The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1879

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1075, 30 September 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1879

It U a trite savin-.: that there is nothing ;in the world to. be expected *.« much as the unexpected. Who could have anticipated such a discussion of such a proj twuneed radical type as within the range mf possibility as that which recently took place «t» the ttritish House of Commons with reference to the land tenure of 'KngfamH Who can predict the tremenslQUS consequences which may be involved I It is indeed a large .]uestioit : and on the very threshold society will d-> well to pause and ponder. Sunn? truths, long familiar enough to the who is ever the harbinger of practical reare now for the first time being discussed by prominent statesmen in the |«ioat const'rvative representative body in the world; an*l language which a short decade ago would be regarded as- the vilest radicalism has recently been deliberately and calmly uttered by " my jWd and gentleman." In such a I •liscitastoti on sufih a platform, the earnest student will discover the germs of a movement transcending in importunes all others of mortem times, and suck ,as will ttnv.luttonise Clreat iJritain. Trie thinker and the ichoWever precede the statesman and the txlonaer. Sometime*, too, the demagogue and r.i.tu' d, »tran?e »ii it may appear, U the first t- eaten ;i ctimp3<f pf such truths as are below t:w bTffcon. H» language b startling, and even alarming. He i* denounced a-> a firebrand. Mrs. Grundy v.-ill have none : -,.iran. an outot him. and tie tv"''"' .. cast to"> otteti. as hi t.u? era l-recentnu the FrwK-li revolution, .in element of »t!-- : affection and danger. It cannot. h>.v- ---| over, be denied that such tinp-'li.-ihed instruments have paVi-tl the way in I'.ii--tand for many great reforms. It is aueh men wf might and or action w»«. '"tear the way. They are, therefore, tuit wui.,?ut their important sphere in the de--titu ot nations. It was thus thi' Chamsut. • universally denounced, wage*! intrrtiecene war against society : but have «• >"■ 'almost, if not all, the points on the Charter become incorporated in o.i, Knv'lish Constitution? The present movement differs from most cr.n<it*iri.ui;tl ones which Ju»v-.r preceded it in " u '~ »•»»- p.,r;;urt respect —it begins a? the r»p. N" mob meanings. nor popular exeiteuiru'. nor stump oratory, have issue't it >n. I conn-s upon ns as a surprise, and th- "l'>ry together with tils' Obstructionist m.»y wonder Whether Brutus so unkindly knocks. or no. The Marquis of llartingf-O'n so an hereditary lord of the soil, and n.-. Jess a personage is found uttering language lluit would be starring if foiling from «hc lips of Tent Payne or Hubert Owen. lie tell? the British Legislature that tne prefect" j land system of England is a failure, and meets the demands of Mr. Chaplin- a rabid Tory—for protection to the farmers I with a startling statement as coming from such a statesman —the chosen heat! of the Liberal party in England—that such £ proposal is an exploded fallacy, that it is rt-.'C iu point of fact the landlords whose rents must be maintained by a protectionist p-.>;cy, but the people who must be protested from the landlords. It is the otd war crv-—a big loaf for the people rat Tier than a small "i:e —cheap food rather than dear food. The noMe lord wisely foreexstd the future p->licy of ( reat I'.ritain. and it would just be as futile to attempt t„ bring back the com law.-i as the Norman t vn.juc3t. That a veteran as John I. 'right should be roused by such a discusai,. was inevitable as tl»a? the old war hot *«* shouUl respond {y the bug,'•?-> call. 'S clearly committed t ? a »tn»-.'*:le the t'iiT.st niomeiitotis of jnodern ttmen. The a.'ict. uit landmark* are in danger, and doctrines which a few ye»r. ago men dareu to ; utter only with bated breath are now openly firoc.faimed. To tho«e »'=' 7 ari; accustomed l-» look beneath the surface such ast ruggh-! was inevitable. England ,wust adjust her legislation to the altered ■condition* of the world, and >■; all j wiitu'H'.ic truths .the most that can bv ; for thetu is tlut they ar>- true ar the | t.K.ue —never for nil time. They e.»t» siever ; W stereotyped, for the .'W ; rea.v.:ii tlwt the niatenat-: trith which the p.>i:t:eat

ecotvmUt deals are «!.>natantly f The statesman must well adat't pisa.Lt. ur the shtfuns:condition* »t' s'cery. jwt a* tfu- navisr-itor, while 011 tK.r tti tsu steerim; the same emtrse. rntut trim his »m\* t<« catch the shifting wind*. A n.oent telegram informs that fcarl is alive to the magnitude ..t the i»n«» at stake, and warns England <>f The ♦tanner of setting class against eta*;. .Admiring that brilliant statesman m v.e «.l >. v.r venture t«> doubt the effect of such » wnin?. Something more potential iitan .collateral evil* must be artvanced tu lay tlic progress of such a discussion, i u in vain to cry peace peace '■ when here ii ao peace ; and despite such cnes,

the battle will hi fought to its bitter end. The " class" argument is a good old Tory onc —the cuckoo cry was heard quite recMitlv ourselves —but it has never' availed when any ■-•reiu principle has been at stake. Th.> '-.lVory of reform, both :.i England and oi-iier cwutini - - 1 } indicates plainly enough that while no one with a p.trtich: of patriotism "iil regard inter-MfcCL-ne strife otherwise than with aversion, v,.; there are s-.upreme struggles in wiiicli such frail barriers speedily disappear, ,'_'re:it measure was evercar- ; rtf-i i:t *.vhi.-ti tite ■■l-i.iV element in some i f.>i nt > r "'iier«nsn'>r t"o painiuhy present, i >lr. Chaplin, who is a devoted followci of lvir! Inew? stand aghast at ' u-'" of his >wn temerity, i H ; s was the damage inflicted J tni' ii the fanning community by the com{[...rirj.irt of foreign countries. Protect the ' : exclaims .Mr. Chaplin : alter our

land tenure le-'-nds Lord Harrington. The Liberal ;;arty. put once mire upon r'n.T defensive. promptly carried ihe war inf.. the enemy's camp, and rjuestions -,i hich have long been deferred will now in- finally an<i for ever settled. And what are those ouestions ! Our space forbids anv adequate answer ; but, in brief, it VI ill be found that the rights of the people r>> the •>i 1 underlies it all. It is unlike ;>!! fi!i>r i-xiuni'iditics. Our mother i it tii—the granary and storehouse of the nations —f>ur h»»me while here our ££ra\e Imreattwr. Who will justify a monopoly lof such a universal necessity ! eat the ; utnm.u ends of the earth have travelled far and too fatally in a direction from which England is now receding. | We ii tve legislated for a privileged class, [and the a_'!v-:ati'>ii of large landed estates lin tew hand*- -rather than their widespread distribution anil beneficial occupaiit'V and ownership by the actual cultivator—has already assumed large proportions. It is an evil greatly to be depl i.-d. and all such evils produce their infallible retribution. It was Abraham Lincoln uho .sa'd, with almost prophetic vision, at a period when the great war of scci'.iaion looked unutterably gloomy, that •• every drop of blood wrung from the slave must be atoned for.' r He never faltered for an instant, assured that the Providence which punished such national evils would eventually abolish slaveryone of the greatest of crime:;. So it must ever be. We seek to establish our puny monopolies, and for a time might prevails over right. Justice, like an avenging a: length overtakes us, and the movement at present agitating Great r.rtt;ti:i will not subside until the anomalies, the injustice, the monopoly underEying the land tenure of England, shall be away, and, Like the baseless fabric of a vision, Leave not a rack behind.