The New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1875.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4124, 1 February 1875, Page 2

The New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1875.

A controversy has begun iii Canterbury which has more than once threatened to grow int.- considerable dimensions here. In Canterbury, where land purchases are on a scale much more extensive, it assumes larger proportions and will enlist oil either side stronger and more violent partisans. The case there is more analogous to that of large speculative purchases among the Maoris than to other holders in any part of this jirovince; and the question at issue is how far it can be right or wise that these large purchasers should receive the full benefit —the unearned increment—produced by the exertions of neighbours, whose improvements are taxable and taxed, while the speculator pays 011 the value of his unimproved land alone. It is a question in the settlement of which Canterbury opinion is of importance, as we know by the interference of the General Legislature in dealing with our Road Acts, wherein tho principle of taxation for local purposes is involved. Whatever therefore may att'eet the action of the General Legislature in this matter, will be of interest to the whole colony and tho controversy in Canterbury will probably be re-echoed in the Assembly. As far as we can glean from the J'rixs, in whose columns the question is being somewhat angrily argued, a Conference of Delegates from the ditlerent Koad Boards has been sitting in Christchurch, assembled at the cost and by the desire of the Provincial Council. At this conference Mr. Tosswell, one of the delegates, proposed that improvements upon land should be exempted from local taxation. The Press attacks this proposition 011 the ground chieliy that those who used the raads most should pay the most for them, and that the income of the Road Boards might be curtailed to an extent that would render them helpless if this system were adopted. The leader of the /'rm is replied to by a Mr. Saunders, in a letter which states moss completely the case as it would appear to any impartial bystander and, in all probability, as it also appears to a very large number of small freeholders in Canterbury itself. Mr. Saunders says it is simply a questiouof "putting tliolion's share of these burdens oil'our most useful and improving settlers and putting it 011 our most injurious and most obstructive .speculators." With reference to the maxim that those who use the roads should be taxed to pay for them, 110 quotes the case of a man buying for speculative purposes, and leaving idle, IK/KM acres of land costing £20,000. The next purchaser has to go beyond him, and if he settles and improves his land, must pay outofall p'roportion formaking the four or five miles of additional road rendered necessary by tho speculative purchase lying waste and unused until tho exertions and fair taxing of bona file settlers have given it a Belling

value. Mr. Toaswell justly complains of this, and Mr. Saunders backs him, and wo do not see with what argument it is possible to meet him on the other side. Tho Press speaks of diminished revenue for the Road Boards as a certain result, but we cannot see on what grounds, the question being one of respective valuations, and not of the total result of tho taxation to be raised. " When our correspondent asserts," s.-ij's the Press, "that Government should keep land out of the hands of those who do not improve it, and get it into the hands of those who would," we cannot help wondering where he can have picked up this astounding piece of political economy. The idea of a Government in a free country like this, attempting to tyrannise in the mannerthus proposed could only occur to one whose mind was bent upon carrying out a certain scheme at any cost." Xowtheconlidencu with which the _P/ - es-.?lays down the law in this way betrays either a very superlicial knowledge in itself, or a very bold reliance on the economical ignorance of its readers. The real student of political economy does not require to be told that land, like air and water, is one of tho gifts of tho Almighty to man, and is not subject to the same principles in dealing with it that would apply to a bag of sugar or olhei mallei lo which man's industry has given the chief and almost the entire value. Tho owners of a cargo of sugar might throw it into the sea if they preferred, and in doing so would inllict but a temporary injury on the community. The owners of a block of laud could not be permitted to destroy it without injury of a more permanent character and, if legislation were practicable, no one could object to its being applied to save from exhaustion or destruction, man's great heritage from nature. The fact that if practicable it would bo quite justified, is a sutlicient vindication of the position of those who hold laud to bo a dillerent allair to commodities, whose chief value is derived from their growth and subsequent handling by man. If it were possible to monopolise the air we breatlie, or the water we drink and use, as it is possible with laud, vested interests would soon arise aud we should have applied to them tho same bold statements, the same bold reference to so-called economical principles, that we see the Prcxs now applying to the land. It cannot be overlooked that on the mode of dealing with the land, the whole social and political fabric depends. Of what other article but land can this be said ! Political economists are far from overlooking this fact. On the contrary, the works of one of the greatest among them teem with discussions upon it, and perhaps the most interesting of all the chapters of John Stuart Mill was that devoted to "Peasant Proprietorship," in which the laws of political economy—as laid down by the Press—are " astoundingly" violated in every line.

The concluding paragraphs of the leader to which we aro referring are especially worthy of attention. " Our readers will readily understand, it says, why this is a matter that deserves their close consideration. . . The Road Board system in this province has hitherto worked remaikably well, aud under it the districts aro being rapidly settled and improved and brought into connection with each othwr." The past good working of the Road Board system in Canterbury cannot be denied—from a Canterbury point of view. It would be very astonishing if it had beenotherwi.se. A vast and fertile plain has been given to them by the colony. The whole burdens of Government, of the publicdebt, and of the greater public works and immigration, have been thrown upon the Customs revenue of the whole colony. The millions of acres of magnificent land ready for grazing millions of sheep, or ready for the immediate action of the plough, hare been left in their hands to sell and to divide the proceeds entirely among themselves. The Provincial chest has thus been well and continually tilled, and theßoad Boards havecomein for a fair and full share of tho [.hinder. The subsidies to them, as to all Provincial Institutions in Canterbury, have been of the most magnificent order —so magnificent that the smaller settlers have escaped the pressure of that taxation which would otherwise have long since brought to an issue the questions raised by Mr. Tosswell and Mr. Saunders in the paper now before us. Suppose, however, that in the course of events it should become necessary that the land fund he resumed by theGoneral Government, that it should bo made to bear at least a fair proportion of the burdens of debt and Government to which its own swelling proportions are due ! Tho Road Boards of Canterbury will then be left face to face with the difficulties which Mr. Saunders so very ably describes. That tho time is near when this must lie the case we entertain not the slightest doubt, and the point against u-hieh the people of this and other provinces have to bo most keenly on guard, is the attempt that will then probably be made to save still longer the monopoly of the land revenue by increasing the general taxation of the colony. This was done in tho recent alteration of the Customs duties, for example, and will doubtless be done again if possible. There are lions in the path—no sham or figurative one*, —an.l, as Mr. Saunders .-q.tlj" observes. " those lions are never asleep. They oftin lie down, appear to close their eyes and assume a look of the greatest repose and complaisancy, but let one tiy in never so noiseless a manner to remove the smallest bono from tlieir den, and he will learn to his cost that their sleeping is a sham." W o heartily commend these closing paragraphs to the attention of those who a>e indulging in vain imaginings that by any crafty system of " smaU end of the wedge insertions,'' (.1- political cl;\'an'jry, they can outwit or outmauieuvre these Southern lions keeping tho vigilant guard over the smallest bones in their den, whom Mr. Saunders describes. In the struggle before us in the North, the land fund must play an important part. Those who have so long enjoyed it will spare 110 pains to hold it still. Upon their doing so, depends the " satisfactory working of our Hoad Boards" ;.s the J'rex.t puts' it, and the satisfactory working, we may add, of all their present institutions. The land fund resumed, numbers of very troublesome local questions would rise— the least of which would be that of a more fair and equal .system of local taxation for loca l purposes—a system unattainable while there is so much diversity as at present in the taxation of the various p v ovinces and in the share of the colonial' land fund on which, aboie all others, Canterbury has so long been able to rely.

The mail news brought by the Mikado leads us to infer that there is something more than mere rumour as to complications existing between the United .States and Spain, growing out of the Virgiuins ati'air, the circumstances connected with which will be fresh in the memory of most of our readers. From our San FY;uiciaco exchanges we learn reports had obtained a wide currency at Washington giving rise to much uneasiness as to the relations between America and Spain. Spanish cruisers insulting the American flag on the one hand, and iillibustering expeditions from some parts of the States on the other, have led to an acrimonious feeling between the two countries. A tele-

gram to the Alta California states that the Spanish Government has given evasive and unsatisfactory answers to the repeated demands of the American Government for a final settlement of the Virginius matter, and that only recently very offensive messages had been returned from Madrid. It is believed, the telegram goes on to say, that the changc of Government at Madrid will certainly increase the difficulties of arriving at an amicable adjustment of the questions at issue. It is said the American Government is fully alive to the critical situation of affairs, and is preparing for the worst. The disputes between the two Powers will probably be referred to arbitration, unless it be true what is said of America, that it is desirous of getting up a " row" with some Power to divert attention from matters nearer home, and that Spain offers the most favourable opening. By the San Francisco mail vre are in receipt of a few further details of the horrors of the Cospatriek catastrophe ; these will be found in another column. From these our readers will learn that the fire which destroyed the vessel broke out at midnight, that about SO of the passengers—principally women— rushed into one boat, swamped it, and were all drowned, while many others were killed by the niliiiirr of the masts. The two boats of which we have already learnt as leaving the vessel, and only one of which lias been heard of, appear to have stayed by the burning hull for two days, when an explosion finished the work the fire was unable to do. On': can picture the distressing scenes which would occur under such fearful circumstances, in a ship containing 500 souls, many o£ them being women and children. The full details we shall net recei/e until the arrival of the next Suez mail. For the third year we have to congratulate ourselves that an Auckland s 110'■ has carried off the Champion Belt, together with the largest money prize given for any of the competitive firings. We may fairly presume that, in despite of a protest being lodged against the winner, the best i.i.'ni is the champion for the ensuing year. It was not, however, because the winner belonged to Auckland that he proved himself the best rifleman in the aggregate of the trials of skill. The fact of Skinner representing Auckland was simply an accident, as he would have fired neither better nor worse had he hailed from Otago, Xapier, or any other place. It was a close contest through-' out, and to those on the spot it mast have caused a great amount of excitement. The scores at the close for the leading men were—Skinner, 313 ; Elder, 313 ; Wilson, 310; and Hoskins (who missed two shots), 300. Skinner, under the prize-firing regulations, was declared the winner, his shots at long range counting before his adversary. It was' fortunate that the pontoon accident did not result fatally to any of the men who were crossing the river upon it at the time. It was a very unsafe device, and shewed a great want of military engineering skill, such as only the merest tyro would have exhibited. From the lirst it was augured there would be an accident ere the contest had concluded, and such proved to have been the case. But for the coolness .and bravery of some of the Volunteers many lives would have fallen a sacrifice to such a bit of bungling. The Xew York postal authorities have extended their operations to delivering and collecting letters on Sunday. We could scarcely wish to sec Sunday Post-office work introduced into this colony: but we think that, the Mikad. having arrived in our waters yesterday morning, business men might have had their letter.; placed in their boxes yesterday, which would have enabled them to send away eommeuieations by the Mikado : which left here during the night. We have but twelve San Francisco mail arrivals in the twelve mouths, not more than three of which perhaps arrive on Sunday. It does, then, appear somewhat hard that as the steamer leaves for Sydney so soon after it has delivered the mail-bags, merchants and bankers should be deprived of an opportunity of acting u;>,i,- their advices in Xew South Wales and \ ici >ria. A LETTEKfrointhe.fi K" ' 1 'H/iniiii'.-t correspondent at Hawaii, refers . Ji'.-ug other things to the oiler of New Zcalam'. capitalists to take up the Hawaiian loan for C' 200,000. It is the first we have heard of the loan, or of the proposal to take it u;> in Xew Zealand. Quite possibly the oiler may have been made, but wc are more disposed to regard it as a cute device on the part of our Yankee cousins in Hawaii to stimulate the United States Government to form a reciprocity treaty with their kingdom. The wires of Hawaii arc pulled entirely by Americans settled there. A reciprocity treaty will give them access for their sugars to American markets free of duty, and, of course, increase very much the value of any land they may hold. The King of Hawaii has been taken to America and is starring it there. He wants a reciprocity treaty and has refused this loan from New Zealand capitalists till its fate is decided. But if they don't make the treaty the offer of our capitalists will be accepted, aud it is significantly added, that whoever has the security for this loan will be practically the masters of the islands.