THE Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume VI, Issue 611, 27 July 1878, Page 2

THE Bay of Plenty Times

" THE SPIRIT OF .THE. TIMES SHALL TEACH ME SPEED." .• , . ■„,,' . .'.' ■ : ' KING JOHN, ACT IV. Saturday, July 27, 1878. , — «, ■Great Laa t d Monopolists" in: New South Wales ,are threatened with a legislative innovation of the most revolutionary, character; Like NewZealand, the sister colony has recognised the absolute necessity for introducing fundamental changes in the law affecting the waste lands of the Grown, if these lands are not to be permitted to pass into the jjossession of a very few greedy landsharks, with the result of producing those evils which in the Mother Country are the result of the old feudal system, and unequal distribution of wealth. The new Land Bill which has been introduced by the New South Wales Government is likely to excite keener opposition oh the part of the squatters than did that passed in pur own Legislature last session. The great aim in both measures, was , identical :- the cheeking of that growing tendency to monopolise vast areas of land, and to lock it . up from iona fide settlement and cultivation. But we shall see directly that the means by which this end is sought to be accomplished differ very materially. The Land Act of 1861, hitherto in operation' in New South Wales' contained many main provisions, "of which the, Act passed in this colony last . session appear to be almost a verbatim transcript; They resemble each other in the provisions relating to the annual apiJraisement of the valu.e of runs; but, whereas in the sister colony one appraiser was appointed by the . Crown and another by the lessee^ both" of - whom appointed an umpire, in New Zealand the valuation is determined by the Waste Land Board, of the. district. , Under tire- Bill now before the New South Wales Parliament the rent is to be partly dependent upon the stock-carrying capabilities of the run, as wholly in this .colony. The work of appraisement will be performed .by officers appointed by the Governor, their report being sent to the local Land Boards who will thereupon provisionally assess the rent and forward their assessment to the Central Land Board. Appeal by the lessee will be to the local Land Board, instead of, through the Supreme Court, to arbitra- » tors, as in New Zealand. • The decision of the Central Land Board will, however, be again taken, and will be final. It is urged in support of the new^ measure that hitherto the interests of* the Crown in New South- Wales have been sacrificed to those of the tenant. If this 1 is true, to any degree, of our neighbours, it applies more strongly to this colony, where the squattocracy have always, as a class, exercised a powerful influence ,upon the legislation, both from within and without the Cabinet, and by a judicious system of "log-rolling;" have! contrived to mould the land laws for their owa immediate benefit with scant regard to the general welfare of' the colony. Again, if we look at the moving causes which have necessitated the new land

law in New South "Wales, we shall see a striking .resemblance between tlieir's- .arid .our own case. In both, one of /the chief aims is to raise revenue ; and/ as the squatters havo hitherto., contributed only in a very ' slight degree to the public burdens, it is considered perfectly just that they should be called upon to pay more. In the sister colony the whole of the - practicable land has been brought .under occupation,: and, as in New Zealand, a new stage of development •v has been entered upon which has given, and continues to give, increased value to the frans' from the expenditure of public money in the construction of railways and other works. In this colony the Canterbury squatters have contrived to. evade this obligation. Mr Stafford and his Canterbury " tail" maoeuvered for three or four years to secure immunity .from what they had foresight enough to perceive impending. For thfs purpose they clung to Sir Julius Yogel; with the same objeot they supported his succe_s£or, Major Atkinson, and finally, by seizing upon an opportunity last session, of throwing/ in the whole weight of their votes at a critical moment they succeeded in slipping in a cunningly devised amendment in Committee, which extended their preemptive rights.over the pastoral leaseholds .to 1880, and gave them the option "of a further ten years' occupancy ; in all an extension of twelve years. It was this iniquitous clause that led" Sir George Grey to withold the Act at the last moment from the Governor's assent, but, as events proved, without success. Having secured this extension of tenure, and a system of assessment based entirely upon , the stock-carrying capacity of the runs, the squatters of this colony may effectually evade, the. payment of an increased rental commensurate with the "enhanced value imparted to the land by public expenditure in railwaj's, no matter how many millions may be thus spent during the ensuing twelve years. In New South Wales there will be two systems of valuation concurrently existing — stock-carrying capacit3 r , and annual value of the run itself. The system is far more flexible than the one which exists here, as being capable- of adaptation to local circumstances and changing conditions, and enabling the State to recoup from the squatter a return proportionate to the increased value conferred by State expenditure. The point seems to have escaped the attention of the anti-squatting party in our own Legislature, though, of course, Mr Stafford and his astute following were fully alive to the fact. But they " had the prudence to keep their own counsel. It is not even now too late to remedy the oversight, and it is to be hoped that an Amendment Act will be introduced this session with that object. The feature in the New South Wales Bill, however, which possesses the deepest interest for. this Colony . is the mode in which it is proposed to reduce the area of runs so as to gradually abolish the existing vast monoplies. It is intended that no lease shall hereafter be issued for a. larger area than 16,000 acres,, and power ; is given in the Bill to gradually reduce the area covered by any existing lease every time it is renewed, until it is brought down to that , minimum. We wonder what the Ready-money Robinsons, the McLeans, the Clark es, et hoc genus homo in this Colony would say to such a radical -innovation as this ! The mere hint of such a provision would produce an amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the lease-sharks, compared to which the lamentations of last session were but i^Kiild protest, , Here there is practically no limit whatever to the size of a run,- and no provision is made to prevent the absorption of a whole Provincial District if the purse belong enough, except the powers given to the Governor to proclaim hundreds, to set aside small blocks of pastoral lands for agricultural leases, or for purchase . under, the system of . deferred payment, and to grant leases for timber trade, flax working, mining, or quarrying. But . the maximum area which may be purchased is not to v exceed 320 acres, and the leaseholders are limited to 5,000 acres. But here again, the selfishness and cunning of the Canterbury party were successful in practically nullifying what was intended to be a beneficial -provision for the development of bond fide settlement. They contrived to thrust in an amendment in a thin House, prohibiting the sale of pastoral lands on deferred payment within the Provincial District of Canterbury before the Ist of May, 1882; bo that in the intervening four years, the immense wealth which must accrue to the squatters from an assured monopoly, and from the profits derived from public expenditure will enable them to "pick out the eyes" of the runs, and acquire vast freehold estates for themselves.

But in this also.it i.s not too late to prevent the wholesale spoliation of the . public estate, and \ve strongly luge Sir Goorgo Groy, while yet he can wiold a powerful majority, to seizo the opportunity to' repeal tho Land Act of last session by providing every reasonable immediate facility for tho acquisition of land for agricultural purposes. The cry from end to end of the coloiiy should be "The land for the people, and the people for the land." ' The shibboleth of, the squatters is "The land for the squatters, and the sheep for the land." But the establishment of cbmfortable homesteads and happy families, is of far more consequence, and is far more conclusive to the greatness and prosperity of the colony than mere wool growing, just in so far as the welfare of one man is of far more importance than the welfare of a sheep. It may be urged, however, that the colony is pledged to the Land Act of last session, and that to repeal it now would be a breach of faith. We deny this emphatically. The squatters seized their existing advantages by a coup ; they seized advantages which confer wealth on a few to the detri.ment of .the colonists as. a whole, who have an equal share in those waste lands of. the Crown ; and the colonists as a whole, are. justified in recovering through their representatives in Parliament the rights and advantages of which they were unjustly despoiled.. For these reasons we sincerely hope that during the coming session a Eepealing Bill will be introduced, and that' in the present development of liberal politics the squatters and land monopolists generally will be compelled to disgorge. The.time has gone by when a, few wealthy and influential nouveaux ri'che, with big bank balances, or overdrafts, may hold the Government of the country under their 1 ■thumbs, and control the legislation for their own peculiar advantage and emolument. Again we say " The land for the people and the people for the land," not sheep.

It is very evident that the settlers of the Opotiki District are alive to their own interests. Robert King, Esq., J.P., Chairman of the Whakatane County Council, and of the Opotiki Highway Board, was a passenger last eveningperßowenaeftroM^ to Wellington, where he proceeds as a Delegate, not only to represent the Whakatane County Council at the coming Conference, but also for the purpose of having the question of the Public Reserves in the Opotiki District definitely settled ; in short, gonerally to bring the wants of the Whakataue County personally before Ministers. This is the proper method of procedure, and we must commend the foresight of the several Road Boards in the Whakatane County in having chosen a delegate in the person of Mr King.

The Waipa Election— one of the most keenly fought contests ever seen in New Zealand — has resulted in the election of a strong Ministerial supporter in the person of Mr McMinn, by a majority of forty-one votes. Alluding to it, our well-informed contemporary, the Star, says : — Mr F. A. Whitaker is personally exceedingly popular in the Waikato. He holds Liberal views of a pronounced type, and having declared his intention to support the present Ministry, secured a most influentially signed requisition, in which the names of a large number of recognised Government supporters were prominent. He had gained a very large and compact following in all parts of the electorate before Mr MeMinn came into the field. Mr McMinn, on the other hand, although he had some claims on the Ministerial party for having before contested the seat against Mr Cox, held back from entering the lists until he had satisfied himself with respect to certain points of Sir George Grey's Native Policy. After assuring himself on this matter, he embarked unreservedly as an admirer of Sir George Grey's in a struggle, which had by this time become decidedly uphill. Although the contest was thus one between avowed supporters of the Ministry, it became really a question in which the influence of the Government was implicated through open intimations that the Cabinet would prefer the return of Mr McMinn. Whatever authenticity may have belonged to these professions of ; Ministerial favor, or whatever weight should be given to them^ it is pretty certain that they, in conjunction with the exertions of Mr McMinn' s Committee, were the means of winning the battle, which at the commencement, appeared to have been hopelessly pledged. The result is therefore a remarkable expression of the desire of the settlers to aid the Ministry in every way, and a proof of their unshaken confidence in the Premier. Just now, when the Native question occupies a special prominence, the vote is of Colonial importance.