THE EVENING MAIL WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 343, 30 May 1877, Page 2

THE EVENING MAIL WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1877.

In last evening's issue we re-publishcd a petition from the settlers of Papakaio to the Otepopo Waste Lands Board, having reference to certain runs, the leases of ■which "will shortly expire. It is a matter for self-gratulation that such unanimity exists on a question of so grave importance to the welfare of this Colony—present and future ; and although the Waste Lands Board has already satisfactorily proved that it is not oblivious of the necessity of putting its veto on the regranting of squatters' leases, yet we think that the settlers have acted with unboubted wisdom in adopting a course which must of necessity tend to encourage and strengthen the hands of the Board. There is but one cry throughout the length and breadth of the Colony, and that is—Let the people have an opportunity of acquiring the land they have tarried for so long and with such patience. The attainment of the satisfactory result which has recently been brought about by the action of the Board was scarcely to have been anticipated, especially by those who have peeped behind the scenes and seen the string pulling. The question has ever been one fraught with difficulties, from the fact that the Parliament of the country has consisted too largely of the element whose interest it was to keep matters as they were. Of course, anyone who would for one moment suppose that the Government of this Colony, sitting at Wellington, would have attended to the clamour of the people —unanimous though it might have been—for equitable treatment of the lands of the Colony, would be scarcely less than idiotic. True, petitions might have been sent to Wellington; but this might have been done till the re-

turns of the Post Office Department were appreciably increased from the sale of stamps. A reply might ultimately be vouchsafed, but not from a Minister—and whose duty it would be, as the Government is at present constituted, to reply, we have no hesitation, even at the risk of exposing our ignorance, in saying we do not know. Possibly, Pollen ; or, if he was not at the capital, Whitaker (but he lives in Auckland) ; in that case, perhaps Atkinson, but unfortunately he is stumping it at Taranaki ; and the duty at last devolves upon Cooper, or a clerk, ornotun" likely, under extraordinary circumstances, upon a cadet. Here is a farce. To relegate grave questions in the government of a country to clerks whose worst feature is not that they are devoid of brains, but have become corrupt from contact with those who, from custom, are dubbed their superiors, is an anomaly in representative Government. It is satisfactory, however, to observe that nothing will now satisfy colonists, who are sick of tolerating humbug, but a speedy and equitable settlement of the question of the disposition of the lands of the Colony once and for all. Land that was a few years ago leased for pence per acre is now worth as many shillings, and to withhold such land from public competition would be to rob the Colony of its legitimate revenue, and ruin the country, were it not for the pre-eminent advantages of climate and soil which it possesses. The example of the settlers of Papakaio, who have proved themselves true colonists, should be imitated by those of every other district throughout New Zealand, in order that those great governing powers who reside in remote parts, and and who are consequently almost totally unacquainted with anything but red-tape and sealing-wax, may have undeniable proof of the existence of a public opinion that demands their attention, and which it would be in every respect calamitous to treat with their accustomed scorn.