Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, MAY 6, 1861.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 173, 6 May 1864, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, MAY 6, 1861.

The elasticity of the Waste Lands of this Province is perfectly astonishing. They appear to he possessed of the inexhaustible quality of the widow’s cruise. This asto > ish ng virtue, however, is negative rather than positive. It is not very long since it was discovered that no lands worth purchasing remained of the large tracts in this Province, and, consequently, if any person happened to go into the Land Office for the purpose of making a selection, the invariable reply to the important enquiry was, “ We have no land of the quality you require on hand.”

But such is the surprising ability of the present Government, and the marvellously incomprehensible nature of its doings, that notwithstanding the fact of the Provinc being obliged to borrow .£OO,OOO to prevent a collapse, and that, too, owing entirely to want of a land fund, it is discovered that we can

afford to give away amongst some two or three hundred persons, picked up iu the highways and bye-wajs of the colonies, a matter of, say, 20,000 acres.

If the land which the Provincial Government intend to give gratuitously to the Military settlers and others is of quality sufficient to enable the fortunate possessor to get a living out of it, then it becomes a matter wonder how it is that that land was not offered for sale at a fair price, say from £2 to £3 an acre, and a fund thus raised out of our resources which would do away with the necessity of borrowing a paltry £60,000, attended as that borrowing process is by innumerable other debts and difficulties.

The truth is, that the actual settler is an object of distrust and even aversion to the present Government. Anything like a bond fide occupation of the country by men able to make it productive would be the signal for the destruction of the present little clique which now holds sway in this Province. No more jobs,—no more horses to purchase,— no more canteens to establish, —no more general and indiscriminate squandering of j£50,000 per annum, —no more parcelling of

the people’s birthright amongst a few speculators, horse, canteen, and general jobbers. No more of these things would be likely to occur if twenty thousand acres of good available land should be sold to some honest men of industry and means sufficient to turn that laud from a wilderness into a garden. No ! no! that’s a sort of person of whom, our respectable Government have a virtuous horror.

Far better to give the lands away out and out to any one whom we can get hold of, no matter who he is or what he is, so long as he is something like a man, and we are not altogether too pressing upon this point either. We should like our “ respectable” contemporary to explain this little difficulty. In the meantime, pending that explanation, we will venture upon one of oi.r own. Clearly, the patronage which the present arrangement, by which this Province is proprovided with defenders, throws into the hands of the Government and the other authorities is worth something to them. Whereas, if the country was defended by men having an interest therein, men who, in defence of their homes, would be glad to take up arms, this valuable patronage would be blown up. Independent men would have a disagreeable desire to look after these matters in a manner which to such people as our Commandant and others would be most objectionable. In short, an army of slaves is far more agreeable and profitable to our authorities than an army of free men.

Then, let the war hasten hither—let the wave of fire, murder, and destruction light upon our boundary, and see what will become of the army of slaves and their loud officers. Not only would the unfortunate settlors have to protect their own properties, their own honestly got properties, but they would have to lend a helping hand to preserve a quantity of corrupt and perfectly illegal vested interests which have of late found a footing amongst us.