Settlement of the Country.

The Premier made an important announcement to the Natives of Moawhango respecting the settlement of Native lands.

"He (the Premier) desired to point out that the time had now arrived when settlement must no longer be retarded. The land could not be allowed to lie unproductive, for the European population was increasing, and every day longer this state of things was allowed to continue the worse it would be for the Natives. One section of the Natives wanted to have their lands subdivided and partitioned off so that they might individually and single-handed deal with them. Now, in cases where the subdivisions were small, and hundreds of Natives to put into one certificate, very little benefit resulted to the Native owners. The costs incidental to subdivision ate up the value of the land. Years ago the Natives used to engage in tribal conflicts, but now, instead of fighting each other in battle, they went into Court and fought over their claims to the land. They were no better off by doing so; litigation impoverished them, and a Maori, metaphorically speaking, might as well be killed almost as left without land or means. If this sort of thing went on it would happen by-and-by that all their land would be eaten up by the lawyers, the Native agents, and the page 5 expenses of the Courts.' (Laughter.) Perhaps the reason why they were asking for a policeman was in order that he should lock up the lawyers, Native agents, and pakeha-Maoris who came into the place. (More laughter.) If so, there was some solid ground for their request. Now, his visit to the Native settlements was for the purpose of ascertaining the Native mind on the subject of their lands, and he wished the Natives to speak to him freely and without reservation, as one friend would to another. Did they wish for subdivision of their lands, or did they desire to hand it to the Government through trustees in whom they had confidence—men who would be empowered to deal directly with the Government, and who would safeguard Native interests? There were a large number of people in the colony who said that when the land was held under Native custom and was not occupied the Government should proclaim it as Crown land, and pay over the proceeds to the Native owners. If the Natives would fight and quarrel over the proceeds, that was their misfortune; any way, whilst they were so doing settlement would not be stopped. He did not consider that this would be a fair thing. When the Natives were all-powerful they treated the pakehas as friends. Now that the pakehas were all-powerful it behaved them to return the kindness of the Natives and to deal fairly with them. This was why he said that the longer they delayed coming to some definite arrangement with the Government, and having a more simple and rapid way of dealing with their lands, the worse it would be for them. The process, he thought, was simple. First of all they needed to arrange among themselves how much land they were prepared to dispose of. Then it would be the duty of the Government to see, in arriving at the details, that the Natives were provided with ample reserves for their support. Either this, or the Government should issue debentures in payment for the land, these debentures to bear interest and to be non-transferable, so that the Natives could not be pauperised. The interest accruing from these debentures would be equal to an annuity for themselves and their children for all time. Now, a short time ago the Government paid large sums of money to some of the Natives in this district for their lands. He now ascertained that from these Natives both lands and money were gone. That was not good either for the Natives or for the colony. Better never to have had land at all. It was the intention of the Government to introduce important Native legislation next session, and in preparing that legislation he wanted to be fortified with an expression of opinion direct from the Natives themselves, so that he could assure the country what the Native mind was. The time had come when this question must be dealt with fairly and, at the same time, firmly. The Government could no longer allow millions of acres of land to remain in a state of nature while thousands of people were wanting land to settle upon and cultivate. These unutilised lands the Government were prepared to deal fairly for. A law had already been passed to empower the Government to purchase lands from the Europeans for the purposes of settlement. They were going to propose next session, as they did last session, that they should have power given them to take land from the Europeans for settlement purposes. That was where land was being held in large areas and kept in a state of nature, with only a few sheep running upon it. This was the class of land they required for settlement, and they would take it whether or not the owners liked. If Parliament passed such a law applying to European land, they were not likely to allow the Natives to keep millions of acres locked up and unused. There must be equality in their legislation. In the case of European land, its value was fairly assessed, and the price thus ascertained was paid by the Government. The same treatment would be meted out to the Natives. The Natives had now a Government in power who were friendly-disposed towards them, and who desired to be just with them. At the same time he wished to assure them there was no going back—that once having put their hands to the plough the Government were going through with this question. The Premier concluded by urging the Natives to speak their minds freely and frankly.