Land Settlement.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 886, 11 February 1891, Page 2

Land Settlement.

j ■ ' ■■■' ■♦ .-.'.- v^ Not many days since, hearty congra-* tulations were conveyed to Auckland from Wellington for information vouchsafed by the Minister of Lands showing that for the last year Auckland has been going far m advance of other parts of the colony m regard to land settlement. Now, why is this? Is the available lan 1 m the Auckland Provincial Dis-* trict superior to the land of the other provincial districts ? We (Star) know the contrary to be the case. The reason is simply this, that Crown land is stjti available for settlement m the AuefcWß district, and many- people have --found it advisible to go into the country rather than trust to the uncertain, subsistence which the avenues ofVty 'employment afford. Many, who „ have., dpne^ this express themselves as being temporarily satisfied with the result. Any man of energy nnd able to work, if he is placed on good land, can eiislvery comfortably, because of the difficulties .m reaching a market. Again, owing' tb^ttie liberal land laws always'i tfuling m Auckland, and the inaptitude of the land for large runs, it liasbeen disptjseci J o£ m Ismail blocks, and many JjhoiasandS of;good settlers have comfortable; hom^a irabn it. The children of these settferfyintecmarry and take up land^ .tinderf the /iptesent extremely favorable termsj .witHin^reach of their friends ; but m no'OthefJparfc of New Zealand is /sach'tf" thing practicable. " It is not theipresent :land.sy,sse!n, thafc is' obhoxiouß, ; but ..the absence ;of« land upon which to operate «ndiica.rry out the system. ' It i? riot 'too muc^to siy that outside the magnificent .^•ac« 1 s i blP n flative land, all the best "of theia'gr^cu'i^ai land of the colony,' several, mi^iopg^'' acres, is locked up ; in ;big^3eates,j^niany of them owned by absontees, : },ripgf f and Syndicates. ■■■ '■ ../if ii; : ,- ; „<< The new Liberal Ministry will find' themselves compelled to alter all ] this, and by the imposition jof ! a land tax cause these large owners to .cuftivate their estates to the full yklueoj; their land, or part with it- to. those who, will do so. This will cause a run n upon all available good land, as 'effect of such a tax would be to destroy the speculative value of land, altogether, and cause it to be sold at the actual value that it would have m the hands ,pf tha bona fide occupier. Although such a policy may be " positively, Suicidal " m the eyes of the large landowners, the supporters of the new Government expect them to take the responsibility of bringing it about. •. At the same/ time they claim that reasonable time must be given for the development of, a reform so far reaching m its results, and dealing with such vast interests, anfl the Ministry will act prudently m resisting any attempt to entrap them'into submitting a hasty and ill-considered measure which would;-.bring ruin, either, npon ita authors or> the country; .: : "