PUBLIC OPINION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15982, 16 July 1912, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION.

i ViiO.M YESTERDAY S NEWS- * “ PAPERS.

(By Telegraph.)

J ’THE ATTORNEY GENERALSHIP. There is no fundamental necessity or tlie Attorney Generalship and the iortiolio of Justice being held by the ame .Minister. II Mr 801 l were given .vliat is undoubtedly his due, Mr Herdman might remain Minister of Justice ■mil thus make available at first hand my in Formation that the representalivos of the people require concerning the administration of such branches as tlie police or the prisons. As it is the nly department administered by Air 801 l is that of Internal Affairs, a. coiu■r ratively unimportant portfolio, and .nie which it would bo much more coni f.’aisiit and desirable to liavo held by •>. Minister sitting in the House of Re-rr.'C-sentatives.—Dunedin “ Star.” THE REFORM MINISTRY. ''•h er .since the accession of the Minister to office the taunt lias been levelled at ins members that they are representative of tlie owners of large estates and that tlioir legislation will be tempered by a regard for the susceptibilities of the propertied class. It will cm the ground completely from under the feet of those who have Keen opposing the Reform Party in the past if the Government should submit to Parliament n policy that should contain proposals to effect the subdivision of large estates with the view to a speedier settlement of the land than has been witnessed in recent years. Already in less than a week from the assumption of power the Government lias purchased one property, certainly not of very great extent, for subdivision into small farms and it is announced that it has proposals for the acquisition’ of other estates under its consideration.— “ Otago Daily Times.” THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION. Australia still lias before her tho great problem of settling a continent which to-day is counted among the waste spaces of the earth. The pressure of an unwise system of land tenure and the scattered nature of the earlier settlement combined to establish strong prejudice against immigration. Only within recent years has this showed signs of weakening, but it is undoubted that Australia has yet much to do in regard to land before anything approaching the volume of immigration she so badly needs can ho safely admitted to her ports. The Australian census returns and details of tho manner in which her population is distributed over town nnd country make melancholy reading. New Zealand can offer little or no inducement to the class of settler attracted during recent years by Canada. We may absorb a limited number of artisans and other workers from year to year, but the prospects for land settlement- are such as would hardly appeal to the kind of people passing through an immigration office in London.—“ New Zealand Times.” CLOSER SETTLEMENT.

Already the Government has decided to acquire one suitable estate of 8000 acres. Although the great bulk of the public know that the Reform Government has no intention of carrying out anything but a sound, progressive policy, there is doubtless a small section who hake believed that Mr Massey and his colleagues would repeal every progressive measure. These people will soon realise how absurdly they have been misled by the party now In Opposition, and the awakening will he good for them.—“ Dominion.”