Page 8 Advertisements Column 1

Otago Daily Times, Issue 377, 6 March 1863, Page 8

'Election Notice. SO THE HONOBABLE JOHN HYDE HARRIS, ESQUrRE, DUNEDIN. WE, the- Undesigned, inhabitants of Oamaru and Hainpden District, hope that you will become a candidate for the office of Superintendent, litlia event of your doing this, we promise you that we will <lo our utmost to secure your election. AinungH the other qualifications you possess for the office of Superintendent, there is one which, at this juncture, we particularly value. You nre neither pivjudiced in favor, nor against, any class in the community. Without an entire freedom from class prejudice, no man is, we hold, fit to occupy the ofheo of Chief Administrator. Permit yourself, therefore, Sir, io be nominated for the Office in question, and the residents ot OUro, of liberal and intelligent minds, will hail your election na a benefit conferred, not on nny one section m particiil.ir, but the community ot the Provir.ce as a ■whole* ......•■..-:•■■■' • Signed), C. Prendergast W. Hay C. Tmill ' J- Heattie J. Hassell J. Thompson A. Baker H. Aitkcu 8. GKbba X- S. Lees J. Locke M. Grentell H. France. -D. Sutherland \V Falconer J. Barraclough J, Ogilvie B. W. Koxby J. Y. Ward Edward Hudson. TO CHARLES PRENDERGAST, ESQ., CHARLES TRAILL, ESQ., AND THE OTHER: GENTLEMEN "WHOSE NAMES ARE APPENDED TO THE REQUISITION. ■■'■ /GENTLEMEN,—I had the honour yesterday to receive your Requisition, dated the 18th instant, for which, and for your expression of confidence in my fitness to become the Superintendent of the Province, I beg gratefully to thank you. In reply to a previous requisition, I explained the circumstances which led to ray becoming a candidate for the office, and endeavoured to give as full an outline of my. views upon several lead' ing public questions as the time I had then at my disposal admitted. ' Judin<r, however, from the strictures passed upon my address by his Honor Major Richardson, and by the Editor of the Daily Telegraph, it would appear.that upon one question at 'least I have not been' sufficiently explicit. I allude to the Land Question, and lest any of you 01 of the public who may have read the address in question, should be led into error as to my real views on this important subject, I embrace the opportunity afforded by the receipt of your requisition of relieving myself from any further charge of vagueness or ambiguity. In mv former address to which I hare just alluded, I stated that the principles upon which my Land Policy would be based, were : Ist. That the Waste Lands of the Crown are a. Trust Estate, and that the Provincial Government acting under the General Government are the Trustees; and, 2ndly. That the objects of the Trust are to promoto the occupation of the Land in such a manner as to ensure beneficial results to the greatest possible number of hnman families. These fundamental principles not having been made the subject of attack fnni any .quarter ; the mode in which these principles can be best i carried into practical effect are, I apprehend, the j points at issue between ""Major Richardson's policy and mi-jc. As I have ncer had the pleasure Of seeing any definite propositions of Major I Richardson's bearing upon the subject ot Lund | Administration, I cannot tell upon what points, or to what extent our views may differ. My own views I will endeavour, to make as plain .to you as possible ; but-before entcriug more into detail, I must beg once for all. most emphatically, to state that I repudiate any connection or sympathy with any clique or.party, who, for selfish or party j ends, would attempt either by monopolising the j country, or. in any other way to obstruct the on■ward movement and fullest developement of all the interest"? and resources of the Province. I deem this disclaimer necessary, seeing that no effort has been spared in well known quarters, and by jictpra well known to me, to make mo sip-! pear as the ■Champion of the Land Monopolist, and as being the holder and p.-opagator of views inimical to the onward progress of the Colony. These accusations are made by men who should blush to make them, knowing as they well do, that they are utterly unjust. I now proceed to the consideration of the price of agricultural lands, and the mode of sale :—- Under our present Land Regulations the price of Rural Lands was fixed at 10s per acre, auction competition being provided for only as between persons making application for the same piece of land on the same day. For some time after the regulations came into force, auctions were the exceptions, not the rule. Now, and for some time past, they are and have been the rule; the naturalresult being, whereas 3 or 4 years ago the majority of the applicants acquired the land they applied for at the upset price; more recently the great majority of applicants have had to compete at auction with a host of other applicants. The. circumstaucies which have led to this reversal of positions are obvious. In the year 1855-6 the population of the whole Province (including the pre&entProvinee of Southland) did not exceed 5,000 souls, while the amount of land open for selection exceeded a million and a quarter of acres.- In the month of December, 1862. the population of the' Province was estimated at 40,000 souls, while the quantity of land open for sale at that tinie was only about 150,000 acres, of which about 30,000 acres only, or less than one acre per head over the whole population were considered fitted &r agricultural purposes. This land faniin« is accounted for as follows, viz : Of the one -million and a quarter acres above mentioned, about 600,000 acres now comprise part,of the Province of Southland. About 500,000 acres-have.been withdrawn from sale by the Waste Land Bonrd, in consequence of a Resolution having been adopted by that body that all Lands should in futuro.be surveyed before purchase ; and the balance .may be divided between the quantity of Land sold to private individuals, and the small area now in the market for sale. A mere glance .-it the approximate facts I have just recorded, will sufficiently prove the necessity of improving our' Land Regulations, and our Land Administration.' From the time that the auction 6ystera became prevalent in Otago, the man of small means has had no fair change of : competition with the ;large capitalist or the >vou)d-be monopolist. The auction system I would as far as ■ possible discourage as far as it applies to, strictly Agricultural Lands, from'a conviction that it tends rather to the promotion of speculation and monoply than to beneficial settlement, -.. ' ■'•■■ The question which now meets us is,'—how is the man of small means to.be put upon a. fair footing with or be protected1 from the monopolist? The system of compulsory'improvement, which has been hitherto tried by uji, having failed in one essential particular, viz.,"the'ability of Government to enforcq,its provisions, is no longer m its present.fornifayaiiablefor.any,useful'purpose. It therefore, becomes .necessary that a more efficient substitute should be provided., The pian required is one in accordance with the general principles with which we started* and one that will be both fair and equal to all.classes, and yet practical in its working. ■>"•' "'■ '": ■" "' ' ' The estimated area of unsold good Agricultural land within the Province is about one million and a quarter acres. Of this quantity one.district is believed to contain aboiit 200,000 acres, and'the remainder is scattered throughout the Province in areasof from 1,000 to 10 or 15,000 acres each. Steps should be itaken (if not-already done) to ascertain the exact locality of these 'Agricultural districts, their areas should be defined, and those areas (with such additional contiguous country as may be necessary for pasturage in connection with such districts) be declared into Hnndieds,surveyed into allotments varying from 25 to 100 acres each and thrown open for sale and lease. Two-thirds of the lundssuiveycdm each Agricultural district I would declare open for sale , at 40s per acre ; the payment of that sum to watitle the purchaser