Wairarapa Standard Published Tri-weekly, Price 1d. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1885. Another Ministerial Speech

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1670, 17 April 1885, Page 2

Wairarapa Standard Published Tri-weekly, Price Id. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1885. Another Ministerial Speech

Mi; Sto lit, the Premier of the colony, it) indefatigable in bolding forth and giving the colonists the benefit of his opinions on things in general and the affairs of the colony in particular. The other night Mr Stout addressed a large public meeting at Auckland, held under the auspices of the Auckland Liberal Association. He did not devote his speech especially to political topics, but dealt with a number of other questions of general and social interest. He said “ that there wore certain political ideals which the people should set before them for realisation. The first was respecting the laud. The interference with the rights of private ownership of laud, and its resumption by the State, was beyond the region of practical politics. h\o Government could venture in i hat direction without undermining public confidence and tho national credit; but l hero wore millions of acres of Crown lands still undisposed of. Toe Government proposed to largely extend the perpetual leasing system to these Crown lands, so as to control laud purchases, and avert the evils which had grown up in other communities. It scorns pretty clear from all this that Mr Stout has, in a great measure, abandoned his original idea about the nationalisation of the land, of which a year or so ago he was an ardent and strenuous advocate. Un that question Mr .Stout formerly bold the must positive and sweeping opinions. Go did ml then propose merely that the Stale should in tho t ulin o to mo iho wind,., of the mu..id 'r.o.vn hoot im‘ t ; s. d edit of the .. • m, -Cum • , :•! .ho m so. .o;.ia result.e p■ ■■ .■ .. ■■ os-ii'cnsii! so. V. o have always !o. ihat, in ilie omsino.: envum . os or tin; colonj, such a plan -.v d- not ho ;trried mil, simply .mis cess i,..aid bo far beyond the means at the disposal of any Government, Air Stout, however, once talked eloquently of how tho fit mg could bo done, and indeed was for a timo the loading light of an

, ; :moouiuon in Dunedin, formed to carry out Nationalisation of the • and to its most oxtrdliM s limit. .Now,

,c firmly uphold the principle of Itipd nationsnsation, but would bo content -at Ml events for tho oreaont —to

see applied to the unsold Crown lands of the colony. Mr Stout has (-..me tomul to that view, and now t sat he is Premier of Lite colony, has

mscovered “ that iutorfereuco with the t mhhs of the private ownership of land and its resumption by the Mate, li a question beyond the region of

practical poi itics.” It in furious to o iiico how widely diiierent uro tho

m-ini-ms of the Mon. Mr Stout, Prime .-i i.nlste;*, from those ot plain Ho bent: Mmt, tho uncompromising' apostle of hind nationalisation. Mi' btout then set forth the rest of his “ ideals.” He said;-A second ideal was the conservation of forests. He was pained to see in his travels in the North the enormous and wanton waste and destruction of kauri. The Government had a right to step in and see that timber was kept for those who came after them for centuries to come. A third ideal was universal education, and the maintenance of higher education as well as the primary schools for gifted but poor young men of the State. If he had his way he would have the high schools as free as the common schools. A fourth ideal was to have a secular State, tor any religion which needed the State’s care was not worth much.

The question of conserving the forests will require very soon to be taken up and dealt with in a practical way, or the most grave evils will result. We quite agree with Mr Stout that some check should be exercised on the wholesale and wanton destruction of the forests of the colony. We, however, doubt the soundness of Mr Stout’s views in desiring to make higher education free to all. If everybody in the colony is to get “ higher education,” there won’t be enough people left who are willing to take in hand the hard and rough work that must be done in a young country like this. Nay, with a population all highly educated, we wonder who would undertake “to black the boots.” We think Mr Stout had better have kept back his “ideal ” of making the State in this colony a purely secular one. The minds of the young people are hardly yet ripe for such a proposal. Nevertheless, the doctrine that tho State should not take any special form of religion under its fostering care, is a perfectly sound one. Heligious institutions would flourish in this colony, and yearly increase in strength and influence, though the State took nothing whatever to do with any of them.