Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1886.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1524, 26 March 1886, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1886.

Sir Oeorgb Grky has turned over an entirely new leaf, has left the region of the clouds in which ho has been wont politically t* aoar, and come down to tie materialities

,of common sense and practicability. He has , declared, and is now preaching throughout the length and breadth of the colonv, the principles of a policy complete in itself and in striking antagonism to the devices, financial and otherwise, of the Colonial Treasurer. , It would really appear that Sir CxEOßge has . determined to signalise the latter years of ] his life by devotion to the interests of the people; that he has shaken himself free from | the miserable clique of trade-peliticans and j toadies, who have used his honored name to j ! conjure with. His recent speeches in Dun- i J edin come as those of "a giant refreshed," ! | far different, indeed, from the weak flow of < | generalities, and the high-pitched nothings, j j which have become characteristic of his plat- : form utterances. There is, undoubtedly, | ! game in the old man yet, as, we are inclined j ! to think, Ministers will find out to their cost ! j before many months are over. i : The basis of the proposals of Sir George j is the settlement of the country by means of j a comprehensive uniform land law. He ; would abolish the present system of tenure, ! and substitute permanent occupation at a | " quit rent," to be paid to the Crown. Since, J however, the most valuable lands for agrii cultural and pastoral purposes are either free- , hold, in private hands, or held in unremunerative "dog-in-the-manger" fashion by the Native race, he proposes that legislation should be effected, under which the Government may be authorised to acquire, by purchase, any such lands, whether the owners be willing or not to dispose of the same. To his scheme of settlement, which we will presently explain, the whole area of both islands would practically therefore be open. Whatever may be thought of this very sweeping reform, there can be no doubt that the honorable gentleman is right in assuming that the one thing needed in New Zealand is population, and that the required immigration cannot be forced, but must proceed of its own volition in due proportion to the attractions offered. Unless the peopling of the country proceeds, and, we might say, proceeds rapidly, it is hopeless to expect a run of prosperous times. Profligate expenditure ! ©f borrowed money may cause what the I A roericans call a " boom," but that once ; over, our last state would most certainly be | worse than the first. The idea of Sir George, i subject, as h* admits, to modification, is that I all rural lands should be divided into allotI ments not exceeding .'MO acres, and let on a (juit rent calculated at 4 per cent, upon the capital value of the land, with a further payment of 1 per cent., to be applied to the extinction of the liabilities incurred by the State in the purchase of private and Native lands. The term "quit rent" implies the character of the tenure. The lessee would have quiet, undisturbed possession so long as he keeps up his payments, and will be tied by no conditions of any kind as to residence i or improvements. He may assign, devise and do, in fact, as he pleases with his land. The State will only look to the regular pavment of the quit rent, and to the enforcement j of the obligation that no one person can make or occupy more than one selection. For the I purpose of providing means of payment for J private or Native lands acquired, the Colonial i Treasurer is to be empowered to issue "land bonds," having a currency of 25 years, and ' . bearing interest at 4 per cent. Sir George I expresses the anticipation that the 1 percent. 1 to be paid by the whole body of lessees on i I tire capital value of their land, will provide a fund sufficient for the redemption of all bonds that may be issued. Town and suburban • land, he proposes, should be open for occupation in cottage allotments, private land being acquired where necestary. The allotments are to be small, simply for cottage and garden, ! and continuous residence is to be a necessary condition of tenure. I This, briefly sketched, is the land settlement scheme which Sir George believes would bring about speedily the close occupaI tion of the country by a thriving population, ! and enable the working classes to have homes l of their own in the vicinity of the towns. The honorable gentleman would further add to the attractions of the colony by an entire i subversal of the present fiscal system, which he rightly, we think, considers to be hardly . equitable. He would, to a great extent, relieve the pressure of taxation through the Customs, and enfore a more just contribution, according to his view, from land by a gradui ated land tax. He would make syndicates and individuals owning large estates pay pretty heavily, and sweat absentees of some proportion of the revenues they draw and I spend out of the colony. Of course, if the proposals for the disposition of the land are ; adopted, there would be no necessity for such legislation, but in the meantime he sees the J necessity of a reform in this direction, whilst he is very resolute as to the sound economy j of free-trade and unrestricted commerce, both j under existing arrangements sacrificed to the I exigencies of revenue; whilst a misguided i few and an interested minority are agitating I to further pile on the agony by increasing ! the import duties, under the pretext of en- : com aging local industry. In respect of j further borrowing, Sir George concedes that ! we cannot stop short in our public works. j The ways and means to meet the accruing charges on loans must be provided, he says, I not by increasing the already burthensome taxation, but by strict retrenchment of the public expenditure, and by holding such inducement to a large immigration as his land scheme affords.