The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1911.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10780, 31 May 1911, Page 3

The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1911.

E.JSVKRTIXC to the Land question—the crux of ' national "Millions of Acres." progress and happiness—it is our duty to direct attention to the fact chat, though the Government is charged with withholding land from settlement, indisputable dex>artmental records prove quite the contrary. Mr Massey sought to startle his audience the other night by alleging that "there wcro millions of acres left idle," that "men were leaving because they could not get land under favorable conditions," and that "the intending settler who wished to occupy waste land should have the opportunity of doing so." He also remarked "that they did not discriminate sufficiently between the man who occupied land properly and the man who occupied it for speculative purposes." The "millions of acres!" turn out to be 3,919,439 acres, only 1,750,547 of which arc suitable for ordinary farming, the rest being adapted to grazing. This is the sum total of the lands the Crown has now at its disposal, and, if they were parted with at the same rate as that which has obtained during the past three years, when 3,954,842 acres settled (exclusive of the 1,250,000 acres of Canterbury runs) there would be scarcely sufficient to supply the demand. And yet the Government is charged with withholding the lands from the people and driving them from the country to seek, in desperation, as refugees from persecution, a livelihood elsewhere. Of course, some of those who listened to Mr Massey and admired his sturdy freedom of speech and his redhofc condemnations of the Ward Administration, knew none of these facts and trust to Mr Massey for such political enlightenment as they possess. But will it profit any of them to grope in the dark and be led into a quagmire of misconception concerning matters of vital importance to them ? Wo have to bring ourselves to a realisation.that the Crown lands have nearly all gone—that only a ragged remnant remains, and that, if the Liberal Governments had not purchased large estates for subdivision—and they would not have done it if Sir Massey and his friends could hav© helped it—the situation of tho land-sceker would have been still worse. But Mr Massey asks the country to believe that it is tho refusal of tho freehold of Crown lands that has driven good men out of New Zealand. And yet whilst there are thousands of persons who would take up land immediately if they could get it on leaso there are only hundreds who would < r could purchase for cash. Everybody knows this whose mind is open to the reception of the truth. Darmevirke, according to Mr Massey, should be "freehold" to the core, yet out of 406 applications for 11 sections in its vicinity there were only five applications for cash.. We know that the answer to this is that, though the ordinary land-seeker prefers to lease, even if there be periodical revaluation, he likes to be able to purchase outright if he feels so inclined. Affording him the privilege to do that would not prejudice his position, but the State, as the trustee of tho people, has as much right t(; protect its own interests as a private landlord has, and he, though lie may be a friend of Mr Massey's and anxious that "every man should have land lie can call this own," would not accord to His tenants the right to purchase at a bedrock price. But Mr Massey says .that there arc Native lands to bo settled yet, and that the Government is guilty of neglect in not rendering them available more rapidly. It is just as well that we should also be aware of tho real situation in regard to. this question. There are only 2,<100,000 acres of Native land left after deducting lands that will not bo available for settlement, and 277,507 acivs were settled last year, whilst. 116,238 acres were being prepared for settlement, and the Government had purchased another 100,000 acres. All this •indicates activity on the part of the Government in the interests of settlement that could not have been surpassed. The Native lands do not belong t<> us, they are proprety of the Maoris,' who, Mr Massey contends, should be treated as Europeans are, whilst he, at the same time, proclaims that they should be compelled to part with their land. This suggests conduct which could not be justified on any ground and that would meet with condemnation from every right-minded person. Now, how much of Mr Massey's wild statements regarding the land are left for the admiration of his friends ? A s for Mr Massey's complaint that- "the Government did not discriminate sufficiently between the man who occupied land properly and the man who occupied it for speculative purposes, the answer is that the Government's insistence that settlement must -be genuine has given rise to most of the violence of the Opposition. Mr •Massey demonstrated the Government's anxiety to prevent speculation . when lie complained that it sought to prevent owners grazing stock upon land occaipied by others, a restriction which Mr Massey himself condemned. The address, as we shall show from time to time, is of a- moral quality that would not he tolerated in any other realm than politics. '