TOPICS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4309, 19 March 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

district high schools. Cabinet has decided to carry out a propoal which has occupied the attention of the Government for sonic time, viz.-, to establish a_District High School at Palmerston North, and a District High School at. Wanganui. -NOT -THE LAST STAGE OF HATUMA.’‘ Mr C. Pharazyn writes;—The ••limes’’ sub-leader on the above subject compels me to askfar space to put a few ol the real facts before tho public. As an intimate friend of tho late owner, I :nu able to writeJToin absolute knowledge of the facts. You say that the offer of Mr Russell of £60,000 "ransom 1 ' for his properly was not seriously meant, because he knew it would nob be accepted. Surely this is not a fair view to, take. It was not for him to say whether or no it would be thought right to accept. Ail he hail to do was to estimate his own loss, and offer such a sum as it would pay him to give. lam able to say that in this Rente his offer was an absolutely "bona fide” one, and ■ I have offered to become a guarantor for tho payment, if the condi 1 - tions asked are granted. The position now is simply this :—A gross injustice to an individual has been done, with no gain to the country, as tho property is utterly unlit for small settlement of'the propeir kind. It is now rumoured that tho intention is to write £20,000 off the cost, as it is impossible for tenants to pay five per cent on tho total. This, if true, us it probably is, only shows that the value for staall holdings is only about half what it was worth to the late owner, who mis working it for tho purpose to which it is best adapted. It is"clear that no good can be done by persisting in this act of injustice. Hie remedy is a simple one, viz., to obtain authority from Parliament to hand the property back to Mr Russell without any payment by way of ‘‘ransom.” To prevent disappointment to the paoplo of Waipukurau, who really want room to expand, let a fair arrangement be made for tho purchase of say, 5000 acres of the property, at a fair price. I can say most positively that Mr Russell has always been willing to meet tha Government in a, fair spirit, if they would have been content to buy some 5000 acres. The adoptipu of my suggestion would remove what will otherwise be 1 a standing disgrace to Now Zealand. No country can prosper in which unjust acts are persisted in, after the injustice is shown. I trust we have a sufficient sense of right to be glad if the stigma is thus removed from tho country. It will probably bo said that my proposal eomes too late, as the stock, etc., have! been'sold. My reply to this is that Mr Russell would doubtless be willing, to submit to the loss arising from this, as it would certainly be far less than the £60,000 ho offered. In the concluding part of your article you refer to the “tax valuation” on which Mr Russell had paid his rates. This, again, is unfair, as I find, bv taking out the figures, with regard to it number of properties near Hatuma, that Mr Russell was rated on a higher value, in proportion to stock carried, than any of his neighbours, and this is what ho very properly objected to. Tho difference betweefc value for taxation, which is strictly one at which a property will sell, and tho value to the owner, from an incomeproducing point of view, is always largo, and it may be that in some cases tho one is only half, or less than half, the other. I conclude with' the motto—“ Lot justice bo dene.’*