THE LANDS OF THE MAORI.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11128, 30 July 1907, Page 4

THE LANDS OF THE MAORI.

COMMENTS ON COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. (From our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGHOxV, this day. Adverse and unfavorable opinions on the report of the Native Land Commission' are so far not being freely expressed, pen_ ng the circulation of the report m uiie -usual way, only halt a dozen advance copies, so far, having come up from tne Government printing office. Questioned on the subject, the leader of the Opposition expressed his opinion m short, expressive terms. "I'm very disappointed." Subsequently, however, lie qualified this remark by adding that he really never did anticipate mucu from" the Commission as it was constituted. The reconunendatjon of the discontinuance of ; private treaty doubtless explains this. j' The Post has long been a keen critic of ! the Governnjent Native land policy, or perhaps lack of policy. It is interesting, therelore, to note its remarks upon the i work of the Chief Justice and Mr Ngata. • Having referred to the insufficient pre- j texts on whicli) Royal Commissions have of recent years been appointed, and the sat- , isfactory results obtained, the journal proceeds : "One turns with a sense of relief to the clear, comprehensive, informing and statesmanlike recommendations contained m the interim reports of the Native Land) Commission, -which were submitted to Parliament last week. This Commission also was hailed by opponents of tlie Government as a device for. gaining time, for prolonging the procrastination which has been the curse of the Native land policy, and the more solid objection was taken that it involved the ; temporary withdrawal of the Chief Justice from the regular judicial work of the ; country. Both sets of critics have their answer iri the reports now before Parlia- : ment. The Commission has proceeded ; with amazing speed, and so far drom wast- ' ; ing time or giving the politicians a respite ! has presented them within a month of the i < opening of Parliament with material which, will facilitate and almost necessitate prompt action, and that man must have a very inadequate appreciation of the effect of the opening to settlement of millions of acres of Native land' for which the Commission is preparing the way if he fails to see -that all the pakeha litigation 6f tlie last six months, to which the Chief ! Justice would otherwise have been devoting his attention, is ofi absolutely trivial importance m comparison. Almost as much might be said) of the ordinary work to which the attention of Parliament is devoted. How much of it will stand comparison! with that for which Sir Robert -S-ut and Mr Ngata, M.M.R., have now cleared the way? The definiteness of the recommendations of the Native Land J Commission must be very welcome to the ! weary politician who is quite satisfied that , Native affairs are 'being woefully misman- ' agedl, but has not hitherto had any idea ; where to turn m order to effect an improvement. Is tliere anybody who, after ;■ reading the Commissioners' lucid' exposi- j tion of the subject,' will venture to dispute ■ the wisdom of the first of their proposals, j m that the purchase of Native land under : the present system be, discontinued'. As , to disposal of the purchase money, the Commissioners make a recommendation of the very first importance, viz., that three•fourths of it should be paid to the Public Trustee m trust for the owners, to ho invested for their benefit or used for the improvement of their lands, and th-.t_it-mainirig fourth share should be paid to the owners m cash. We regard the recognition of this principle as absolutely essential to any system of purchase, private or public, from the Natives, and ha»never been able to understand how many of the Maori's best friends, while zealous to secure him m .the possession of his land, or m acquiring a lair price for any part of it that he may sell, have regarded their responsibility as ending there. That he is generally unfit to manage a large estate or to get a proper price for it if he is allowed) to face the open market unprotected, has long' been -an- accepted principle, but the fact tliat this! unfitness implies equal incapacity to deal with large , sums of money to his own advantage, has ! been strangely overlooked. As a matter; of fact money is even more easily frittered away than land, yet even so recently as m 1905 the Legislature acted upon the contrary assumption, fencing round the sale of Native land with elaborated restrictions, but taking no precautions whatever for ensuring that the capital value should be of permanent use to the owner after he had got it. Having vainly : contended 'for tlie recognition on that occasion of ' this elementary fact, we are thunkiul to see it standing out m the Very forefront* of the report of the Native Lui.d Ccii'r y mission. We should not have been sur- ' prised to see the Commission advocating : the total abolition of Maori Land Boards, : i but instead of that they recommend that ! the present constitution of the Boards ■ should continue, but that the presidents should be drawn from men experienced m the cutting up and letting of lands, and should be Government officers, paid by the Government, and also tliat each Board should have a competent accountant as : clerk and receiver. We do not quite gather under what conditions the Commission' would allow these Boards to sell at all, but it has two admirable 6Ugges- j tions to make with regard to the riiode j \oi any alienation. All sales and leases ! are to be by auction to, the highest bidder, and tliey recomend the prevention of per. sons holding over £3000 worth of property -from acquirihg Native land.- The Commissioners believe that the principle lof limitation was intended to apply to Native lands, and we do not suppose that the Legislature will have any hesitation now m acting on tlie recommendation and 'filling up a quite illogical and impolitio gap. With these safeguards, and to which has to be added that already referred to as to the payment of tlie threefourths of the net proceeds to the Public Trustee for investment, the sale of Native lands would become a more creditable* business and more profitable -for the Maoris than it has ever been before.'' ; — — —