THE PELORUS GUARDIAN. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1892. Obstacles to Progress.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 3, Issue 13, 16 February 1892, Page 2

THE PELORUS GUARDIAN. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1892. Obstacles to Progress.

Last session the Hon. Mr Raeves used the words •' social pests " in referenct to land monopo'ists, and althoug'i fcli term might be considered rather stmn.!.' there is a certain amount of truth i the assert on ; but when he used lhv term " obstacles to progress" at Napier the other day he certainly could not have used a more appropriate one. That for a few f»eople to monopolize large tracts of and ii one of the greatest evils any country can suffer from, and that large ! states are obstacles to progress we defy anyone to deny. In fact, we do not think there it anyone who would care to exhibit so much ignorance or bigotry as to attempt to defend the iystem of large estates as against imal holdings. Then why should they be allowed to exist and the interests of one hundred thousand people be nvide subservient to one hundred. There is a great outcry ; against the new taxation scheme as being directed against owners of large estates, and is therefore a class tax. The government of the country lias been in the hands of the large landholding c'ass far nearly forty years, and if they had legislated in the interests of the country as a whole, as they made pretence to do, why did they not devise means to rectity the evil, and not go on intensifying it till the people would stand it no longer. Surely they had sense enough to know that large states would not he tolerated in he future—it was writ ei plain enougu on the signs of the times. Even in Conservative England for the last twenty years and more some of the ablest men of that country have been advocating the division of large landed properties, and trying to devise means by which it could be carried into effect, and yet land-monopolists and their friends in New Zealand could not see that the time had come when a few people would not be allowed much longer to keep possession of the greater part of the country to the detriment of the many., If the means now proposed to be adopted to force the division of the land are considered harsh large land-owners have only themselves to blame, and have brought it upon hemselves by their insat'ab'e gretd. We are not now going into the question of vested interests and the oftrepeated assertion that those who hold large areas of land obtained them in a legal way, and should be allowed to continue in possession if they have a mind to without b3ing subject to any restrictions. If it is not already acknowledged by most people it will noc be losig before it is, that the right to hold possession of a large tract of land is against all reason, and is therefore morally wrong, and it must necessary follow in due course that such a right cannot be legally maintained. It is not neces sary for ui to go to oilier counties t<find examples to sLo-v th; great a,l vantages the sub-division of the land has over land-monopoly—the social welUbeing and equality of the great mass of the people in the one case as aorainst the degradation of the masses where the latter obtains—because they are now to be seen in New Zeaiand. But although the contrast between the one and the other are so plainly visible people do not seem to fully realise what the division of the land m?ans to a district or a country, and we will endeavour in this article to show by a few facts and figures that large estates are most decidedly obstacles to progress, and it is only in consequence of i the lan 3 question not being thoroughly I understood that they have been allowed t) exist so long.

I A CONTRAST. ! The Wellington papers and merchants. i for reasons best known to themselves, fire strongly opposed to the present Government, and woiild evidently hail with delight an administration that would leave matters stand as they were, and I his feeling is perhaps strongest against what is generally termed the " bursting up" policy, and yet it would be greatly to the advantage of the Wellington paners, merchants, and It >perty-holders if every large estate in t-iat provincial district were burst up. li3t us contrast the lower part part of the Wairirapa Valley with the district round Palmerston North, and, although the former has been settled twice the time of the latter, yet the progress made in the Palmerston District is twice as great as in the lower part of the Wairarapa Valley. As near as we can estimate the population, according to last census, it stands at about 12.000 in the former and 3,000 in the latter. Yat there is not much difference in the area or quality of the land. There is great talk of the progr B? Wellington is making, but it is all due to the small farm settlements of the Manawatu and Forty-Mile Bush. Now, if we make a rough eitimate based on many years experience of the progress made and the effects on a town and diitriafc where the land is divided, and when it is held in large blocks, we do not think we are far wrong in sayiner that had the land in the lower part of the Wairarapa Valley been divided the same as in the Palmerston District that thpre would now be a ponuhtim of 20,000 insNsvl of 8,000, that Wellington City Wpuia

>ow to iiu'n 13, ijj alow ltwanitams wd that tiie value of property, there ;:>« d be 25 p r cjnfc. greater thai it :a at the present tmu; or, in Oulur voids, 30,033 people have bean ka.Jt >ut of the o'intry, and our natiout vealth has siforad a loss of som; uiliious of po-.mds in consequence oi ■md monopoly. It may be sii 1 th 1.1 ibis is not sulficient proof that lar n 'e estates are obstacles to progress, and -he gool offsets of divilh? land inK small areas is to a great extent imaginary. We will therefore see what has been done iu the Forty-Mile Bush as A FURTHER EXVMPLE. When we went through the FortyMile Bush about ten years ago the site of what is now known as Pahiatua was a dense bus'i, and all we could see Vien in the shape ot buildings was a small stable \yhere the coach horses were changed.' We doubt it the whole district would comprise any more land than what is contained in a large estate. What has been the progress made in those ten years—during a 'severe depression and unassisted by I anything in tlie shape of public works?, The place where ten years ago stood a small solitary stable there is now a town with 800 inhabitants, surrounded by smiling homesteads and a thriving and steadily increasing population. Ten years ago the land in the town was sold for £1 per acre, and now we have the authority of the Pahiatua Star for saying that as much as £4 per foot has been offered. The paper above quoted is also an index to the progress, made when we see its columns filled with local advertisements. If this district had been occupied as a sheep run there might have been a house and wool-shed, and a dozen or so of men employed m place of two or three thousand people, as is now the case, making homes for themselves and their children, and, by ihejr industry, finding employment for many more . in other walks of life. Very much more might be said, and facts and figures adduced to prove beyond question that large estates are obstacles to progress, and if we are to become a great nation land monopoly must cease once and for ever, and large land-owners and their friends will have to recognise that the land must be used in such a way as to ensure the greatest benefit to the nation, and not as a means of enriching a few at the expense of the many —that the lan I by the unalterable laws of Nature is the birthright of everyone,, and it must be so used that not one single individual of the community will suffer a loss to ctuse a gain to another. The Tory Fany, Our Blenheim evening contemporary dojs not altogether relish the idea of being called a Tory, and justifies his ictiori by stating that the so-ca'led Tories have introduced most of t! e liberal measures which are now on r.h<» statute book. Now, what we ca>i n t understand is that our con.em- . oiary was far more anxious than \%a "v.-re to get ri I of the Tories that he I -a introduced all the liberal measU'i.s. He must surely ba handling a tvvo-e lged sword, because, if he is a Liberal, as he would wish the pu lie to believe, why was he so bitter and did all that he knew bow to gat rid of a p'tfty which did so much for Liberalism. If it were possible to find out what some of our contemporaries really wanted there might be some hopes of satisfying their demands, but when they violently attack men to-day that they specially praise to-morrow it would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to know what class of men or measures would satisfy them. Are they not just as likely later on to find special virtues in the present Ministry as they are in those who have gone before the m, particularly when their places are probably filled with that ideal Ministry.these habitual grumblers are continually hankering after, but which, if they live tiil the day of judgment, tljey are never likely to see. It is extremely painful to witness , the writhingsi of some of our contemporaries in their vain attempt to put themselves right in the eyes of the public, and we trust that, in the interests of' pommon decency, they will not shock the nerves of their readers by> a continuance of these unnatural contortions. Why not Apologise? | Just after the Wellington election the fost, no doubt blinded with anger, accused the Government of calling for tenders for the Te Aro Railway, when they had no intention cf carrying out the work, and characterised the action as a political dodga. Jfc is only a month since the election, and the 1 >west tender has been accepted, and the work will no doubt be proceeded with at once. It is always considered an act of politeness to apologise when one has made a false accusation agiiinst another, bn'i so far we have not seen one in our contemporary. The fact is, that the above statement is only on a par with dozens of others, and if some of our contemporaries were to apologise every time they wrongly abused the Government of doing things they never even thought of doing, there would be very little room in their columns f>r anything else. These wild and reckless statements must necessarily fall on the heads of those who make them, and act in the opposite direction to what they are htendv*} to do, If tho opponents of

tie present Government'cannot fin any legiti nite causa- of omphi.i tgainst their alniuHtratbn, but hav w) res irt to tha practise of hittin. ).''ov the bait, tlisa it mist folio hat the present Ministry are prett veil perfect in their o >ub io affairs or thair opponents, m is >e silly diftjunt; in that nttirV Ability which woild enable them t adopt a mire honourable and manl\ <node of attack. A Step Too Far. We consider the action of the Wellington Trades' Council in asking the Premier to consult them in the matter of the appointment of labour representatives to the Legislative Council is a step too far We have read their manifesto, and cannot find a single legitimate reason why they should ask for such a concession. The Labour Party in New Zealand is well represented, and *.hat party should have 1 sufficient confidence in their representatives to know that their interests will be; well looked after. It is well known that our sympathies are strongly in favour of the working classes, but we look upon the request of the Wellington Trades' and Labour Council on.this occasion as a most foolish one, and they would be showing their good sense by publicly withdrawing it. Their action is most ill-advised, and likely to cause more mischief than it is possible to conceive. We still hold the opinion that the Liberal Party would be consulting their own interests by not making any appointments this year at all, but if they are determined on doing so it would be better for it to be done in the usual constitutional way. We are perfectly well aware that nearly every Ministry have abused the power granted to them, but that is no reason why it should be taken out of their hands in the manner proposed. Delays are Dangerous. Some months ago the Marine Department promised that the beacons along the channel leading to Havelock, which had fallen down, should be replaced with new ones, but although the authorities here forwarded all the information necsssary for the work to be proceeded with nothing more has hem heard of the matter. We might Doint out to the Department that the channel is very difficult to navigate to anyone not particularly familiar with it, and that there has been a steady jicreasein the shipping tra-e of lata, which is likely to continue. The Department has acknowledged the necessity of the work by promising that it sho lid be taken in hand ; then why slon'd there be any delay? I r would be far more straightforward for the authorities to say they could not or wrull not do the work, thai to make promises, they only intend to fulfill nt sone remote date. The display of a little more energy on the part of those in whose hands sush mvttfirs an placel would tenl to iisrim public confides in th?ir '•apabi'ity anl fitness for the positions they occupy.

A danca will be held in the Town Hall on Frid. ty evening next.

The 5.4. Waitapu arrived from Wellington on (Saturday morning- with a general cargo and six passengers, and the s.s. Lady Barkly from Nelson. Roth steamers left again by the same tide, the former for Wellington, and the latter for Ne'son. The Clematis also arrived at Blackball on Friday from Lyttelton.

The Premier has received a cable confirming the appointment of Lord Glasgow as Governor of the Colony. A private telegram was received in Haffilook yesterday morning from Cullensville to the effect that a rush had taken place at Duncan's, Gully, and that good gold had been struck. This news has been confirmed by other telegrams, but at our present writing we have not heard further particulars fromJ|ir correspondent.

There has been a bit of a row at the meeting of the Anglican General Synod in Wellington, the Primate acting in a high-handed manner caused nearly all the Ofcago clergy to leave the room as a protest. The affair is not settled yet, and the '? breeze " may end in a storm if the Primate continues to adhere to his decision.

The funeral of the late W. H, West took place yesterday (says Monday's Colonist) afternoon, when, despite the inclemency of the weather, a large, number of citizens paid a last mark"of respect to the departed. Some ■even teen private carriages followed the hearse to the cemetery.

Lord Onslow was entertained at a banquet in Wellington on Friday.

A man named Johh Dalton was found at Ekatahuna with his throat cut, and it is supposed he has been murdered. Two men who were in hip company the before have been arrested on suspicion. Gaiety and its pleasures form a Jarsre portion of life, but at times we have to reflect on the ftaeting pait a« (nine dear relative or friend is called away, and as a token of esteem we place a record over their last resting nlace. In another co'umn Messrs R Simpson & Son call attention to then* monumental works, which, for suitable demons and finish, eomnare most favoraMv with any we have seen, and Jo friends who mourn the loss of any deir one and wish to erect a tablet to their memory we recommend an application.

The promoters of the naw pipar to o started in Wellington in the Liberal, jterest have mile arrangjmmts to tsirchase the New'ZaU'and Titnas,, the >dc3 piii being £i,533, exclusive of nok debts. About £7033 has been subscribed so far, of which Sir W. Jailer provides £2030 and a gentleiiin in Di.ie.liii £1033. N> difficulty ■i anticipated by the promoters in oboaining all that i 3 needful.

Amonj all the prolific crop 3 in the colony this season fruit has been yielded in abundance, and it is a great pleasure to find such enterprising firms as Kirkpatrick & Co. converting the many t 00.3 of plum*, apricota, apples, &c, into first-class sparkling preserves, which only requre tasting to be appreciated, and would otherwise be completely wasted. A visit to this factory always leaves a pleasant impression, because not only is the produoe for local consumption, but the increasing export trade means a direct benefit to the colony, for when we know this factory turns out 10,009 tins of tempting jam in one day, and finds employment for 4& hands during the busy season, some idea of the benefits conferred on the community will be realised, and we hope the energetic firm will find the arteries of its business so expand that the present establishment will have to be merged into one four tixies as large.