The Ohinemuri Gazette AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1903. THE MAORI LAND COUNCILS

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XIII, Issue 1000, 15 May 1903, Page 2

The Ohinemuri Gazette AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1903. THE MAORI LAND COUNCILS

We now propose to show what action has to be taken by persons desirous of purchasing Maori land. Application has to be mnde by tbe Native owners to His Excellency the Governor to authorise the sale of Maori land. This has to be forwarded under cover to the Honourable the Native Minister at Wellington. It must set forth : Name and area of block ; survey district or locality; description and date of title; number of original owners; restrictions The form of application is ; "Applica tion is hereby made to His Excellency the Governor in Council (subject to the recommendation of the Waikato District Land Council being obtained that the above restrictions be removed and revoked) consenting to a sale of the above named block (or a portion of it containing -^acres«—roods and^— perches conditional upon the requirements of section 26 of The Maori Land Administration Act, 1900, "and all the other provisions of that Act being -complied with." The application must be signed by a majority of the owners and be witnessed by a licensed interpre ter, and properly dated opposite to each person's signature, J)ach owner must hold a pnpakainga certificate or a certificate of a Ju,dge. of the Native Land Court tlVat he or she has sufficient other lands for liis or her maintenance and support or for the purposes of a, papakainga. Section 26 being alluded to in the form ot application tathe Governor, it is necessary to draw attention to its provisions it is 26 <: It shall not be lawful for any person to acquire for"-himself or on behalf of any other person either by purchase lease or gift any Maori land unless previous to the execution.of the instruments of acquisition he has deposited with the Council a declaration in form required by "The Land Act,. 1892," declaring that he is acquiring the land for his own use, and that including the land to be acquired he does not hold, or owd more than 640' acres of first-class or two thousand acres of second-class land." Subsequently it is enacted that "Tl such declaration contains any wilfully false statement, and the declarant is convicted of perjury in respect thereof, then all his right in respect of the land acquired shall be deemed to be forfeited, and the land in the case of purchase may by Order-in-Council bo vested in the Crown or Council for the benefits of landless Maoris, or for such other purposes ag may be prescribed in such order." We now turn to the question of acquiring Maori land by lease. The t'ortn requires the same particulars as to block,

area, owners, etc., as in an application to purchase. The application is thus worded : "Application is hereby made to t]be Waikato District Maori Land Council for its consent to a proposed lease of the above (or a portion of the above) mentioned block of land containing -—~— acres—-roods and -r — perches to A. B. of Paeroa; farmer, for the period of —— years, subject to the terms and other conditions following "—(state here the rent and other conditions to be observed.) This document has also to be signed by the Native owners, but not necessarily before a licensed interpreter;: The owners also require to each hold a papakainga certificate, or a certificate of a judge of the Native Land Court similar that in cases of application to the Governor to authorise a saie of Maori land. It Will be easily understood from the above how very important it is that the papakaingas or inalienable reserves, should be set aside and allocated as speedily as possible, otherwise very considerable delay will arise before Maori lands can be effectually or profitably dealt with by the Maori Council; and we can only emphasize what we have preyiQiisly recommended that the President should permanently reside in $he district, and the Counr cil should sit almost continuously until this~vital question is disposed of. lift the HauraH division of the Waikato Maori land district, there is but a small area of Maori land to be surveyed, and very little which has not been clothed with a title by the Native Land Court. In Waikato itself inside the bounbaries of the confiscated district^ the titles have long since been settled, and outside these the largest block not previously dealt with is the Aotoa block between Raglan and Kawhia, which we are informed has been handed over by the owners to be dealt with by the Council. It will thus be evident that the Council will not be likely to be called on to investigate many cases of title to " papatupu lands " (that is lands owned by Maoris the title to which has not yet been investigated and determined). Consequently there is nothing to prevent the Council from at once proceeding to fix the papakaingas and then facilitate the profitable occupation of the remainder of the Maori lands by European settlers. This subject is one to which the attention of the Premier and Mr Carroll (the Native Minister) might be directed during their visit to this place.