A NOTE OF WARNING.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5803, 22 January 1906, Page 7

A NOTE OF WARNING.

(To the Editor "N./. Times.") Sir, warning. In its coal-ecania. New Zealand, its people and the.fr manufactures have a permanent and unlimited nonreo of wealth. Will they stand idly by and allow these splendid deposits to bo exploited? Arc they content to >»o ono of the mart valuable onsets that thin richly-endowed country Poesotaes deliberately' handed over to speculators? Why is it that not only tho boat lands i but the best forest, and the nebost raiiics of the colony, instead of being reserved for tho people’s use, aro handed over to the speculative investor? The immense kauri forests of the north ore disappearing, and into whooo pockets have tho prohta gone? Now that the Northern inink railway has made them of huge value, the lino totara nnd matai forests of the Tnupo arc being worked by syndicates, for whose benefit? Certainly not lor the people, whoso money and credit have made them of value. Now wo come to tho splendid coalfields. that should b* reserved for tho use of thoir owners—the people. Are not the most extraordinary efforts put forward tn kill the State mines—nip this kind of State enterprise in the bud—by the promoters of new companies? And the people’s guardiana, tho administrators of this splendid property, look helplessly on while tho men and women they represent and future generations aro despoiled ! If the people are content to bo treated in this manner—if they can witness such spoliation in alienee—then their case is hopeless. The coal of this colony is of as much value to its manufacturers and artisans as is the soil to its farmcra. and it should not bo allowed lo fall into private hands. If tt doco Now Zealanders may rest assured that ere long they will have plenty of poverty in their midst, and eventually the wealth of the country will paso into the hands of absentees. . . . _ Whv are tho .State cool mines lying dormant? What has become of the premised Government depots? Uhy are the best carbonilerous blocks being sold .or a mere song to the specniaiorf i hero are questions that demand an answer. 1 hope the people are not asleep. If not, they will rise n« one man, and muit,nanlly doimviid that this traliickmg with the wealth of the country shall cease, and co«“0 for Masterton, January 20th.