improved thi land for the Maoris and increased their own rentals at the same time. This had led to tho festering of tlio Native landlords. Mr Wilkinson said that he did not wish to do any injustice to the Native, but the settler was not being fairly treated under the present leases. At present the settlers were being charged high rentals and wero allowed sufficient for improvements at the end of their leases. Mr Nosworthy warmly supported tho Bill, He did not want' to hurt the Natives, but the Maoris could not be allowed to run the country. They were now having their land developed and were paying nothing in the way of rates and taxes, and members of the Reform party could not allnw'this to go on.

Mr ITcrrics. said that he would never allow any injustice to the Natives. He assured the House that this Bill did no injustice to the Natives. Mr Ngata: Notion the face of it. NO INJUSTICE TO .MAORIS. :

Mr Herries urged that the Bill did not in tho least inflict an injustice on tho Maoris. Ho would, however, bo prepared to accept any reasonable amendments. After all this would be like shutting the door after the horse was stolen. Now half the Natives wero landless, having been made so by confiscation in the war time, and by purchase by the Government. He could not, of course, give the Natives land because all the Native land was allocated to certain individuals, but he would never be a party to the compulsory acquisition of Native land. He would rather go out of office as Native Minister. This Bill was intended to enable tho Crown to come, to an agreement with the Natives, The Bill extended tho power of the Crown to purchase because it was found that under tho present system the Crown was frequently circumvented by interested pakehas and pakeha lawyers who came to meetings of owners with their pockets stuffed with proxies. By these men the Crown was defeated in the interests of speculators. Sir Walter Buchanan dealt with the charge levelled by Mr Witty against the North Island settlers. He denied that injustice had been done the Natives, speaking generally, although it might be true that Europeans had been unjust to Natives in individual instances, iust as one European was sometimes unjust to another. SOUTH ISLAND COMPLAINTS. Several South Island members complaincd of the rapacity of Europeans in regard to Native land dealings. Mr Isitt asserted that behind the Government wero men who were rapacious, and eager to get hold of the lands of tho Natives. / , Several Government members: Name them! Name them!—(Uproar.) The Acting Chairman of Committees (Mr Lee): Order ! Order.! Mr Isitt said that ho did not say that there were some of these men in tho House, but ho wjis referring to certain supporters of the Government. During the Inst election campaign thoy heard some of theso men saying that when the Massoy Government was in power these lazy Natives would be compelled to give up their lands.

Mr Payne accused tho Government of robbing the Natives. 110 professed sorrow for tho poor unsophisticated Natives, and declared that tho Europeans wore a mean skunking crowd.

Mr Veitch said that he was satisfied that in some leases of which he had knowledge the improvements put on the land by tho tenants certainly ought to be more adequately protected.

Tho Hon. Mr Ngata replied to Mr Pearce's tail: about >Maori landlords. Tho agitation about the West Coast leases came not from tho original Icpsees, who had now sublet and beeomo landlords, but from tho sul>-lo=seeß. Tho original lessees had a a great deal of money, and ■ had in some instances leased the lands back to the Natives at very much increased rentals. Although the Minister was not putting compulsion upon the Natives, ho was offering the strong temptation on the biggest scale that had over been offered to'tho Maori race. It was because he (Mr Ngata) was conse, : ou3 of the weakness of his own people that ho felt that possibly a, policy of of compulsion would be preferable to tho policy of insidious temptation, such as tlio Bill proposed.

Mr Mac Donald defended tho Natives, who. ho said, had never had a real opportunity in the post of farming their own lands. 110 agreed with Mr Ngata that tho proposal of the Minister would in an insidious way allow the European more easily to get possession of the Maoris land. Mr Okey snid that tho North Islnnd members woro .not, in truth the set of robbers the Opposition represented them to be. . The Bill was read a first t : mo, read a second time pro forma, and referred to tho Natives Affairs Committee.