THE TUESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1876.

Thames Advertiser, Volume IX, Issue 2411, 5 September 1876, Page 2

THE TUESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1876.

The addition of MrlWaTflk WHtaker, tlio lion, member for the Waikato, to the Ministry, and tlie moral sup< port of Mr Stafford, afford some grounds for hoping tliat the land fund of the colony will yet be consolidated by absorption into one common purse, and our system of finance proportionately Simplified. Mr WMtaker's resolution on this subject, although rejected by the House and by the late Ministry, will no doubt -recoiTe' a larger measure of support when it is again brought forward for discussion.

Mr Whitaker's object in bringing tho resolution forward was not merely to gratify Ms constituents, as wo have seen stated, but to redeem a sincere pledge he gave, and to ventilate what we yet hope to see liim successfully accomplish—the conversion of the land fund of the South, with its teeming thousands annually, into colonial revenue. The plan' at present adopted of localising the land fund of the South, when the North has had so many obstacles of a colonial character to prejudice the settlement of its waste lands and to retard prosperity, is very prejudicial to the interests of Auckland, and has not served to assist in simplifying our financial arrangements. The general principles of such land regulations want re-modelling. Mr Whitaker was a member of the Ministry which ratified the arrangement of 1856, ensuring the land fund to tho South, but ho has ever since suffered very greatly, from his constant residence and business relations in the North, through the effects of that arrangement. Mr "Whitaker tells us that it was not intended it should be regarded in the light of an irrevocable compact, which the South claim for it, and knowing as he does the injury it has tended to inflict upon 'tho'people :of this province in-particular, ho is quite right in attempting to obtain ■somewhat of justice for the 1 oppressed; and .over-burdened taxpayers of tho North, who have for so many years ■• struggled to live down the, effects of' the Maori rebellion and the deprocia-! tion in the, value of land which it entailed. If there had been no such terrible curse to blight our-progress' wo should long ago have been in a much better condition than our wealthy Southern neighbours. We were not to blame for the origin of tho outbreaks, and ought not to suffer more than our share of;the consequences. Many modifications of tho original arrangement have been made, as Mr Whitaker showed when' ho brought forward his motion for tho consolidation of the land fund, and we hopo another session will see it swept away, with all the hideous unfairness |and deformity which have character* ised its twenty years' imposition upon tho people of the North'.' During that period wo have had to content ourselves with something like one-sixth of the revenue of the South from her land fund, and to bear an unequal sharo of the colony's responsibilities and taxation during that period. The land revenue of the South during 'this time .has been arid/the. revenue of the North only £1,049,189,1 It is not that our lands have, [been.: almost given away, whilst the South • has realised good prices for hers; itis'iuW that we have squandered our birtW 1 right in riotousliving and extravagance, whilst tho South has husbanded its resources; we have been as economical, and enterprising as our Southern neighbours, but we have-not been so fortunate in obtaining the perpetual sunshine—the unchecked career of prosperity which has marked the development of the South., The aboriginal owners of the soil have chosen from time to time to check the progress of the cultivation of our waste lands, to desolate the homesteads oftmr ; settlers, by destroying the work of the husbandman, and these outbreaks have been in themselves sufficient to account for 1 the smallness of our revenue. The tide of. settlement and purchase and cultivation! ol the waste lands of the colony was : diverted from tins province to the pro-; vinces of the South, hence the altered' finances of the two. Under tho circumstances, therefore, the amendment in this respect which the Abolition Act proposals contemplate, and the motion by Mr Whitaker for the colonial appro priation of the land fund, deserve the attention of the Legislature.

The ox-Premier; when replying to Mr Wlutaker's motion ontlio land fund, made some remarkable' statements, which have never yet received that prominence which their importance deserves./ He alluded to the cUfficulty we should experience m. negotiating future loans, and said there ■ could be no:!doubt we were entering "upon-a year of some difficulty, but he did not' think that' there was any ■reason Svjiy; honourable members should endeavour;, to run .down the financial position of the colony. He was opposed to the suggestion to increase the taxation.of the colony. Times such as ..the; present had occurred. before, and it' had; not been thought necessary or desirable to increase the taxation; it would'-'be' far preferabletodoas they had done before, and resort to a floating debt."; This is not' ; complimentary to the policy which the ex-Premier regarded with so much satisfaction during the'five years: lie conducted it. : He intimated that we may be quite as bad off now, with a debt nearly trebled, as we werabfefore his great schemes:were inaugurated, and the only, argument he could propound was further borrowing .in a market where our.credit is so much diminished. This would be very much liko borrowing to pay interest, to keep up appearances, and ,to hasten.the general collapse.- "f e hope Sir Julius is not anxious to escape from the consequences of his great schemes—•from financial disasters—by retiring frorii the Ministry at such a critical period. If so, wo can. only enjoin up'onliis successor and coadjutors the greater necessity for the exercise of prudent administration and political sagacity, in order that the purse of the colony, as well as its good'name, may be restored. ■ ''.'•■■