The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRIRO, APRIL 28, 1876.

Bruce Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 798, 28 April 1876, Page 5

The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRIRO, APRIL 28, 1876.

The members of the "Waste Lands Board are to be congratulated upon their action on Wednesday, in refusing to sanction the §alo of tho iarpe blocks of land thrown open by the Provincial Government of Otogo; A great deal has been said and written about the necessity for jeplenishing the Provincial coffers, and of ihe dire results that must inevitably fol.ow the stoppage of the scandalous job ( the Executive were attempting to par-i petrate j but for our own part we cannot see the smallest reason for uneasiness on that score. If through the headstrong itupidity of the Provincial Government, or from whatever other cause, it is absolutely necessary that money shall be raised without delay, and the only way of raising it is by: the sale of blocks of purely pastoral land ai the highest price that can be obtained, we have not the slightest objection! to offer; a&d if the business is gone about properly and straightforwardly Mr Donald Reid will m* he again alarmed by a public cry of indignation at the action of the Government of .which he is a member. We repeat what we stated a few days ago> that the Provincial jkecutive have been guilty of an attempt at political jobbery of the grossest and mbifc scandalous kind; notwithstanding &« explanations made »t the |»c©ting PW^

by those gentlemen who wished to gloss the matter over. Even admitting, for the sake of argument, that the members of the Provincial Executive acted from the purest motives, unbiased by their political prejudices, and with the sole desire of doing their best for the inhabitants of the Province, it must be patent to everyone that the very manner in which these large blocks ot land were thrown open for application was in itself quite sufficient to justify the suspicion that some underhand work was going on. The statement that has been made that applications were lodged for portions of this land before the appearance of the ' Gazette' proclamation declaring it open, has never been satisfactorily cleared up, and if the blocks had been disposed of in the manner contemplated by the Provincial Government, it is doubtful whether the highest possible price would have been obtained for them. Even in the face of Mr M'Elerrow's report, we have no hesitation in saying from personal experience, and from information obtained from persons who are well acquainted with the country, that although a large proportion of the land referred to is fit only for grazing purposes, a very considerable area consists of agricultural land of as good quality as can be found throughout the length and breadth of this Province. Under these circumstances the people of Otago have to thank the members of the Waste Lauds Board for their prompt action in rescuing the land from the operations of the men who would have us look upon them as the protectors of our rights and interests. It is a well known fact that efer since the change in our syßtetn of Government became imminent, the members bf tbe Provincial Executive have become land jobbers in the worst sense of the term, and we hear, upon reliable authority, that, less than a month ago, a public company was offered 20,000 acres of land on one of its runs, at £1 per acre, on certain conditions, which stamped the transaction as an underhand one. The offer was not accepted, but we mention the fact, in order that the people may know the men in whom they are asked to put their trust.