POLITICAL REFORM.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2335, 28 June 1887, Page 3

POLITICAL REFORM.

TO THK KDITOH, Sir, —Great credit is due to you for the advice given to the electors of the coun- : try districts to follow the example of the City of Auckland in forming political associations to ensure the election of honourable men to the next House of Representatives for the colony, men who will recognise the absolute necessity to risk friendship , and party connections of the past to reconstruct a new Parliament upon distinct and defined lines to govern the people. Upon the Press of the colony devolves the solemn duty also of risking the possible offending of their subscribers.(which at most would be only a temporary;loss to them) to take up a guiding pen to faithfully record public opinion. Tlie-p..jlic Press is the great power in our times,' and the greater the power the greater the responsibility involved. I The present grave crisis which thd colony has reached, if. properly met, will work for our material benefit in the future, and re-open to colonists the door for individual energy and progress, which has been closed by the hands of official Imperialism. Retrenchment must be enforced to the: sweeping away of whole departments, and the stoppage of public works if necessary until we have the money to pay for them. But we must see that all are served alike as far as practicable. * ' There are men—determined men— amongst us. who, if they are only assured that the present outburst is not a mere sham or a political red herring, are prepared to stand by at all risk to support . AM enforce rigid economy in the govern- ; ment of the colony, but who will not allow the country districts to be shoved behind the door. One of the greatest evils of the North Island has been the uative policy and the survey department, which successive Governments have enforced with a tyrannical hand upon the community, and which have acted most disastrously tq settlers in the North Island. We must abolish the "Run, run heavy "and light guards; run, rub thirty or forty yards" policy of the Native Lands Court, which has been a3 serious to us in ratio as was the East India Company to India. Either the Maoris. Jof New Zealand are British subjects or they are not; either they own their land or they do not; either they are entitled to British privileges or they are not. Which is it to be, and what are they ? That is the question which we would like you to inform us upon. How would the Europeans who own the lands alongside the line of the Auck-land-Puniu or Auckland-Rotorua Railway like the conveyancing to be suspended over lands to coerce them to sell' to the Crown at a nominal figure because the public wanted the railway? What is sauce for the goose is fitting sauce for the gander. There is no longer any fear of war I with the natives, therefore there can no longer, be any excuse for withholding frdm'the'natives the liberty to deal with .their lands, and it will be a wise policy to allow them to do so. It is our duty, as white', men, to give them greater facilities for dealing with their lands, and not less. If the Government want lands for public purposes let them make an .Act to apply to European and Maori alike—and enforce it! There are 560,000 whites and 40,000 Maoris in New Zealand. It is the duty of majorities in • power to recognise the rights of min- \ orities, not ■ to trample upon them. What would a European plaintiff or de- , fendant in a court case think if he saw < his adversary sittiug to judge the case in j dispute between them? Would, he not < decline to proceed with his case until he | got an independent judge? Therefore, how can the Crown sit in judgment upon disputes arising, between itself and the , Maoris, over their land transactions, in ( which the Crown is the interested party ? c Yet such is expected. As a New Zea- c lander., if I can do no more, I do de- s ~ nounce the Crown traffic in Maori lands a as Foul Trade, and derogatory to British v Fair Play and Honour. It is confiscation drsssed in a cloak. a ,But it is said, "The Crown should j make the profit out of the Maori land j traffic." It was once thought that by issuing licenses slavery and privateering (- could be made holy and profitable to the c ; State, but it was found to be the reverse, t and is now condemned and abhorred by j Englishmen. What have the Government r ever made out of their native lands ? c Nothing but illblood between the races, and disappointment to those very men who, with the best of intentions, saw the j evils it entailed. It will be said that the a Maoris cannot look after themselves. r Judging from Messrs Coates and Met- a calfe's ballast, pit episode and my own -p knowledge of Maori character, they can. j, It will be said, " Private companies ; 0 will buy up all the land, as was dona at t Patetere,.to the exclusion of small set- , tiers.''' Not more so than has been, and ij is the case with Crown lands, as proved j by lands in the YVaikato districts ; but I ; 0 contend that were the natives placed in undisputed possession of their rights to 'j deal;with their lands, large companies 8 would get the worst of it, as they have s in the-past; It may be said that Maoris do not pay rates on their lands. Neither 0 does the Crown. All the greater reason why facilities greater than have been c given should be offered to bona fde. set- c tiers. . t

it- mpy be said that private dealers will rob the Maori. So they might the heathen Chinee, but not so much as the Crown dealer in land. It may be said that private dealings' in Maori lands may lead to war. It has never doiie so in the past, but the Bay of Islands War was caused by Government dealings in land, and so were the Taranaki and Waikato Wars.

Resident .magistrates in native districts should be. district native- land judges also : ; and inspectors of police, native wardens to settle disputes On the ground, the Defence Minister being the arbitrator in appeal in vexed questions or disputes referred to him by the district

judge. ; ; - The present system of surveying is far too costly, and, like the Education Act, aims at a standard far:»ln excess,;, of' our means or requirefrents.'' Ourrailways are a curse to the'country, and therefore the more there are jipon the present system the'-moce curves, there .will be in the country; New Zealahd hai discounted (the next;,lo years of her future, and spent the cash; we must now utilize what we have got to the best advantage, but must borrow no more. ; There is plentyof capital in the' country or at command in private hands to develope what has already been opened up, but to proceed further into the new territory upon* Government expenditure mejijs ruin. . ' Protection versus Free Trade requires to be. well argued. Local industries must be fostered in country districts, but whether protection will do this or not'is the question. Out of 130,000 inhabitants in the Provincial District of Auckland, about 90,000 are located in towns, 62,000 being cased in the city of Auckland alone. - Whq.are all these townsmen living-upon; or ? The Island trade to wliich tho cities looked is now so severely handicapped by English, German, and French direct' traders, that it is not to be relied : upon ; therefore to work hand and hand with the country districts is the only chance left for the populous cities. , In air the.towns in Waikato and other, country districts in the colony, electors', meetings .sjhould be held, and the opinions bt 'all thinking men heard and discussed without ill-feeling, but with a desire to make all aware of the necessity for self-sacrifice and patriotic exertion to save New Zealand from disgrace and ruin. r (

In' New Zealand there are, nearly 600,000 isbuls. r Deduct from this total the sick, the destitute, the criminals, the loafers>r" and the drones, and also the children. How many have< we left ? Not 20p,000 workers. Do we require. 91 members of, Parliament and 50 antiquities 9r honourables-r-all paid ? Po we require

an expenditure of £1,500,000 to govern the 600,000, independent of the vast amount of useful work, done by.boroughs, counties, road boards, justices* and other non-paid officials? Surely not, nor yet one half of the amount. Choose from rank your commissioned officers if yqu will r(but; honour should be; the only symbol of rank, not worldly goods and titles) and from file your noncommist sioned officers, and let the .people goverii themselves for honour's sake, and worlt their way up step by step to higher posts of honour and trust. Measures, not men; should be the tiest, and not preemptive right. Public men must expect to fall under public censure, but they only fall to rise again when time proves *tQ the public that they were, right. To, serve one's country faithfully should be the earthly aim of mortal man, and to do so means self-sacrifice, sometimes ruin, and sometimes death. British Parliamentary rule is composed of practical progress and reform.; Politicians, practical politicians, are the Conservatives, progress the Liberals, and reformers the Radicals. I have always favoured progress, and shall continue so to the end. But when the whole State is in danger it behoves all parties to select the strongest man to retrench and rer form, in order that disaster, common to all, may be averted. All sides are now agreed to retrench—is it true they are, or is it all humbug ? We have heard the cry before at elections, but it has vanished immediately afterwards. Retrenchment to the properly carried out will fall at first heavily upon the working classes as well as officials. Will ..theyback their leaders, or will they turn upon them ? All are drifting from bad to worse at ptesent, but will they stand the shock. Want of confidence is what is the matter, not want of means or money ? — Restore confidence and we immediately, restore prosperity. Who is to doit? is; the difficult question to; answer-from the, main deck^—Yours faithfully,

William A. Graham, Hamilton, June 24th 1887-