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petition to Her Majesty and to the Parliament of New Zealand, referred to in the preamble to the said Bill, are desirous that the residue of the Native land now remaining in the possession of the Native owners should be reserved for their use and benefit in such wise as to protect them from the risk of being left landless; but for the reasons heretofore set forth, and for many minor reasons hereinafter to be stated, they feel assured that the purpose they have in view will not be attained by the machinery provided by the Bill now before Parliament." Now, sir, I would'add to that concluding paragraph of the petition these words : " In consideration of the petition which has already been presented to the House, signed by about ten thousand people, objecting to this Bill, and also of the petition in support of the Bill signed by three thousand and odd other people." I would point out that the petition which is apparently in support of this Bill is not really in support of it, but in support of the resolutions arrived at by the hui at Papawai. Therefore it may be said that the ten thousand and the three thousand are all against this Bill. Therefore there is no reason why this Bill should be held over for further consideration. That being so, if the Bill were held over to a subsequent session of Parliament no progress would be made, for they would still object as they do now. I have not got very much more to say. The Parliament of the Colony of New Zealand has now been constituted for many years. Prom the date of its constitution up to the present time successive Governments have continuously made laws with reference to Maoris and Maori lands. In spite of all the laws that have been made and the Acts passed by successive Governments with respect to Maoris and Maori lands, the sad fact which remains is this —and no amount of misrepresentation will alter the fact: that nearly the whole of the lands of the Maoris have been taken from them, and there only remain to them a poor five million acres of land. The millions of acres which have been taken from the Maoris during all these successive years since the first Parliament have been taken through the medium of the measures built up by successive Governments in order to enable themselves so to do. That was done through the medium of measures passed by Parliaments, by Governments, and companies and other purchasers, but this Bill provides that without going to the trouble of any other forms or observances —of sale, or lease, or any matter of that kind—they are going to seize and appropriate the land without any ceremony whatever. Sir, my opinion is this :It does not matter to me what Government may come into power at any time, and it does not matter how they may propose to legislate for the benefit of the Maori people and redress the wrongs of the Maori people, Ido not believe they will ever do it. First of all, they are afraid of the votes behind their backs. They have got to consult that first. Secondly, the pakehas as a people are ever greedy for land, and to prove that I will use this illustration : We, the Maoris, have heard that the present Government have actually brought in an Act to seize and deprive and take away from Europeans, members of their own race, land they have obtained by hard cash. They are going to take it away from them. Certainly they are going to give a fair value for the land, but there is the fact that they are going to take it away from them. Fourthly, it appears to me that the pakehas will never be willing that the Native people should live on the same conditions as themselves —under the same mana and authority, and that the same action and the same consideration shall be shown to the Maori people. Ido not wish to say anything derogatory to the efforts made by the Premier during the many years he has been going about amongst the Maori people endeavouring to find some means to conserve their interests, but what I do say is this : that there must be other considerations behind his back which influence him in such a way that he cannot do what he would like perhaps to see done. If he had only himself to consider, perhaps he might do something for the benefit of the Maori people. Sir, I would ask this Committee why should the Maori people not be shown any consideration. They are decreasing rapidly in numbers. They are only a poor forty thousand, if they are even that. Why cannot such legislation be considered for their benefit as would enable them to preserve the few acres of land that remain to them, and preserve themselves from falling into a worse condition than they are in now ? The fact of the matter is that the Maori, at the time of the first instalment of British rule in this country, was merely a plaything and a sport in the hands of the British Government and its Ministers in the country. I believe that the position was this : that when the Queen heard what a fine lot of people the Maoris were, what a tall and wellmade race they were, and what fine people they were generally, emissaries were sent, and the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, with the intention to protect these people so that they should not be treated as other races in different parts of the world had been treated, when they would simply have been shot down and destroyed. Whether that was the reason why she gave the Treaty of Waitangi, or whether it was that the people who went Home from here first said what a magnificent race the Maoris were, what fine men their chiefs were, and what magnificent women there were, whether it was for that reason that special consideration was to be shown to the race I cannot say. I have been told that it was the early missionaries who were first instrumental in representing to the Home authorities that the Maoris were a fine people, and that it was desirable to preserve and protect them as they were only few in number, and the result was the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. I believe that if it had not been for the good reports sent Home by the early missionaries in this country to the people at Home, which resulted in the drawing-up of the Treaty of Waitangi, it is quite reasonable to suppose that there would perhaps be no Maoris now. I believe if this had not been done we should probably have been treated as other primitive races I have heard of have been treated by European people—tied up together and used as beasts of burden, and treated in the most cruel manner. I say to you, Mr. Chairman, and to the members of this Committee, that if this Bill is passed as it is by this Parliament and becomes law, I am perfectly sure I am correct in saying it will not take many years before the Maori people of New Zealand, as the direct result of the passing of the Bill, will be exterminated. Sir, the Maoris do not understand how to work and make money for their living as you pakehas do. They do not understand it from the same point of view. It would take fifty years to teach them, and then at the end of it only one or two. would understand, and those very imperfectly ; but the great majority would not learn. I may