The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Thursday, April 25, 1889. THE BANE OF POVERTY BAY.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 290, 25 April 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Thursday, April 25, 1889. THE BANE OF POVERTY BAY.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God's, and truth’s.

The Native Land Courtis an institution which is inscrutable to the ordinary mind, and one is almost disinclined to write a word against the utter foolishness of much that is done (or is not done) in connection with the institution, because common-sense appears to have as much effect in the consideration of any question concerning it as a grain of sand has when thrown into the sea. The evils have existed so long, almost unapproached after years of experience, that they appear to have become regarded as virtues by those who are primarily responsible for them, and to pass unnoticed by other people because those other people have as little hope of being able to initiate a reform as Mr Doyce had of getting the better of the Circumlocution Office with which Dickens has familiarised his readers. A few months back a strenuous effort on the part of the people of Gisborne resulted in a promise being extracted from the Government that a determined attempt would be made to overtake the arrears of Native Land Court work in this district. But of what use has that promise been ? —what has there been done towards its genuine fulfilment ? and what prospect is there of anything ever being done while a policy is allowed to predominate whose only departure from inactivity is to give place to shuffling of a most discreditable nature ? It is not for us now to concern ourselves as to who is responsible for the bolstering up of this sort of thing; for the perpetuation of a system which in plain language is a fraud upon the taxpayers. We know too well that it exists and what we seek for is a remedy, a saviour who will relieve us of the burdens which have been placed upon us by the incapacity or wickedness of those who are at the bottom of it: the joy which that happy result would give would be sufficient to blind us to the punishment which should be visited upon the perpetrators of the mischief.

In Gisborne we have now sitting one of the best Judges—Judge Barton—on the staff of the Native Land Court that we could wish to see located here ; he has the ability and experience and is possessed of the many other qualities that go to constitute a worthy occupant of the office he holds. He has the advantage of a good education in legal matters, he is patient and accurate in what he does, and any supplicant who has justice on his side may rely on a deserving consideration from the Bench, while anyone detected in an attempt to take an unfair advantage may expect a rebuke the severity of which does not admit of its being placidly regarded. He has gained the respect of the natives because he will not allow himself to be brow-beaten and shows no favor to either race. There are of course always a few who are not content with the decisions, but their discontent goes for nothing so long as everything is done honestly and fairly. So far it may seem that we have no cause to grumble, but we have much cause and the taxpayers generally ought to be made aware of the farce that is now being carried on. Here we have an excellent Judge, one whom we believe is willing to grapple with the Herculaneum task before him, but for all he can do he might almost be put on half-pay and sent to the Kermadec Islands. He does not know the moment he may be shifted, and therefore, most wisely, he will only take up cases that will occupy so short a space of time that he knows he can finish what is to be done on them and still be able to respond to marching orders. It would not alone be foolishness on the part of the Judge, but it would be a very dear experience to the parties interested, if he were to commence to clear up some of the most complicated cases and then skip away before he had got fairly into them, leaving a mass of worse confusion behind him for the next unfortunate to clear up. Every Judge who has come to the place, or been asked to come, has taken sick at a convenient moment, or has found some other means of evading the solid task that was set him, or else it was only a subterfuge on the part of the authorities to hoodwink the people. We have made use of strong language, but it is not unconsidered and its justice cannot be refuted: the time has come for plain speaking, and the time, we hope, has nearly come when the mask will be torn from this Native Land Court business, and some attempt made to honestly keep pace with the age in which we live. This district (assuming that it is from Napier to Waiapu) includes mofs Native

Land Court work than all the other districts in New Zealand. In round numbers there are about 370,000 acres of splendid land—which in five or six years might be carrying a million sheep —now lying a vast waste, being inalienable and cannot be dealt with excepting by lease, and therefore remains unproductive either to the natives or Europeans; if an honest attempt had been made to clear up the titles a few years back, there would have been half a million more sheep in the district, and it does not require us to point out that every hundred sheep thus grazed must help the taxpayers of the colony to bear the burden of taxation which is now being felt so severely; that every additional acre that is broken in must afford occupation for the laboring classes. With the experiences which Judge Barton has had with respect to these restrictions the whole work could be done by him to the great advantage of the natives and to the district. A vast amount of the litigation of the past can be attributed to the slipshod manner in which the Land Court has done its work. For the sake of all that is reasonable and honest, let there be a genuine attempt made to get these matters settled; let settlement be encouraged, instead of the prolonging of a state of confusion and uncertainty that is disheartening to everyone who knows anything of these matters. We know there are many people interested in land transactions who would rather submit to a reverse decision than that things should go on as they have been doing. There is a want of finality in all that has been done, and whenever a Judge does make a good start he appears to become alarmed at the amount of work before him, or else has to submit to some undercurrent and give as little benefit as possible for the pay he receives. We have now sitting in Gisborne a man who has, so to speak, got sufficient backbone in him to apply himself to the work. Why should he not be appointed a permanent Judge to this district ? He could then set his mind earnestly to the clearing up of the great amount of work there is to do. His experience as Commissioner makes him specially fitted for the position, and if he were appointed he could so regulate the Courts as to suit all parties interested, At present this cannot be done and the holding of separate Courts in different places is sometimes very harassing to parties interested in cases before the different Courts.

The way things are now being carried on, we have a Judge sitting here, with all the expense attached to the sitting, but his work cannot be done creditably to himself, or satisfactorily to anyone else; in fact the whole expense might be saved for all the good that can be done. Of course in the appointment of a permanent Judge his salary should be increased sufficiently to cover the large expense he would be at in travelling over such a wide district ; it is far better to pay a small extra amount for getting work done satisfactorily than giving money away for no appreciable return, As the County Council meets to-morrow we hope that body will take action in the matter, which is of colonial as well as local importance.