LAND HUNGER AND LAND MONOPOLY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1224, 5 September 1911, Page 4

LAND HUNGER AND LAND MONOPOLY.

Sir,—The Hon. Dr. Fin<l!ay is justly concerned over thg, exodus of native-born from the Old Country, which lie says Mr. John Burns estimates this year at MO,OOO, or upwards of 100,000 over the ordinary surplus available from all sources. This Dr. Rndlay rightly attributes to land monopoly and its evil influence, driving the people to where saner methods and cheaper latids prevail. It does not seem to strike Dr. Findlay that land monopoly is making its evil influence felt through tho length and breadth of this country. Perhaps it would be inconvenient just now to admit it. Yet the best of our young men have left, and are now leaving, New Zealand in shoals for places where it is possible.yet to get land at a reasonable price, because of land-mono-poly prices here making it impossible for them to settle in this country. The Hon. llr. Millar affirms there is so little land now left to the State it doesn't seem to be worth < while making a fuss about. ' And this is what a Liberal Government, elected on the leasehold principle, are not apparently ashamed of avowing as the result of ■■tyreraty years' guardianship of the people's estate! As by tho figures just available, there are barely 167,000 acres of first-olass land, and some 1J million acres of land "suitable for settlement," of Crown lands (second and thirdclass), the Government are turning to two ways out of the difficulty—(l) tho purchase of estates for subdivision; (2) the purchase of Maori lands. Sir, it is well known the Government has been quite unable to satisfy the demand for land by the purchase of estates for subdivision. The process is too costly and too slow. The Minister himself has said tho process cannot be continued on present lines. They turn, therefore, to tho Native lands, which thev hope to buy at a practically nominal price, as a temporary sop to the Cerberus of land hunger. It never seems to occur to these gentlemen, or to tho so-called "Reform" Party that tho methods hitherto pursued of procuring lands for settlement only tend to make land .still dearer and more scarce. Take the Act of last session, by which any association of five people can buy land through the Public Trust Office and issue Government guaranteed ,d6bonturcs for .tlw purchase money.. What, lias been the effect? "Why, to put a mere handful of settlers on lands at top prices, and to put the landowner - on the carpet, since he practically gets his cash on the uaif Besult: Prices go,,up v every where. Neat Wanganui land stfdvlS jreaw ago at £h per acre, was sold four years ago at ouo year ago at -*£50, and. tho present owner hopes to* get JGIOO in tilreo : years' time. iVll on the "unearned, and not on improvements. ' What f L then, should the Government 4c ' to make, land ch&ap and plontuul? > Sir, just what thoy liave persistentlj avoided doing 'ever sine© the death o\ .John Ballance,-just what the Kcfornv Partv (representing tho squatter interest aro "determined to resist' a' outrancenamelv,. put such a stiff graduated to on the' large estates as to force ■ them inl< tho market in large quantities. This ■ and only this, will bring down the pn« of; land, and make it available for closi settlement by.a large population holdinf small areas. This and the taking of th( unearned increment by the State, repre seutin* the community which has created' it." But the Government are a trait to : face the question boldly The.v knov the real solution of the land difficulty buit in .their dread of losing office, seel .every possible evasion.—l am, etc., September ,1, 1911. THAT RAILWAY PETITION. Sir,—l would crave a space in you paper to give m.v own and hundreds o other railwaymen's objections to a par ticular item m tho petition to P>i"m ment. I a.m refornng to Clause ISo. which reads: "That Parliament, in tli interests of the men, and for t.h>o publi safetv, lay down the principle tha guards shall ho appointed Irani shunteii signalmen, and storomcn, and that 11 one shall be appointed to the position o guard who is not a competent shunter. JiuMug by this clause, the majority o the Council must bo guards, and wantiu it to appear that the responsibilities c signalmen, shunters, and Storemen ar not to be compared with their own, an thereby gain an increase in status an. nay I'can. assure you that they ao.w voice the opinion of the majority c railwaymen. If Parliament passed> th clause, many porters who have thiec t six years', aDd in some cases longer, sei vice, and arc daily expecting promotio to guards, would have to wait-for few more years through no fault of -thei own until they wcro recommeuded n competent shunters. These porters I ai referrin" to are at tablet stations, gooi gheds, and all'ihe stations in the Domn ion, and liavo probably learnt nioro ( guards' work than of any other branc of tho service,'but will liavo to bo passu ever through not being competent shui ters. The same may be. said of : portei doing shunters' work, for who to sa when a man is competent? : 1 have sec alleged competent shunters smash, true carriages and try to do without tl steel rails for the engine to run on. porters imitated that shunter, to b Como competent, promotion would sot como. It is a well-known fact that some men were askcil to go out shuntin and had 110. option, they would leave tl eorvicc and rightly so. Some are uatu ally adapted to it, whilst others (goo u men in other departments) would never make shunters. ; AVhat has the council to say about tho many deaths in that particular branch (shuiitiii") of the service?- Do they want to add to them? I wonder if they told Parliament that many of those victims were shunting against their inclination? Yet fhey want a rescrvo placed on tho position' of guard, by making all men (who aspire lo that position) shunters. Now, sir, I do not know of a single instance in New Zealand where the travelin" public's safofy has been jeopardised bv" incompetent guards. Can the council point out to tho members of Parliament where any of the public have suffered through the guard's incompetency as a .shunter? Further, a signalman has'a moro responsible position than a guard, as he alone is responsible for his work, whilst in train running anyone knows the driver and fireman aro more responsiblo than twenty guards for the safety of the public. I think that if tho clause was passul there would bo a lot more discontent in the scrvice, and hundreds of young men would leavo at tho first favourable opportunity. As an illustration, I will'give the caso of a porter in "Wellington with five years' service, who has been learning guard's work all that timo in addition to the ordinary porter's work, and the last lon years has been in charge of trains, and <iono everything in a competent manner. Ho would have to go into the shunting yard for a few more years before getting an appointment. 1 don't think 'lie would. There ere men in tho same position all over tho Dominion. Tho shunting on trains is not lo bo compared with shunting in a goods yard. At busy stations there are always shunters to take over the train and hand it

over to tho guard ready for the road. 1 fr At flag stations thorn are jiortcrs who in help, and at fillings it is a simple matter j cil to place wagons into or take them out | si. and couple them on your train, m.-ir- e<! shallcd in their proper order. The real fr thin? in guard's ivork, us in all railway li! work, is in familiarising yourself to the CI general routine, and being on tho alert 1 for the unexpected, having a. general knowledge of tho safeguarding, of (rains, Pi and providing for' the safety of the, pub- in lie. T. think the selecting of guards Hi could he safely left in-tho han<ls of the ti Departmental heads, us the council could m not liaye understood the disastrous elfect s.i of Clause 22 and do not voice the opinion fii of the great'majority of the raihvaymeu- '"' that is, signalmen, shunters, porters, and b< stoiomen—but in this particular clause h only some of the first-class guards who would not be affected. 11l conclusion, I re j may say,-without any fear of contradic- fr lion, tliat many of the first-cla.=s guards w ill the Dominion have uever been in a ai shunting yard in their lives in the capacity of sliunters, hut-have risen to their ai present position V'the ordinary routine m of porter to gunrd.-I am, etc., - '■ w Bs. O'd." (,i w