DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, AUGUST 13,1853.

Otago Witness, Issue 117, 13 August 1853, Page 2

DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1853.

Ouk present number contains the completion of Captain Bellairs' Lecture, and also the remainder of the report of the meeting of the 2nd instant. It is difficult, from the superincumbent matter in which the real question at issue — the conditions upon which land should be disposed of— has been buried, to get to it. In the first place, we conceive that the totally different positions of the continent of America and the Islands of New Zealand render the attempt to draw conclusions from what has been done in the one to guide us in producing a like result in the other, fallacious — that is->to say, on the one question of the administration of land. Thus the cost of passage to America is not a 4th I of what it is to New Zealand ; the distance of America from Great Britain is not a 4th of that of New Zealand from the same place, and the time occupied in the voyage is proportionably I short; therefore the means and method of immigration that may have suited' the one country cannot be taken as an index of what will suit the other. Yet we have been, for the last week or two, constantly referred to America as an example of what could, should, or might be done in the disposal of land ; and we regret to say that it does appear to us that, so anxious to impress the public with their views have been some persons, as to have grasped wildly at any statetnent, put forward in stale almanacs or> pamphlets to corroborate their arguments, with-, out their taking due care to ascertain the cor-! rectness of sach statistics. Such, for instance^ to us' appears to be the quotation of the population '6f Canada at two millions, and contrasting it .with the twenty-three' millions pf inhabitants' of theJS'tates; telling us that in 1783 the pb'pulation of the State^ was three millions, a;id, neglecting to tell us" what the population of Canada t then was, and levying us'tp*infer, -from

Ihe's'ize of the tw^icountne.a being nearly- thesame, that the population was the same ; indeed telling us that the'- : people of Canada was not augmented much beyond the natural rate of increase. Now, we received a Canadian paper from; Joseph Hum.c; Esq., j\I.P. for Montrose, in which there As an; extract J which will be found -in No. 99 of the' " Witness") entirely refuting these statements, "sfiewing that the j population of Canada, a few ,yeSjs befpFe^'vhe j Independence of the Spates' in 'liß/Sf, was/'phlyj 6000 souls ; and the' same'pape.r> comments '.on' the extraordinary ia,pidifyC*of^Ae' tyrogresjs. of Canada .compared with^.,the\'StaWs. ,we were,'" or ought to' ha^e^jjjefff'astoun^cT at the progress ,of 'America^from 13 to 30 States; while Canada remained just Canada. Now,* if this is not clap-trap, it is certaiuly very puerile. It is just a mere difference in names. If Canada were as densely populated as Cheapside, it would remain just Canada, in the same way as Yorkshire has been but Yorkshire since the days of William the Conqueror. But we believe there are, few sane men who will say Yorkshire has not progressed ; buturl what way did these statistics, supposing them to be true, 1 bear upon the question of the price of land ? It was essential to the argument- to shew that the price of land in Canada was high,! whilst in the States it was low; but neither of these points were touched. Indeed, the whole arguments Was, that self-government is essentia-l to prosperity in all communities, but it went no further. Another singular omission is made in describing the State of Ohio, the favourite State. Now, from a recent publication — " Hogg's Weekly Instructor," 1852 — we learn r that although Ohio is so level a country, and so purely an alluvial soil, that the mass of the inhabitants never saw a rock, calling small stone by that name, and although it contains 25,000,000 of acres, yet the progress of the i State was much impeded by the system of landjobbing, by which the whole of the lands were bought up, to the injury of the real settlers. We there learn that Jacob Astor, the rich Ger- ! man Jew, was a principal speculator — that it j was a rule of his life to purchase freehold pro- \ perty and wait for the tide of population to I give it value'; and that his heirs now draw enormous revenues from his investments. In Ohio, we are told the speculation did not I answer, because of the abundance of' fand in , the adjoining States.

Just let our readers compare the amount of available land in New Zealand with that contained in such a State as Ohio. We do not believe that th 2 whole land, be it good, bad, or indifferent, to which the native title is extinguished, amounts to more than 25,000,000 of acres; and what position would the country be in if the whole of the available portion of it were purchased at a mere nominal sum. Nothing can be more reckless than the manner in which some- parties would dispose of the demesne lands of the Crown ; as witness the remarks of the " polite whaler" to the " darn'd old fool," who wished to know what was to be done with the money got out of the cheap land • — the "whale. We must confess ourselves much of the " old lady" way of thinking : we should like to know what is to be clone with the money, even the £600, which appeared in our last quarter's accounts, — or £1000, as it is now said to be ? If it is to be spent only in paying the salary of a Surveyor and Crown Commissioner, we would go further than the cheapest of the cheap " chiels," and say, give land away without price to men who will cultivate it.

The number and length of our correspondents' remarks prevent our noticing them, except in such matters as relate to ourselves; and, in reply to Captain Bellairs, we are not aware of having " coupled him with any objections made after he had left the meeting." We would re- J mind him that, on our entering the meeting during the delivery of his speech and commencing to take notes, he obligingly whispered that he would furnish them himself; that we, j immediately before he quitted the chair, intimated to him that we desired to make a sug- | gestion to the meeting, but were informed that he thought such s. matter more in order after he had vacated the chair. We by no means meant to infer that the chairman had refused us a hearing ; for we must acknowledge that he used considerable efforts in our behalf; but he was somewhat strict in allowing us to reply only to the previous speaker, Mr. Williams. With reference to our remark that he had been crammed by Mr. Williams or Mr. Kettle, from his own statement it appears that Mr. Kettle was the party, in fault.' Captain Bellajp might not have known, as we a,ll do, thatithat' ■official's book's are not to be relied upon ; and it is somewhat singular that the punnirig/JHghti cast upon the people of Otago"< 'should "'"be sto, j exactly in accordance with Mr. Williams' ments on that subject, which is an excuse forxxurV imagining that Captain - Bellairs had itabibedi

-the idea. - -But that 1 it might" not be so is probable enough ; it is not uncommon for $c same _ notion to. be possessed by ■ two distinct persons.' Our object in publishing the sequel to the allegory of the whaling crew, -was not so much to shew .the'srreVrinf^dn^-oCgantain Bellairs, -as to" found anVaYgumei^Hp^p tlfj-at-. portion of to speech which Ke wilTfioSFel^whereSn our presentTiumber. In v cjo^elusioni' ; we/beg tosqy I we'are-obHge-d to.' 'an/'&entlemari who^n/^irnish,his own : remarks, or give usUlie Vnifitlof his assistance jn correcting them ;, but we n^ay 'saythM.e claim -the right to-a bbreviated it .ds^npdfcsible^-With our limited means, tO'publish inch reports as that of the meeting of the 2nd instant, we having been put to considerable inconvenience and expense by working overtime,— for which, by the bye, we -get no thanks, not to mention anything more substanTiie first sale of money of the firiwfo p ro _ perty Investment Company took place on Tuesday evening the 9thinst. The highest, premium which was given was, £2.0 4s. ner"£Bo shafts ; the lowest, f£2of £20 per share. £38.Q was the sum td be advanced, the premiums' on which amounted to £110; so tfiat the Society in the first quarter have £440 out at interest.