Individual Ownership Inevitable and Successful

Te Ao Hou, October 1956, Page 12

Individual Ownership Inevitable and Successful One is drawn more and more to the conclusion that the type of title given to the Maori people by the laws of the Europeans was relatively unimportant in the general circumstances that then existed. The brutal facts are that no one was genuinely interested in preserving Maori land in Maori ownership. On the contrary the Government, the settlers and many Maoris were concerned mainly with buying and selling. No device of titles or restrictions could have held up the irresistible pressure of settlement. By the time this pressure was relaxed, it was too late in many districts. The cream of the land was gone. What was left was relatively unattractive, and while it might be suitable for a papakainga area was by no means adapted to modern farming use. It is with this remnant of land that we are now concerned. There is little enough in comparison with the growth of the people. It is too late to change the broad outlines of the system, even if there were good reasons for doing so, but there are plenty of ways and means of improvement. The pattern is fairly clear. The main line of progress must, it seems, be towards true individualisation—one person or family owning and using land in the most efficient and productive way. Another special line is that of the incorporation where a central management runs a large block for the benefit of the owners. There is an enormous amount of work to be done before we can be satisfied about the condition of Maori land. The question is whether this work can be done within a reasonable time. This will depend largely on the recognition by the people of the extent of the task, and their determination to tackle it. Fortunately it is clear that most people are now aware of the problems and are doing their best to overcome them. If this attitude is kept up there can be no doubt of success.