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Dunstan Times, Issue 701, 24 September 1875, Page 2

Our Cromwell contemporary appears virtuously indignant that we should oppose the sale of tho Cairn Muir block to Messrs Strode and Fraser, and without going further we must say that it is the very first time wo ever

heard ofagoldfield's newspaper advocating the alienation of land by the squatters 1 which might with very great profit bo f occupied by a desirable yeomanry po- 1 pulation —such conduct has no exam- f pie in Colonial history. We suppose however that it is feelings of jealous 1 rivalry which dictated this course to 1 our contemporary, because, Cromwell i has no agricultural land in its own < immediate vicinity, he perhaps thinks 1 it is as well that Clyde should likewise i possess none, or if so that, it had 1 better be locked up in the hands of 1 the squatters for sheep pasture. It 1 .would be m'st inexpedient that the Cairn Muir block should pass into other hands than that of the bona fide agriculturist, while its alienation for any other purpose is entirely opposed to public policy. We desire by all means to live upon the best of terms with the squatters, who in their place are most desirable neighbors, but the line of demarcation must be drawn somewhere, and that must be, when their presence interferes with the settlement of the industrious classes upon the lands. That the Cairn Muir block should be so settled is a consideration of great importance to the Town of Clyde, and our Cromwell contemporary fully understands that. We do not begrudge him his quartz reefs, or anything else he possesses, believing that the better Cromwell does, the better it will be for Clvde. As we have no reefs at present, it is mean to attempt to deprive us ot our agricultural lands..