The Evening Star THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1906.

Evening Star, Issue 12881, 2 August 1906, Page 4

The Evening Star THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1906.

When Mr Hall-Joncs was in Dunedin last ~ w r eek Mr T. Mackenzie, Mfdectol M.H.R., incidentally invited °* him to consider the question of acquiring and opening up some available properties in this neighborhood, with a view (inter alia) to arresting the fall in population. The member for Waikouaiti expressed his belief that a reasonably active policy of land settlement withm easy distance from the City would soon put an end to the discussion about the census disclosures. On Saturday Mr Mackenzie returned to the subject with some interesting and instructive remarks in our columns, and our knowledge of his practical energy justifies the hope that bo will keep pegging away at the Government and the lands Department when he gets back to Wellington. The figures which he cites from the land settlement returns are strikingly suggestive. Up to March, 1905, £3,637,000 had been spent in the acquisition of estates. Of this sum £1,255,000 was allocated to Canterbury, £471,000 to Otago, and £200,000 to Southland. But Otago is a very extensive province, and the northern part has no immediate relation to Dunedin: so that it is necessary to find out something in regard to the subdivision of the £471,000, which in itself is a modest sum compared wtih the Canterbury total. And this is what Mr Mackenzie finds;—

Otago s portion of £471,000, some £020,000 was expended in the vicinity of Oamaru, and this year the same policy has been continued there, while not a penny has been spent wit hin what I may call the commercial watershed of Dunedin. The value of lands purchased since the inception of the policy within fifty miles of Dunedin is £25,000.

It is admitted that suitable properties have been more numerous in the districts at some distance from Dunedin : still, there has been no lack of opportunity if there had only been a will to purchase. Mr Mackenzie furnishes many pertinent instances. He retells the story of the Moa Plat Estate, which is proving an excellent investment for the shrewd and enterprising syndicate who acquired it a year and a-half ago. xlgain and again the desirability of securing this property was pressed upon the attention of the Government, who persisted in belittling its value for purposes of close settlement and finally let the opportunity lapse. Mr Mackenzie adduces evidence to show that the 72,000 acres could have been purchased by the Lands Department at a price very much lower than that given by the syndicate, and with the result that, the settlers would have obtained their holdings on much more comfortable terms than the present owners can offer. Concerning the quality of the land there appears to be no room for rsa sonable doubt. This is not a solitary instance : other capital opportunities have been lost, inclaling the Hillend Estate and a suitable property in the Waihemo district. The Government nan remedy the mischievous i csults of past remisshess, however, at least in part, if they will only avail themselves of the opportunities that remain. Mr Mackenzie, who is not in the habit of speaking at random, says that several suitable estates are now virtually under offer to the department, though he aptly points out that there is a right and a wrong way of going to work. Compulsory acquisition usually means too high •a price and consequently too high a rental. “We want to place people on the land at “ a moderate rental, so that they may be “successful, because their success means “the Colony’s welfare.” The Clyde vale. Mount Royal, and Meadowbank Estates are instanced as being available for purchase and settlement. Apparently the member for Waikouaiti has no very high opinion of the way in which some of the land acquired by the Government has been prepared for allotment, and it is to ho hoped that the Lands Department will condescend to pay heed to his practical counsels. For instance:

The scheme requires most capable handling, especially in the matter of subdividing so as to permit of profitable farming. Metaphorically speaking, a Minister needs to almost sleep on a property whilst it is being sdbdivided and roaded. If this, attention is given, a very small increase on the original cost will see the land settled; whereas we are aware that incapable administration in the past has added as much as 50 per cent, to the buying outlay, which means a higher rental and trouble for the

farmer in uncertain seasons. It is suggested that the officers of the de partment (who do their best according to their lights) should always have the assistance of a practical fariner during the work of subdivision, and we can only wonder ihat such an arfangement is not a taatter of course.

It is to be trusted that all the parliamentary representatives of Dunedin and the neighboring districts will join with the member fo- Waikouaiti in pressing this matter upon the Government, with strong insistence if milder forina of persuasiveness are of no avail. People in the North have told Mr Mackenzie that “ Dun- “ edin does not go so much out of her way “in her treatment of public men as some “other places do,” and probably there is some truth in the statement. In times past the attempts of Dunedin agitators “ to .no out of their way ” in this direction have

usually been spoiled by a flavor of political partisanship; but this unpleasant association is surely not inevitable. la the Course of a week or two Dunedin will “go out of her way” to let Sir Joseph Ward know her mind on the subject of “ the huge red am ” with-which the rapacity of the Railway Department has threatened the commercial security and general amenity of the City. At least we hope it may be taken for granted that the citizens have not fallen asleep again in the interval of quiescence unfortunately occasioned by Mr Seddon’s death. Dunedin, as Mr Mackenzie dryly remarks, is an interesting study. “ It allows things to be done to it which “no other city in the Colony would toler- “ ate for a moment, and then humbly turns “ the other cheek.” We began to think a few weeks ago that this stricture had. lost a large part of its painful truth, and wo should be sorry to have to suppose that the thought was premature.