The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY JANUARY 10, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1165, 10 January 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY JANUARY 10, 1880.

So far the gods have not smiled upon the career of the two gentlemen who have been sent to the Colony by the Lincolnshire farmers. Unpropitious circumstance number one is that they have been taken through the Waikato County, not that the trip will do them any harm physically* provided they escape sudden death, but because there is little or no available land there that would suit their countrymen, either as regards price or quality. There are large tracts of country there, and in the neighboring district of Piako, but their holders expect speculative prices, and this, perhaps, affords an explanation of the circumstance that the Hon. F. Whitaber, the Attorney-General, has shown them such kind attention. The two gentlemen would, we should think, feel themselves unpleasantly at home in this district of big and costly estates. They have, we have little doubt, before this, arrived at the foregone conclusion, as the result of their inspection of Waikato, that the transportation hither of their fellow-countrymen would be tantamount to jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire. Belts of land here and there in Waikato are fertile enough, but they are also dear enough in all conscience to keep any agriculturist's head under water who is fool enough to pay them. These lands are in the hands of those who occupy a position somewhat analogous to that of the British landlords, J the only real difference being that the j bleeding operation is performed at once in the shape of extortionate purchase money, instead of being prolonged by the exaction of impossible rents. Nor would the case be one whit better if an attempt were made to profitably cultivate the lands that are not included in the category of fertile lands. However, we have too much confidence in the good sense of the delegates, gained in a country where the struggle for existence is rendered keen by competition, to believe thai they will j be tempted by anything they have seen in the Waikato, notwithstanding! that they have been favored with the attentions of the Hon. the Attor-ney-General. What an exalted idea | Mr. Grant and his companion would imbibe of the wealth and eloquence of the j hon. gentleman as he, every few miles, j pointed to possessions that " belong to me | and my friends," and expatiated on their excellence in language that would be worthy of the most noted auctioneer the Colony has ever seen. But the hon. i gentleman chaperoned these delegates for i the sake of the Colony. He has never been actuated by any less honorable motive —in fact, if we mistake not, he owns no land, and never tried to acquire any. It's that greedy fellow Thomas Russell that owns the land, the hon. gentleman himself being only his agent and solicitor. As such he, no doubt, explained to the delegates that he would be glad to make alarming sacrifices on the owner's account, merely for the sake of assistiug in the amelioration of the condition of their countrymen. The delegates were probably leaving Waikato without being impressed with a proper appreciation of the ruinous liberality of their hon. friend, when he dropped the reins of the vehicle in which they were riding, and rode over the body of Mr. Grant, who had jumped out to regain them. Perhaps it occurred as a judgment for base ingratitude, perhaps not. But it seems to us that this is the second time within three years that the hon. Sir. Wbitaker has dropped the reins, of course unintentionally. On the first occasion he had the peonle at the end of them, on the last, horses. Is it not still more strange that land was at the bottom of these two casualties, the difference being that in the one case the people became restive; in the other, two other dumb animals. For the sake of the cause to which the visit to the Colony of Mr. Grant and hi 3 companion is due, and the good of the Colony, we hope that the accident will not be productive of serious results, and that they will leave Waikato alive and pledged to nothing up til they have seen the rest of the Colony.