The New Zealand Herald. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1867.

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1131, 29 June 1867, Page 5

The New Zealand Herald.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1867.

SrKCTKMUtt AGENDO. " Give every man tliine csr, hut few tliy voico : Take cp.ch man's censure, but rcservo tiiy judgm:.:* t. Thie stove all,—To thine own self bo truo And it innst follow, as the night tho day, 1 lieu canst not then te fabo to auy man."

The land question must for .some time to comc be an important one in tlie Northern Island of New Zealand. TVc have made ' considerable steps in the right direction by 1 giving certain facilities for individualising the title to native lands. The crowning point to this policy would be the removal of every restriction, fiscal and otherwise, which acts in any manner against the natives getting the title to their lands individualised. \\ r e do not now purpose entering into this general question, but to refer once more to what we have long argued is tho true policy in regard to the settlement of land in this province. Indeed, the same principles are quite as applicable to other portions of tho Northern Island of New Zealand, and to all new countries as they are to Auckland. Of courscwe allude to the principle that speedy settlement of the country by industrious wealth producing settlers,even if land be given to securc" that object, is a greater gaiu to us than the profits or receipts from the sale of the land. A certain minority, whose I opinions are entitled to respectful consideration, are still opposed to this mode of procedure. It is important that they should be converted to the true faith in respect to this matter, and hence wo recur to it once more. Our argument is intended to apply to all the public lands of tlio Province, whether owned by the General or by the Provincial Governments, and we make the assertion, that, as a business transaction, it will pay the Colony and the Province far better to give the lands away to bona jide settlers who will live and make their home upon it, than merely to obtain a sum from the sale of that land to persons who give no security that they will occupy it. This, we believe, is capable 'of arithmetical proof. The rapid settlement of the land will be our greatest security for peace. With peace, would follow a large decrease on the national expenditure for defence, and other purposes ; and increased population would be accompanied by an increase in the national income. This taxation could be immediately reduced, for there would be a diminution of expenditure, and the greater number of people to share the diminished expenditure. But the people would also be better able to pay taxes, which, in effect, is itself equal to a reduction of taxation. For the national wealth would be very largely increased by the increase of successful country settlement, and the quantity of employment in the Province would bo very much greater both in country and in town, and the general trade and commerce would of necessity also increase. Thus, the adoption of the plan wehavc named would be like opening an additional valve, and turning on additional steam to propel the provincial and also the colonial engine of progress and advancement. The benefits accruing would be general, not merely local; national, not merely provincial. The individual would benefit, but the general benefit to the community would be greater than any apparent first loss it might suffer. In short, it is to the interest of the colony that the war expenditure should cease, that the number of those who contribute to that diminished revenue should be increased, and so the taxation admit of reduction. Our plan will tend to secure all these objects. But in order that we may have something more than argument on this important question, we are in a position to place before our readers the authoritative expression of the President of the United States on this very subject- no later than last December, who spoke, not from theory, but from the j practical working of both the selling and I the free grant principle. And we are quite i sure no one will say that America has not j had experience enough on this point, that ! its area is too limited, that its progress and development are not such as to challenge our admiration. No country 011 the surface of the globe has ever progressed as have the United States of America. The magnificence of the country is not the sole reason of that extraordinary progress, but is to be found rather in the encrgetic and able men who ha v r: governed America, and the intelligent and persevering citizens who have dwelt in it. The men of America have made her what she is, and j the bulk of them are our own kith and | kin. The traditions of old countries must not be the maxims on which we found our acts, but the experience and succcss of new countries, in which the general conditions and the laws of progress are very similar as in our own. : j "We will let President Johnson speak for himself, and merely premise that we have met with his address to the Congress, delivered in December last, in an English paper, and from which we extract the following, under the head of " PUBLIC LANDS IXDtAX AFFAIRS. " The report of the Secretary of the Intc- . " rior exhibits the condition of thosebranches " of the public service which are committed , " to his supervision. During the last . " fiscal year, *1,029,312 acres of public " land were disposed of, 1,592,51G ■ " acres of which were entered under " the Homestead Act. The policy origi--3 " nally adopted relative to the public lands L " lias undergone essential modifications. o " Immediate revenue, and not their rapid " " settlement, was the cardinal feature of our " land system. Long experience and earnest " discussion have resulted in the conviction 3 " that the early development of our agricul- " tural resources, and tho diffusion of an en- . " ergetie population over our vast terri- " tory, are objects of far greater impor- " tance to the national growth and prosperity " than the proceeds of the sale of the land " to the highest bidder in open market. The " premption laws confer upon the pioneer H who complies with the terms they impose q " the privilege of purchasing a limited j)or--0 " tion of ' unoffered lands ' at the minimum 0 " price. The homestead enactments relieve ' the settler from the payment of purchase " money, and secure him a permanent home. •' upon the condition of residence for a term

"of years. This liberal policy invites emi- " gration from the Old and from tlie crowded " portions of the New "World. Its propi- " tious results are undoubted, and will be " more signally manifested when time shall " have given to it a wider development." If these words will not bring conviction, neither would the accumulated evidence of a hundred nations, nor the arguments of the highest wisdom and most exalted patriotism, enforced by more than human eloquence. Wo regret we are not in possession of a copy of the " Homestead Act *' referred to above, but it is quite clear that its main provision is, residential occupation and improvement of land, which gives a title to its possession.