A Retrospect. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 11

A Retrospect. TO THE EDITOR.

Sik, — "With your permission I resume, and will endeavour as simply and briefly as possible to throw the searchlight of fact still farther upon the past history of land legislation. It is gratifying to be assured by many that my last letter was in a, degree a revelation. The facts narrated have sensibly cooled the ardent fervour of thanks so exclusively tendered to tlie Hon. J. M'Kenzie and the present Ministry. I trust many others will yet be convinced that our present position in relation to land occupation is not due altogether to one man, or to any particular Government. It is in reality but the necessary outcome of altered circumstances and of our progressive wants. It may seem ungracious and churlish for anyone at the present moment — when the ardent friends and admirers of the Minister for Lands are heaping upon him glowing honours and substantial favours — to investigate too closely the extravagant and exclusive claim they put forth on hie behalf. One critic has gone so far as to irreverently j gay that the Hon. J. M'Kenzie hoe been the " salvation of New Zealand," and many others have boen almost equally wild and foolish in their hero-worship. No one will grudge one iota of praise and thanks justly due to the Hon. J. M'Kenzie; and everyone possessed of the host instincts of humanity rmist desire for him a complete restoration to health and a renewed capacity for usefulness. According to his lights, experience, and opportunity he has ably performed the functions of a Minister for Agriculture. Myself and many others are opposed to his extreme opinions and executive methods, buj., in spite of all that, we heartily acknowledge the good he has done by his Celtic enthusiasm and his persevering determination as a man. After all this is felt and expressed, I have to- open up the vista of the past few years, and expose the sliallownefs and injustice of ascribing to the Hon. J. M'Keneie the praise and credit of being the sole author or originator of the policy of resuming private estates for redistribution in smaller areas of land. As myself and others are politically colourblind, and do not worship at the shrine of die new social divinity, it cannot be expected that we should idolise him as the nrdt and sole apostle of the modern gospel, "Land for the People." It may prove quite the reverse of good news. It all depends upon the executive operations of the present and future. There are not wanting painful indications and perplexing coincidences in some of the more recent transactions in the purchase of landed estates that very seriously disturb the hopes of profitable results and militate against an extension of the system, until it has been fairly and fully tried. My vision is not so greatly impaired that I cannot discern the possibilities of good fortune which are open to those who worship long enough and faithfully, if attired in the "right colour," at the footstool of those who purchase and dispose of land at their will and discretion. These possibilities are apparent, and possibly may have been unwittingly realised by a few of those who joined in the chorus of praise at the Palmerston banquet. | My self-imposed duty, however, is not to make apologies and reflections ; nor to forecast the future. It is rather to offer a glimpse of the past and correct erroneous impressions. Well, there lies before me a bill introduced to Parliament by the late Sir George Grey in 1886 — a; bill that, from its deficiencies in' detail, and from lack of support, failed to become law. The bill is intituled "An Act to. Authorise the Purchase or Other Acquisition of Private Lands for Subdivision for Purposes of Settlements." On the introduction of this bill, a league was formed in Oamaru, bearing the title of the "New Zealand Land League," and had as its object " the attain-

ment of legislation for the resumption of larg« landed estates in the. vicinity of towns and railway lines, on equitable terms, for redistri* bution in farms of moderate size. "' 'I he Hon. T. W. Hislop was chairman, and the writer was seoretary. It commenced its short career with muoh energy, and many of its supporter! were confident that its influence would ultimately be practically felt, and its patriotic in* teniions be adopted. To Oamaru and North Otago the resumption of lands eminently adapted for agriculture, that were being used only as sheep rune, meant much. The Ardgowan estate of the N. Z. and A. L. Company, closely adjoining the boundaries of the town, wa3 a daily eyesore, and a grievance. Th©problem was how to deal justly and generously with the rightful owners of the property and yet make it accessible on reasonable terms to those who would utilise it to more advantage ' to the oommunity. In those days our atateEmen and politicians were straitened by righteous scruples of honour and the instincts of gentlemen-scruples which, with regret, it may be affirmed, are now almost non-existent under the demoralising influences of an almost universal suffrage. They were, besides, fearfu. of the consequences involved in such a violent departure from the policy of the past. We all know how and why these large estates of really first-class Jand came into "existence— to become a bar in future to settlement of a - more appropriate nature on the sea-board. Ihey were the first fruits of that incipient Vogelism, which was then fast developing^!! the Provincial Council of Otngo. The purchasejnoney of such lands was devoted to the interests of Dunedin, the making of expensive roads to the goldfields of the interior, and such expenditure" created a schism between north and south, which, at this day, is only partially healed— all items of the ''wretched past." In the capacity of secretary, the writer made every possible effort to have the bill of «ir George Grey passed in an amended and acceptable form, and" before me now are the numerous and varied replies he received from members of Parliament, Chairmen of County Councils, and Mayors of boroughs. The country was not then ripe for such heroic legislation, and it was left for men of a different calibre and' a more pliant Parliament to give practical effect to ideas and aspirations ardently held and advocated 13 years ago. But who will cAre to,. deny to give to the land league referred to some praise for its initial work and agitation? Its work was not don« in «, coiner, and ray friend, Sir Robert Stout, will bear me out in asserting that what wai done then by the late Sir George Grey and others who have' passed away, and by some still with us, was really the groundwork of the act by which the State can, and does, now resume lands that are suitable for small farms ' In our adulation of the man who has been the nonourod agent of (it is to be hoped) beneficent work, let us not altogether forget the pioneers in the march of progress, now, alas ! as factors in farther advance laid aside by death and old at<e, and forgotten ! And now to oonclude. The friends of tha present Government are never tired of extolling the merits of the Advances to -Settlors Act, and • seem never inclined to acknowledge that long befoire they assumed the reins of power, or ever conceived the possibility of their becoming leaders, the prin« oiple of making " Publio Advances o» Land" was advocated, and efforts were made to give effect to the prinoiple. The late Mr James Macandrew introduced a bill with this very object, and others also tried to bring it into practical operation. In the bill referred to the interest to bo charged on advances waß only *i per cent., more liberal by a half per cent, than that in the present belauded act. I am, and ever have been, an opponent to such advances when they are mafle for tha ordinary outlay and avocations of farmers. The system is vicious in principle and unjust in its operation. Could it be shown to be in any manner or degree right, then it could as easily be proved that miners of every class who deal with what is under the soil, every sheep and cattle owner, and, indeed, everyone engaging in pursuits directly or indirectly connected with land — the people's heritage — should be supplied with oapitaL, when needed, to enter upon work congenial te their inclinations.

At the risk of being charged with egotism the writer ventures to narrate his connection with this Advances to Settlers polioy. In 1884 he became impressed with the conviction that most farmers were quite content with a "hand-to-mouth" system of dealing with the soil entrusted to them. No improvements of a permanent nature were being made ; there was no drainage, no irrigation, - and no plantation of forest trees. The buildihgs constituting their homesteads were gonerally of a primitive and perishable nature Constrained by observations on suoh points, and recognising fully that it was too muck to oxpect struggling settlers to engage in operations — however necessary and profitable — that could not possibly bo repaid fortaany years, I wrote a long letter to the late Mr James Macandrew on the subject, and suggested the introduction and adoption of a modified cony of the State loans system of Great Britain in the forties — which conferred such immense benefits on the poor landlords of Scotland and Ireland, and pspmoted the advance of agriculture. In my youth I had witnessed and taken part in the administration of Sir Robert Peel's wise policy. My ideas and suggestions were strictly limited to advances for permanent improvements on the land. Mr Maoandrew was so greatly pleased that he asked my consent to forward the paper to the Hon. J. Ballance. He again approved of the scheme, and retained the letter for future consideration and action. However, time poaaed away, and no word was heard of State advances until his successor, the Hon. R. Seddon, brought down and carried the present act — at best an abortion, and a caricature of the policy of forethought, prudence, and safety. Whether my old letters hod any relation to the Advances to Settlers Act now in force I cannot 'say. But this I do~say, that if so, it is but a poor bastard, having no legitimate connection with my proposed scheme in any form or degree. Having convincingly shown that the late Mr Macandrew was the first to introduce the cheap money advances policy, and that years ago, the admirers of the Hon. J. M'Kenzie will surely b& magnanimous enough to kindly remember the Otago patriot as the one who, in this matter ac in all othen was the solid and enduring friend of th( , settlers.— l am, etc., J. C/uta^A. Oamaru, April 1.

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