LAND IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Colonist, Issue 20, 29 December 1857, Page 3

LAND IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

The following are the remarks of the Sydney Herald upon the passing of the clause reducing the price of Crown Lands in New South Wales to ss. per acre. It is scarcely necessary to say that the Herald is generally considered the unflinching opponent of the policy of the present administration:—; ;v We warn the colony-—its commercial, agricultural, and labouring classesr—that they are sold—sold by those who. profess to represent the popular interests—sold under the disguise of popular crie3. Henceforth we may close all expectations of colonisation for some years to come: the country has passed virtually into the hands of our great lords. And this clause has been carried by the votes of the City members— pretending to, represent the people. Really the instruments of a clique, they have given away the property of the colony. , They talk, popular talk, " cheap land," " poor man'sM-ights," and all such like delusions; but in, fact they have stripped the working classes, as^well as others, of their inheritance. ~'.. ; • •--'■ The naked fact - stands thus—all lands of whatever quality are. now offered in any quantity at five shiliings. ; , :,. • ■ The change iu the cost of surveying, and generally in the value of money, has made this price almost nominal. It follows that gentlemen like Mr. Clarke, of Victoria, who can command any amount of capital/wiii obtain all the Jand open: for Bale^l^sja|ici|loM-lb.liy---it'is^ a villauous cheatvw'pretenf that ttibUi of scant ' means : can; compete" Witht^^^uyers^ Even if, in the nrststage^ltthii ; sys(em r they suffer a few comparatively;- pqi« men to r at the upset price, there .would never afterwards be any land in the. handsj-of the Crown fit for agriculture when wanted ;by small farmers. It i3 clear that no small holder will be tolerated, in the remote interiorVw'er*}impossible to prevent it; and, indeed, wjiat^would be the use of buying a plot of land beyond markets, and beyond civilization? !

The poor are doubly cheated. First, they have no chance of obtaining land against such men as have voted..far;;tliis clause; and, second, they are deprived o/tVeir share in the fund specially useful to them. The land fund, properly taken care of, is a fund to create public improvements, and give 'arhizans employment— this is struck off by a single vote, and when the first and most pernicious rage for land is satisfied, the land fund will' cea.se : to be productive; We warn the gentlenien who, for their own personal interest, have- ■■■ sacrificed the country, that every honest man^wjU insist on some of the checks to the abuses of this confiscation They must prepare for free selection—the right to go anywhere—by anybody. This is the true concomitant of their five shilling scheme. They must prepare, too, for a tax on land, which will reach the great holderrand eiempt the small. When the people—npw; deluded by false guides, awake to the wrong which has been done them, they . will. take a bitteKtrevenge; They will smite; the: colossal fortanea -whose ■ foundations are in clay, not by repudiation, but by taxation;

not by taking from them any ill-gotten estate, but by making it comparatively value'ess. The Mi o istera having set a-fopt a measure sure to entail great mischief on our commercial interestsy now" Wash*their hands and say they are clean—-that if people will speculate, they cannot help.it;! They create the stimulus—offer an irresistible temptation, and then leave people to do as they please. This i? not the morality of >tatesttierj, but of stock-jobbers. But, in fact., the warning itself is grimace The men who buy.the land w#il draw, their money from other interests, and injure, those interests-—but it does not iollow they will suffer. The more difficult thejmoney market, the more certain they are to obtain for five shillings without dompetition. Tlie jgefteral monetary embarrassment may prevent; shopkeeper? from entering into land jobbings, But will ouiy stimulate the eagerness of those ; who happen to have command of cash. The#raders of this city who look to the banks : for. help,; should ask what will be their position when^this bill has been twelve montbs^in operation.' What,will be the answer they will get froin'r, banks which already allow discount on deposits? Will they allow the men who re-' present this city to involve them in commercial straits-without a single sign of displeasure ? ■Z iTh^^abg^pn^'jseillb^ylthis claase, was carriy^r A» 'House -of -54 membersr"that is, t^ere'were against iVor' absent 33. We know the majority are against it. Had those present during the. debate voted, the change, would have been prevented, but the 'policy of the representatives of Moreton Bay gave the Ministers a majority. It is not by such a division that we ought to decide a change infinitely more important to the future colonisation of this country than any hitherto attempted. The Ministers threaten to appeal to the country; let them do so. If the country shall decide that the public lands shall be given away, it will at least secure something like fairness in the partition. It would not select for favour a particular class, and choose the moment when nine but thatclass can avail themselves of the scramble. We have had much said about the evil of deferred payment—that the cotter would not pay for his land—and that th& Government must ultimately give up the prioe, or fight for it. Many of these arguments have been class arguments. We thiok there are good reasons for rejecting deferred payments, but some are strange indeed, considering by whom they are uttered. ■■'"'•;..■ Butthere is no such objection,against giving land aWay. We are ii be deprived of our land for the benefit of speculators; and therefore all concern about the land-fund is at an end. There cannot henceforth be any objection to give away to people who choose to occupy land as much as they can cultivate. We have returned to the upset price which prevailed before free grants were abolished. We must balance the inequality by returning to free grants. The free soil cry is the natural sequence of a low price, which gives all to the land jobber, and puts every poor man at his mercy. Once more we call on the colony to awake, and pour in petitions against, this abominable bill—a robbery .'.of the public, a delusion of " the poor man " . f We shall pass through the''processes, of i839-43,; before the close of which Jau'd could be bought for 2s. 6d. an acre, and thej-roechanic and labourer^ vjrere starving for want-of employment. V^The^iguppcfc-ii?-o£'*fe "Ministers will/ rhoiy'evfer, hav^&ttained their.objecf, and they■: will be amply compensated'for the distress and ruin of many of. theirfellow-colonistsirjuthef mo-" nppoly of the soil, and prepared to take advantage of the reaction which follows a monetary convulsion. To defeat this conspiracy no time should be lost.'