The Wanganui Chronicle. PATEA-RANGITKEI ADVERTISER: "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1891.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 11283, 2 June 1891, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle. PATEA-RANGITKEI ADVERTISER: "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1891.

The members for Dunedin City are among the most active, if not the most influential, of the politicians of the colony, and whenever there is a gatheringvpf the male population of Dunedin ; .the members, for the City are bouiid' either to be' present, or to have their absence publicly apologised for. If a Minister of the Crown visits Dnnedin he knows full well that he will be interviewed on some question or other by a deputation of. residents, influential or otherwise, headed by the City members. Last week the Hon- Mr Seddon wenb South, and was treated to the inevitable deputations In Dunedin a special deputation waited upon him, to urge upon . the Government, through him, the necessity for introducing a Fair Rent Bill, applicable to all leaseß of landed properly. As usual, all the memberß were present, and all had their say in favour of the proposal. In the course of the proceed- ; ings the fact was disclosed that the Pre: mier had been approached on the subject, and the Cabinet had given it considera-; turn, wifct the result that, while fully ; sympathising in the object sought to be : attained, the Government do not propose to deal with the question at present. In a letter to Mr W. Hutchison, M. H.R., the ; Premier said: "I am in receipt of your ' communication, and I have carefully read , the documents you enclosed, and can have no doubt of the grievance under which many tenants suffer, and of the strong case made out for legislative remedy. The subject will receive the . earnest attention of the Government." Then comes in, as Mr Hutchison pointedly observes, what frequently appears in Government letters : " But I fear that in consequence of the large reforms promised in other subjects, they will not bo able to undertake to submit legislation in the ensuing session. It will of course be open to yourself or any private member to bring in a bill." Mr Reddon was quite aB sympathetic as the Premier, but he was more explicit as to why the Government could not touch the matter this session. He said :. " You know my yiews upon this matter, and I can tell you they are shared in to a large extent by my colleagues, and particularly by the Premier. At the same time, we have first of all the question which deals with the same subject in another way — the adjustment of taxation . the land tax versus the property tax. We feel pretty 'well sure' that one matter alone will take up nearly the whole of session. It is anticipated that there will be a very severe and prolonged struggle before we shall be able to carry our financial proposals, and we are afraid that this session there will be no chance of getting a Fair Rent Bill through ; and if we took the responsibility and then were not able to carry it through, we might be afterwards told that if we had left it to a private member to take up the Bill and hod given assistance it might have been . carried. On the whole, then, we think it better to leave it an open question till we see how the business of the House progressess." Mr Seddon, it must be said, appreciates the difficulties of the position. He knows full well that the Government will have their hands quite full without taking up a Fair Rent Bill ; but he also knows that when they do take it up they will have to face difficulties that will not be very easily solved. He referred to the fact that a Bill was formerly before the House dealing with local authorities who are landlords, having land endowments for specific purposes. "The diffi- . culty was that the various public bodies had, upon the strength of their endowments which had been leased, borrowed large sums of money for the execution, of work", and if the Crown gave the right to a readjustment of rents they would claim against the State for the amount of their losb by such re-adjustment." The question arises fts to whether a great step in advance would not bo gained if a Bill could be passed applying the fair rent principle to all future transactions in land. _

They say Julia Mario wo receives through the mail an average of one offer a day of marriage in every town where she plays. Such communications, says- the Boston Heiald, ought to be excludod from the ( mails under the anti-lotteiy law.