The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1885. RUNHOLDERS IN DISTRESS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1430, 21 November 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1885. RUNHOLDERS IN DISTRESS.

Thb Otago Daily Times of last Saturday makes a whining appeal on behalf of the cqaatters, and urges that the State should come to their assistance. It says : " Perhaps there oever was a time in the history .of New Zealand when so much depended on the action of the Stale. But action to be of value or effectual must be prompt. It is useless to save drowned men. While there is life only there is hope. And the pastoral interest i*justnowin the position of a drowning man. A little timely assistance might save it from ruin, but delay or hesitation will be fatal ; and thia time it is not rabbits that are clucking tho prosperity of the ruuholder. From all parts wo have received assurances ef the diminution of the rabbit peat; and, in fact, th* fear of a far more dangerous stoat ond weasel pest is beginning to disturb the public mind. The trouble is to bo found in the terrible declension of prices obtainable for station produce. Rn.iholderu are liking the Land Hoard to accept the unconditional surrenderVof their run?, because they can only continue to hold them on the present terms at a certain loss. Wool has fallen, on the general average, by 2£d per lb. Tallow ha* dropped 13s per cwt. ; sheepskins from U to 2s each, according to quality. Even rabbit skins have become depreciated in value, owing, as we understand, to changes in fashion at Home, and are now collected by the unfortunate runholder at a loss. In every item there has been a material rediution in price ; and it seems to be only a question of the length of the lessees' purses as to how long they can hold out. Then the price of frozen mutton has goue down, and although shipping companies have met exporters in a very handsome manner the prospect is not cheering." This i» very good coming from the Otago Dnilj Times, which a conple of months ago said the only legitimate way of improving the present race of farmers was "to improve them off the face of the earth." The Times then ridiculed the idea of giving State aid in the shape of cheap money to farmers, and suggested the cold-blooded, scoundrelly plan of letting them die oat, but it now appeals on behalf of the squatter for some assistance. What charming inconsistency. Bishop Moran once hinted that the Otago Daily Times was edited by *n old woman, and judging trom its general conduct be was net far wrens?. So far as we are concerned wo jmpathise heartily with ruoholders, stud nothing w«ald giTe qi more plea-

sure than to see them prosperous, tu: we Bee no reason why they should be pampered up and the farmers allowed to sink. What is sauce for tho goose is sauce for the gander. For our part We n«rer made any distinction between owners of pastoral and owners of agricultural land. Both interests are in very strnitnned circumstances, and the plan for remedying their cendition, which we httTe go frequently urged, would yiald equal benefits to them. Our policy never has been, and peter shall be, to back up one class, afr the expense of another. We dots recognised all along the desperate condition of landowners, and hare suggested tho only possible remedy—cheap money obtained by means of a National Bank. Thia tho Otago Daily Times condemns, yet, notwithstanding that journal's opposition, it must be resorted to. Tber« is not in our opinion any other way oot of it. Our National Debt is increasing, and with it our annual liability in tho shape of interest. There are only two ways of paying the British money-lender, viz., with gold borrowed it London, or with gold obtainftd for the goods wa axport. It is quite evident we cannot continue paying interest ont of borrowed money always, and coßsequently we must fall back on what we realise on our exports. Now the ralue of our exports is diminishing yearly, while our liability is increasing, and no one except a fool will sat that this s'ate of things can go on. 11 must corns to &n end, and the end muu be a National Bank. W* must establish a National Bank, bny the gold dug out of the bowels of the earth with our National Bank paper money, and make it serve as our medium of exchange. We want no gold in our domestic life ; it is only necessary as a means of transacting business with Foreign States, and the gold dug by our miners, together with what our exports will realise, will be sufficient to meet our engagements with foreign countries. A National Bank—not such as Mr Macandrew or Mr Batbgate propose, but a Bank that will embrace all landowners—is the only remedy for the

evii of which the Times speaks, but the limes has always written in opposition to such a propossl. It would be interesting to know the way in which the limes would grant Plate aid to runhnlders if not in the way we hare indicated. It suggests nothing ; it only hints that the rents oi pastnrnl lands are too high, and probably its way out of the difficulty would be to reduce these rent than he can make out of the land he has our sympathy, hut not to a greater extent than the farmers who pay more interest than the land will produce. 'J'he grounds on whieh the Times suggested that the present race of farmers si ould be allowed to perish was that they bought more land than the amount of capital they possessed warranted, and that the price they gave for it was too high. Now, will not the same argument apply to runholders ? Yet the Timei wish the Stato to come to their assistance. Why should the State pampsr up its tenantry, who certainly possesses many advantages already, and allow its farmers to perish ? This must not and will not be. Like the farmers the runholders hare made a bargain, and they must adlirre to it. II there is assistance to be given to one let it he to all, and that through a National Bank.