The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1909. NATIVE LANDS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2660, 16 November 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1909. NATIVE LANDS.

It is to be fervently hoped that no considerations of political' expediency will deter the Government from proceeding with the Native Lands Bill and placing it upon the Statute Book this session. The policy outlined by .Sir Joseph Ward falls very far short of what is needed to settle the Native Land question, but at the same time it marks a decided advance upon existing legislation and suggests that the Government honestly intends to make a forward move. Thus we are told that to facilitate the ascertainment of titles the Government will undertake all future surveys, charging the cost to the Native lands affected. This is a step in the right direction, although it mu.st be remembered that its success hinges upon the character of the administration which in the past has been exceedingly lax in regard to Native affairs. Unless the Chief Surveyor is enabled to employ a sufficiently large staff of .surveyors for this important work the alteration of the law would prove of little value. Dealing with the alienation of lands from the Maori the Government proposes, firstly, to buy “as large an area as possible” and secondly to make it somewhat easier for transfers to be made. In this connection it is intended that any Native who is the sole owner of a piece of land , may by application to the Native Appellate Court convert bis allotment into European land. In that case it passes out of the category of Native lands and immediately becomes subject to all the conditions governing European lands. Where not more than ten Maoris are concerned in tho ownership of a -piece of land they may sell or lea.se,- but they cannot give mortgages except to a Government Department or to a person authorised by the Governor-in-Couucil. Where there are more than ten owners arrangements can he made for disposing of the land from the Natives to! Europeans either by obtaining the various signatures separately or by holding a meeting of those interested. It is also by the assembly method that tho Grown purposes conducting its purchasing operations, and provided a majority of those assembled agree to a sale taking place the transfer can be proceeded with. This certainly seems a much more satisfactory method than has existed heretofore, although the new method is not without its weaknesses. Thus it may be all very well for the Crown to make a purchase in this way, hut for private persons t-o have to compete against each othei might easily lead to unfortunate results. The European who desires a ! block of land will still have to deal through some Native agent versed, in the ways of the Maoris and acquaik^d

•with the conditions of those specially concerned. He it is who for consideration received will “beat up” the Native owners, get them to the point of selling and hustle them along to the meeting place. Competition amongst Maori agents along these lines would certainly prove expensive and obnoxious to the Europeans seeking land am the money would not go to swell tht, coffers of', the much-pitied Native owners. One would have thought that it would have been preferable that at the meeting of Native Owners a decision to sell the lands might be come to and that the allotments should subsequently bo put up for public auction in which case the Native owner would get lull value and the European would know exactly what he was paying. There are no lack of safeguards for the Maori who is still treated as though he were an infant in arms liable to be swallowed up by naughty white goblins if the State's protecting arm were removed* for a moment. Even when these gatherings of Natives have agreed to a sale the alienation must subsequently be confirmed by Maori Land Boards. No one seems to worry much at the fact that thousands of Europeans are not only landless, hut have for years been striving in vain to obtain most modest holdings, but even under the new Act there, are millions of acres still reserved exclusively for the Maori whilst -even where lands are permitted to be alienated, the alienation is made subject to the proviso that the transfer will not leave any one of the Natives interested landless. However, as already stated the new proposals represent" a distinct advance, and by the time the Opposition have put the impress of good work on the new Bill it should {prove a fairly satisfactoij medium for promoting Native Land settlement.