THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL AND LAND SETTLEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 173, 22 July 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL AND LAND SETTLEMENT.

SPEECH BY MR WITHEFORD,

M.H.R.

In the course of a speech on the Addiess-in-Reply, Mr J. H. Witheford said:—"Now in regard to our relations with America and Pacific mail service, an international question, it is well known that all the nations of the earth desire peace. They do not want war; they have all expended more in armaments than they can really afford. In Italy and other countries the amount of poverty is sometimes deplorable. There is evidence on ftrery hand that peace is wanted, and ihe only nation that is showing an aggressive spirit at the present time is Germany. France is showing a conciliatory spirit. America has had Avar enough. All the nations desire to work amicably, and will no doubt be pleased in time to adopt arbitration and conciliation to dispel all chances of war. There is no doubt a dark cloud is hanging over Europe at the present time. Russia with her traditional forward movement is determined to enter the Pacific, and, even if she takes hordes of Chinese into her service, to dominate not only land but sea as against the English. Now, there is some talk of breaking off our direct connections with the Americans through the San Francisco service, but I think that we as New Zealand legislators ought to be very careful in taking any such steps and so interfering with the kindly feeling that not*, exists between America and "the colonies. It is easy to break off a friendship, and when _ we consider how America stood by Britain during the last few years we ought to reciprocate the kindly feelings as much as possible, especially as we occupy a somewhat isolated position in these seas. When there was trouble in Africa, and the Germans and others were expected to side with the Boers, what nation was it that stood by England? On that occasion the reply of the Americans was that if any Power interfered with England they would see what America would do'; and all the time the navy of the' United States was ready to fight side by side with that of Great Britain. When the first prisoners were taken in the war and were suffering indignities in Pretoria, who interfered in the interests of the New Zealand men who were prisoners? It was the Consul of the American Government, and as the result of his action, under instructions from Washington, proper treatment was accorded our people who were in captivity. Kindness of that nature should not be forgotten by us. I am satisfied that the best friends we have outside England are the Americans. If the Englishspeaking people could work together in unity it would be to the benefit of the whole world. While I am speaking on this American question I think it is right that I should refer to the tourist traffic, which is of the greatest importance to New Zealand. Visitors who have come to New Zealand during the last year or two have spent thousands of pounds in the country. I therefore trust that not only will the San Francisco mail service be continued, but that a number of other services will run to Vancouver and other parts of the world. Is it not better to have our mails and passengers carried within thirty days from England by this route than to have them percolating through the Red Sea route and all the ports of Australia, and get them here second-hand, and passengers arriving after spending most of their time and cash in Australia? Is it not preferable from the New Zealand point of view to have this colony the first port of call, rather than a subordinate service via Suez. This is quite apart from the question of Britain's, entanglement with any foreign Power, because there is not the slightest doubt that if war broke out it is an excellent thing to have an alternative mail route. Then we have another thing to consider. I notice that the Americans have decided to carry the Panama Canal through. By that means ships will be brought from the Old Country in less time than is possible now. The great steamers will come that way, and every one of them will come to New Zealand for coal and provisions. What a benefit that will be for this country. Therefore, we should endeavour in every possible way, not merely to support the American service, but to foster and improve it and get faster boats on. There are no people like the Americans for spending money. On the Continent I have seen a party of young American ladies travelling by themselves, and spending more money in a week than those who went by the Mapourika spent for the whole voyage. That is what we want in this countrymore money. Anything that we can do to attract men with capital we ought to do. Take our mining districts: are they not languishing? What we want now, in addition to British enterprise, is Americans with their machinery to do the same here as they did at Broken Hill and other parts of Australia. Among the best mining men in the world are Americans, and to get them here we must give them facilities for travelling. As to the settlement of the land, personally I am in favour of the present optional system. The freehold system seems to be general throughout the British Empire. If we want to adjust matters in regard to the unearned increment, it will be easy to do that by means of taxation. It would be far better to attain the end in that way than to maintain the present vacillatory system, and to have so many alterations always impending in our land laws. With respect to the cry of the town versus country, I do not think there is anything in that. I have always endeavoured—although a city member—to do everything I could to benefit the country districts. It is precisely the same in regard to the question of the North versus the South Island. Mothing gives me greater pleasure than to see the South Island progressing. The prosperity of one part of the colony means the prosperity of the rest of the colony. Of course it is the object of every member to see that his district receives its fair share of the public expenditure. North Island members consider fresh adjustment is required. The stock returns show that the North Island has a much larger number of cattle than the South Island. The Minister of Lands stated last year that portions of the North Island would not hold grass for three years. What surprises me is that the North Island — notwithstanding that statement —carries a much larger number of cattle and sheep than the South Island. If grass will not grow, how, in the name of Heaven, are these hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep fed V As to railway construction, L think it is only reasonable to ask that no further lines should be constructed in the South

Island until certain lines are completed in the North Island, in order to balance the colonial account and establish an equilibrium in railway construction, l think it is a perfectly fair request to make. The population of the JN'orth Island is equal to that of the South, and why should not the construction of railways in the South Island stop until we have the same mileage in the .North? It appears to be a satisfactory arrangement to make, especially when you consider that the railways in the .North Island would pay infinitely better than some you propose to make in the South. There* is one other matter I wish to refer to before I sit down—the returned troopers. They are a body of men who left the colony to go and fight for the Empire. They left their work and their homes. I don't grudge the Premier the honour he received at Home, as it was well deserved, but what about the men who did the fighting? who have risked their lives in South Africa, and many of them are incapacitated from following any avocation in future. What reward will these men have? They were to be the nation's care when they returned. Some of them, Sir, came back to settle in the country, and I joined in a deputation to the ' Minister of Lands on their behalf. These men had passes to return to South Africa free of expense. They said if land was provided for them here they would not go back. They all had money; some of them as much as £100 to £1000. Some of them brought me pamphlets they had from the Transvaal Government, ofering inducements for them to settle on the land there. That was brought before the Minister of Lands to show what terms the Transvaal Government were prepared to make to get our young JScw Zealand soldiers to settle in South Africa instead of in New Zealand. I noticed the Press Association some time ago sent a telegram saying that the representations alleged to* have been made by the Transvaal Government were not correct, but at any rate, those were the terms of the pamphlet quoted from and printed in Pretoria in June. This deputation was in about October. That was read out to the Minister of Lands, as showing the terms on which they could have land 'in South Africa, and assistance also. Well, these men were given to understand by the Minister of Lands that a block' of land, 54,000 acres in area, would be set apart for them at Wanganui. They were to appoint representatives, and he would place a surveyor at their disposal to show them this land, so that they could form a party and settle upon it. Well, Sir, from that clay to this that block of 54,000 acres has not been placed at their disposal, nor any other block of 54,000 acres. When I found that the Government were prepared to place the troopers on the land I inserted an advertisement in the newspapers of the colony, saying that I would do what I could to facilitate the settlement of the returned troopers from South Africa on the land. The consequence was that I received about five hundred letters from different parts of the colony—from the Bluff to the North Cape—and in all cases tne writers had been in South Africa, all had farming experience here, and desired to get on the land in this colony. Here, then, was a splendid opportunity for tne New Zealand Government if they wanted population, instead of getting out farmers from the Old Country or any aliens to come here to take up lands against the New Zealanders, and I thought they would have said, "Here are our own sons, who have come back from active service. Put them on the land, and they will form the nucleus of settlements in the interior of the colony." It would be far better than having isolated settlers living far apart. With these troopers we could have formed settlement parties of fifty, a hundred, and two hundred each, and others would be sure to follow them. They would make all the land round about more valuable. Those who had money could afford to pay for labour for themselves, thus giving others without means employment in the vicinity, and in every respect it seemed a desirable and proper thing that New Zealanders who fought in South Africa should have the opportunity of settling upon the lands of their native country. After a few months had passed a block of only 8000 acres at Kawhia was opened up, and then for the first time I saw the absurdity of this ballot system. Having been acting for the men, I was asked to draw in the ballot for them, and the result was that, instead of a number of mensay ten, twenty, or thirty, who had been comrades —going on a block of land together, the drawing took place, and men unknown to each other, from the most distant parts of the colony—say one from Dunedin, another from Uhristchurch, another from Napier—drew sections at Kawhia. Now, in no sense is that a special settlement like the Albertland Settlement, in Auckland district, composed of men with. the same community of interest, aims, aspirationsall one. In this case I was indignant and mortified, and expressed myself in strong terms at the system of the ballot in force. I mention these things to show that there is no practical or suitable system in the administration of land matters particularly in reference to the question of the land for returned troopers. South Africa would have been delighted to have got three or four hundred of such men to settle there. Why, therefore, could we not have made the best use of these men who returned practical soldiers, and who would have made useful settlers on the land. With our magnificent climate and productive land the Government should aim to make the public estate of the colony as valuable as possible instead of keeping it locked up year after year. What 1 say is that there is no system about the way the thing is administered now. How can any poor man living in the South Island and working on a farm know how to find a section ox block of land which he is told is open for selection—say at Napier or in North of Auckland? It would take a man twelve months to find out some sections. You might go to a place and try.in vair to find an allotment in a small township where houses have been erected, if the pegs have been burned and destroyed. How much more difficult, then, to find a section on the rangee, amid square miles of fern and forest countrq? And where there are hundreds of thousands of acres of unsurveyed land, how are the men to find 4 their particular sections? There is nothing practical or sensible in the way the Lands Department has acted in regard to this question of settling the troopers. 1 feel it very keenly, because I have been placed in the position that men have been told to write to me. I have sent thousands of letters altogether since last session of Parliament, and it has cost me nearly a hundred pounds carrying on the nego-

tiations, and trying to help those men to get on the land. But owing to the unbusiness-like, and what I may call stupid system in connection with the settlement of the land, I have been unable to meet the desires of the young men who have come back from Soutn Africa, and wished to settle in New Zealand. Let anyone take up this placard which was handed me by the Minister, on which it is stated there are blocks of land in one place and another consisting of hundreds of thousands of acres, and these sheets are to put up in the various post-offices. What is the good of that to a young man working on a farm? What you want to do is to arrange for a certain number of men to go on to a block, and have that block surveyed for them, as was arranged to be done for the men twelve months ago, but it has not been carried out. Some of the best of these young men, who were prepared to go" on that land have gone back to South Africa. Thuy could not stand any more humbugging. 1 would not mention the subject, but my name has been associated with it, and the Lands Department told the men to communicate with me. 1 wish to state publicly that I take no responsibility for the muddle which has been made of the whole thing.