"THE LAND HUNGER."

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 219, 9 June 1908, Page 8

"THE LAND HUNGER."

SCENES; AT A. BALLOT, " Land, land, land—w;e want land:" - So ;clamours the crowd that-throng to the 1 Grown Lands Office at ballot time. For-the most part this crowd is made up of one class, bard, lean, suntanned—.typically 'f farming. '• ■ -The shephera, the drover, the farm labourer,' arc- all there, to sink their hard-earned ings in the deposit ;for a " section,'' .and ; they-- are alike .keen—keen 'from start, to .finish—r-till ■ the marbles are drawn and the ..numbers called. They are all alive to the : deficiencies of. the new ' Land Act, and the : miserable incompetency - and unreliability of the . Civil Service.;.in i ,'general,'..and ; of- the. staionod''at - J — : — in particular. But 1 ; there is' individuality throughout—individu- ' ality. and-individualism-—every'man for. him- . selr and his family,' and- two hundred acres of " Ggd's[ own /country;" ■"* When all the : bustle is, oyer the land-clerk might'tell you v something of .tlie'iimits'that go. to; make up the crowd that talk in-excited little groups , in the corridors, or stand three deep before tho counter. 1 shouting for' farms,: maps, in- - formation,' and arguing :iand laws till the! , coatless and perspiring, officials,'could; "wish : thorn all to Jericho."- , . ' That short, thickrset, .middle-aged man/, with a Ted beard,' is/ a settler from "way back." He has sold'out a tidy little place in the ,hush in order to bring his. children nearer to school. He has haunted the ofßco for a • week improving his' knowledge of the landlaws at the expense of the Government time and ' temper.- He is aiman who will get to the bottom of- things, .but who has an extremely perverse way of .reading - tho regulations.' This -is annoying,. and the clerk,, being human, .probably hopes " that the obstinate'old beggar-draws a b'lank." ' S; - " Here young fellow," calls a tall rough ■ bearded man, "fill .this, form up for me. I'm not mucir at writing." He: lays down lialf-a-crown, which is promptly returned. • The next comer is a .'pleasant-looking young fellow, with an air of breezy confidence., 'He is evidently of a snorting turn. " I'm for section 7," he.says,' "and there's a new suit in it for you, old chap,' if I'happen to draw.'' A lady fights her way up to,-the' counter; a Maori is shunted off to a licensed interpreter, ■while, a half-into:iicated bushman is left severely alone until ho can sufficiently collect himself to know what sections ho requires— -.and so the fight goes on. ■ -.... '. Far different is the , scene ,at the ballot a few days later. It takes place in a large, bare, stone-floored hall, oiie corner!'railed off for tho officials.,/ Tho' applicants, quite three hundred in number, now. quiet and eager, stand round the rails, or as near as they can get, and watch with fascinated interest the preparations for, tho ballot:. tho little group of officials, the grey-bearded old commissioner, the tray 3 of marbles, and the oddly-shaped ballot-box, looking something like an elongated butter-churn.•. ; c .' Someone turns to his neighbour and, says diffidently: "Do you think there's many in for .18?" "Don't know; I'm for 12 and 15." -' Then, the clerk begins to read:—"Section 1, Block XVI,: 1, Win. Hall; 2, A. Simpson." The long list goes on, and the. marbles drop quickly into - the - box; No. 20 happens- to .'drop:-on the floor: There is a nervoiis laugh,-and someone is heard-to re- - mark: "P'raps ho'll draw it after all." The list ends, and the. last marble is. rattled into its temporary resting-place. The commissioner gives the handle a few quick turns. The crowd cran.o forward 1 expectancy; while the scrutineer plunges his Land into the box, and gropes round among ■ the hopes of fifty would-be landowners. He draws forth a marble. ■. " Forty-two," says the commissioner, and the hopos of the other forty-and-nino applicants fall as low as zero. No. 42 steps forward to pay tho difference, a broad grin illuminating his cheerful countenance, while the forty-and-uine comrades in disappointment are heard to comfort themselves with tho fact that they have three or four more chances yet. And so,-the work goes on till the' latest purchase of tho Government is / of, and lucky oiios and disappointed drift, out. Their talk< is still land, land, land.