The Press. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1895. MR. W. P. REEVES AS A " SOCIAL PEST."

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9278, 2 December 1895, Page 6

The Press. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1895. MR. W. P. REEVES AS A " SOCIAL PEST."

The Hon. W. P. Beeves's apologists make the same excuse for the Maori run he has acquired that Midshipman Easy's nurse did for her baby— namely, that "it's only a little one." We have, therefore, taken some trouble to find out what its area really-is. The result of the enquiry seems to show that what would be very dreadful conduct in one of the tc Liberal "rank and file is considered quite right and proper in the case of a Badical Minister, even though he boasts himself " a straight-out Socialist" to boot.

That in the captain s but a cholerio word— Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy. The Land Act brought in by the Hon. John M'Kenzie, and so cordially supported by the Hon. W. P. Beeves, absolutely prohibits the man who goes in for Crown lands from holding more than 640 acres of first-class rural land or 2000 acres of second-class quality. It does not place any limit on the amount of Native land which any one purchaser may acquire from the Natives, and the land which Mr. Beeves, in partnership with his relative, has acquired is Maori land. It is, we learn, 5140 acres in area, is situated in the Awakino district, eleven miles beyond the Mbkau township, has a coastal frontage of 160 chains, and is altogether a very desirable property. The lease, as we have already mentioned, contains a purchasing clause, while the amount paid-for the goodwill (£8000) makes it tolerably certain that it is intended to convert it into freehold. And, although it is of a fairly respectable size already—for " a straight-out Socialist," and an eloquent denouncer of monopoly in land—it would not surprise us very much to see it added to by and bye. Possibly the 5000 acres are only a beginning; most large estates are built up gradually, and some of those which Mr. Beeves has singled out for especial condemnation, began in a mdre*modest fashion than bis own.

In our previous comments we said, and we repeat it now, that wa do not blame Mr. Beeves for baying a Maori run if he chooses to invest his money that way. What we condemn him for is the obvious insincerity of the professions with which he gulled his supporters, and on the strength of which he fawned and intrigued and insinuated himself into office. We recall bis famous " social pest" speech in which he inveighed so warmly against the iniquity of holding blocks of land. We recall the speech which he made in the House on June 23rd, 1891, when he said:—

When I reflect on the evils these large estates have been—the disappointed hopes, the checkei progress, the ruined Industries, and the broken hearts caused by the depression of the colony, daring the last dozen years. .- . . I positively stand aghast at our moderation in dealing with this matter now.

We recall another speech made by the same honourable gentleman on July Ist, 1890, when he referred to a sale of Crown lands, held in the Geraldine and Ashburton districts. On that occasion he named and sneered at a number of well-known Canterbury residents, including a couple of ladies, who bought-that land in moderatesized blocks, only one of which exceeded 640 acre 3 in extent. In that speech he spoke of the land so pur*

chased, as "filched and stolen from the people." Were call an impassioned harangue which he made no longer ago than July last year, in which he repeated iris "social pest ,, epithot— applying it, however, to the estates, and notto theirholderathißtime--andspoke of the holding of large landed properties as one of the greatest obstacles of the prosperity and progress of New Zealand. We also remember Mr. Beevbs's highly-spiced denunciation of the espeoial iniquity of trafficking in Maori lands, and we say that a man who gets into office on the strength of this kind of claptrap, and who seizes the first opportunity during his career as a Minister of buying a large Maori estate is a political hypocrite and ; charlatan.