Hawke's Bay Herald. THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1885. VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7144, 23 April 1885, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1885. VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS.

A short time ago a Wellington telegram informed U3 that Mr Ballance had in preparation a scheme of village settlements, and from a report of an interview between Mr Ballance and a representative of the Lyttelton Times, in Christchurcb, we gather some details of the scheme. Mr Ballance said : " I propose, wherever it is possible, to reserve from sale 10, 20, and 50 acres, as conveniently situated as may be to a railway, and within a reasonable distance to a market. These blocks will be offered on perpetual leaae to laborers, wbo trill be compelled by our terras to make their homes there. As far as possible they will be placed in neighborhoods where there is work all round. They are in no way intended to be farmers. This is simply a measure of relief for working men. 1 do not intend that they should be able to make their living out of these blocks; simply that by a small system of cultivation, such aB is. pursued in Belgium, France, and other Continental countries, they shall be able to supplement what they earn in the usual way." The first point that Btrikes us is that there are very few blocks of Government land where there ia " work all round." Such a condition can only be fulfilled in thickly-settled neighborhoods, where all the land has long since been sold, and it would be madness to attempt to establish village dettlementa on the verge of civilisation. It is not at all a certain thing, either, that aggregations of working men in villages set apart for them would be to their benefit. They could not move about freely to look for work, and even if work were always abundant many would in the nature of things have to go considerable distances to the scenes of their labors. We are sure that Mr Ballance means well, but we are not so sure that his scheme is a good one, viewed^ in the interests of that class for which it is specially devised. On the rent question Mr Ballance said "It would be settled at first by ruling prices, and afterwards on a valuation of the land every 21 years." There are now ample opportunities of taking up leases at "current values," and we fail to see where are the special advantages of Mr Ballance'a plan in that respect. For the rest he Baid, '"■ The worst of it is that here in Canterbury it is so difficult to find what is wanted. In other provinces I am providing for the future. The maps are being dotted all over^ with thousand-acre blocks, to be cut up into these small holdings. Married men will have the preference in obtaining them, and whore there are public works going on in the neighborhood they will be employed in construction, and so on whenever it can be done. We don't mean to tie men in any single respect that can be avoided. A residence qualification and good character are all that will be asked, and of course no man will be able to take up more than one block. By this means I hope to prevent much of that distress now prevalent here, and also to hinder the acquirement of large estates which can be held intact for a long period of time. At the same time Ido not want to bind the small men. They will be at liberty to sell out their rights and move away to take up bigger blocks if they can afford them." There are hundreds of private proprietors who would make termß for village settlements quite as advantageous as those suggested by Mr Ballance, and the puzzle is why he should offer such a scheme aa specially advantageous to working men.