Page 8 Advertisements Column 1

Otago Daily Times, Issue 378, 7 March 1863, Page 8

Election Notice. 10 THE HONORABLE JOHN HYDE HARRIS, •-.-;.■'';.-:"ES^tJIRB;;;i)UNEDIN. " "■' WE, ihe".Undersigned, inhabitants of Oamaru t. . and;Hampden District, hope that you will become a candidate for. the office of Superintendent, i the event of your, doing this, we promise you that we will do'our utmost to secure your election. Amongst the other qualifications you possess for the office of Superintendent, there is one which, at this juncture, we particularly value. You are neither prejudiced in favor, nor.against, any class in the community. "Without an entire freedom from class prejudice, no man ia. we hoM, flt to occupy the office of Chief Administrator. Permit yourself, therefore. Sir, to be nominated for the.Office in question, and the residents of Otago, of liberal and intelligent minda, will hail yourelection as a benefit conferred, not on any one section in particular," but the community of the Province as a -whole. {Signed), C; Prendergast W. Hay C. Traill J- Beattie J. Hassell J.Thompson A. Baker . H. Aitken . - : 8. Qibbs E. S.Lees t J. Looke . . ■ . M. Grenfell H. France D. Sutherland W Falconer J. Barraclough J. Ogilvie B. W.'Roxby J. Y. Ward Kdward Hudson. — t TO CHARLES PRENDERGAST, ESQ., CHARLES TRAILL, ESQ., AND THE OTHER GENTLEMEN WHOSE NAMES ARE APPENDED TO THE REQUISITION. , f~i ENTLEMEN',—I had the honour yester-V3T-day 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 my becoming a candidate for the office, anil endeavoured to give as lull an outline of my views upon several leading public questions as the time I had then at my disposal admitted. Juding, 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 oue question at least I have not been sufficiently explicit. I allude to the Land Question, and lest any of youoi of the public who may have read the address in question, should bo 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 my former address to which I have 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 promote the occupation of the Land in ouch a manner as to ensure beneficial results to the greatest possible number of human families.

These fundamental principles not having been made the subject of attack frooi any quarter; the modo in which these principles can be best carried into practical effect are, I apprehend, the points at issue between Major Richardson's policy and mine. As I have never had the pleasure of seeing any definite propositions of Major Kichardson's bearing upon the subject of Land 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 entering 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 ends, would attempt either by monopolising the country, or in any other way to obstruct the onward movement and fullest developement of all the interests and resources of the Province. I deem this disclaimer necessary, seeing that no effort has been spared in well known quarters, and by actors well known to me, to make me appear as the Champion of the Land Monopolist, and as being the holder and p.-opagutor of views inimical to tho onward progress of the Colony. These accusations are made by men who should blush to make them, knowing as they well do, that they aie 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 Bural 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 natural result 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 circumstances which have.led to this reTersal of positions are obvious. In the year 1855-6 the population of the whole Province (including the present Province 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 time 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 for agricultural purposes.

This land famine, 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 Board, in consequence of a Resolution having been adopted by that body that all Lands should in future be surveyed before purchase i 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 at the approximate facts I have just recorded, will sufficiently prove the necessity of improving our Land Eegulations, and our Land Administration.

From the time that the auction system became prevalent in Otago, the man of small means has bad no fair chance of competition with the large capitalist or the wouJd-be monopolist. The auction system I would as far as possible discourage as for 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 protected from the monopolist? The system of compulsory improvement, which has been hitherto tried by us, having failed in one essential particular, viz., the ability of Government to enforce its provisions, is no longer in its present form available ior any useful purpose. It therefore, becomes necessary that a more efficient substitute should be provided. The plan 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 Agricultnral land within the Province is about one million and a quarter acres. Of this quantity one district is believed to contain about 200,000 acres, and the remainder is scattered throughout the Province in areas of from 1,000 to 10 or 15,000 acres each. Steps jjhould be taken (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 auch districts} be declared into Hundreo's.surveyed into allotments varying from 25 to 100 acres each and thrown open for sale and lease. Two-thirds of the lands surveyed in each Agricultural district I would declare open for sale at 40s per acre; the p»ym»at of that aunt to tntitk the puiduuwr!