AT LAST!

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 352, 17 September 1889, Page 2

AT LAST!

The passage of the Native Bills through Parliament is the one redeeming feature of this session, and the struggle there has been to achieve the object is a lamentable proof of.the incapacity of the present Parliament to deal with legislation that really has a practical bearing on the welfare of the colony. There has been no objection to wasting days and weeks in the most unseemly wrangles upon the silliest of pretexts, but once let there be proposed some measure which was j entitled to a fair hearing and temperate discussion and then the difficulty of obtaining that was at once manifest. However, the struggle in regard to native land legislation has been attended with a certain amount of success, for which we must feel thankful, and especially so to Mr E. F' Harris, Mr A. C. Arthur, Mr Gannon, and others whose assistance was of so valuable a nature to Messrs Graham and Carroll, the East Coast representatives. At last, after years of weary waiting, a great object has been achieved, and we hope that henceforth the claims of those who have paid dearly and honestly for land without obtaining legal titles will be dealt with in a rational spirit, that the genuine settlement of the East Coast will be facilitated, and the interests of the natives themselves be conserved by honest dealings. We are not yet prepared to say to what extent the legislation passed will be successful in meeting the case, but that it is a great step in advance may at once be recognised. Sir Harry Atkinson and his colleagues have shown a desire to facilitate the progress of equitable legislation, and the cogent arguments of Mr Carroll and others have been so convincing that even the opposition of Mr Ballance and the irrepressible Mr Taiwhanga was disarmed, and those members converted into allies. There was, however, so great a struggle that a consideration of the circumstances reminds us of the difficulty there is of securing the attention of Parliament to questions of large importance when there is any frivolous matter to be discussed. Still the representatives of the district having been so far successful we must feel thankful at the results, and may rest assured that the benefit that will accrue to the East Coast will make the present session of Parliament a memorable one. Those who have fought so well for the district are entitled to the earnest thanks of all who have its well-being at heart.