THE LAND REGDLATIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 150, 9 May 1862, Page 3

THE LAND REGDLATIONS.

To tlie Editor of the Otaqo Daily Times. fMr Dear Sir —In your lady's postscript to my Jotter, you somewhat ironically refer to me as apt in quotations," and immediately throw one at my head in the shape of f'vojnset m pms rum wpaM tpedem' which, referring, I suppose to the Major vho is generally considered, whether rightly or ■wrongly.l know not,to lie the godfather of those regulations, may be supposed to mean that it is a question of principle, not of comparison. I. contend that all the systems which have been propounded as enumerated in my letter, are open to the same objection. She principle or species are the'same. The magnitude of the attendant evils may differ; however, all I can say is that your "arguments have had as little impression on me, as mine apparently have had on you, and as yours is for the present the winning game, backed by runhoklera and antediluvians, Iliad better leave you to chew the cud; of your temporary tryumph. Pardon another quotation, —'' Vm victiD. "Nowfor the nostrum, which is to cure the evils ot our Provincial life. The prescription runs thus :— Obtain the fair value of the land, and keep a sufficiency in the market—l almost quote your words. Alas, my dear sir, has it come to this1? Dp you add ■wormwood to the gall 1 Let me give a free translation, fpr 1 may sjiy, also of the translation—" majus et minus non variant speciem." This is your specific. ■ Wakefield's "sufficient price," to be taken with what youhave not got." Isupposea " sufficient price " to deter speculators, ■would be between £2 and £3 an aero 1 Pardon me; I cannot help it—but a quotation leaps to ray mouth — "Ghurry parwar, ap M neerwuk be nor Mi " which Faqueer-001-a-din. translates,—"Provider for the poor, thy salt is without flavour.'' But then there is the sauce to make the thing paletable—throw plenty of this un-get-able article in the market. Little did I think, my dear sir when-we sat on the rninsof your old press and smoked a cigar amid the wreck of literature, that one who could utter such noble sentiments as. you then, did, should twit the poor man with the otter of land at a fair price beyond his purchasing, and tell us at the same time that abundance of it shall be thrown into the market, whea you know that the Land Bales and Leases Ordinance" lias got a vice-like grip of the land. Throw it into the market, and from Pan U> Beereheba—from the banks of the Waitaki to the banks of the Mataura, echoing am«i W pastoral

districts until the reverberations are as the distant thunder, you will hear the fatal words tested Ki^htd." Yes, the advocates of vested rights uphold the " sufficient price' system, because they know its effect is to deter population, and the vested right roinaius untouched. Throw it into the mirket—that land which is as the apple of our bja—(pardon the metaphor) and you do one of two things ; you enable the speculator to puroaase because the market is glutted ; or, by your " sufficient price," you drive the poor nv.n to other provinces. In the latter case, the labor market ,vill bj unstookeJ, the land uuoocuSied ; and, iv the former, you must put a sum on the isiiihates for electric telegraphs between the monarch of all they survey. . May the Provider of the Poor defend this province from a prico ;" or, in a few years the ne-ces-sity of crouching,to the land speculators for a wee bittse" land, at a " wee like price " of about Jb4 an acre..will.be'too apparent. . Still thine.