NATIONALISATION OF LAND.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5210, 8 November 1883, Page 2

NATIONALISATION OF LAND.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — The nationalisation of land means, I fchink, that the absolute owning of the land by private persons should be abolished, that is, that such a thing as a freehold should be quite unknown, and that the State should Ibe the only absolute owner of the land. In the place of freeholds there would be per- | petual leases from the State. The effect of this would be that land would be obtainable at its fair market value ; that a person would not have to sink a large sum of money at the outset for the privilege of working the land (as has to be done at the present time when purchasing a freehold) that speculative prices for land would not exist, that the rents from the land would, take the place of all taxation, that all cus- " toms and duties, and general and local taxes would be swept away ; that every man and woman could at once obtaia fair wages (much larger than are now paid) and that the great difference and the great cause of the difference between the very rich and the very poor would in a large way cease. The question is a hard, practical, matter of faot one, for all trades, businesses, and occupations spring from it. It affects everyone both in the country and in the towns, and if those who in any manner make or help to make their living by brain, or by pen, or by hand will give their approbation, and help to make the necessary movement and organise, then and not till then shall we have a general prosperity. But if they, the people who are interested, are content to continue a system that does no good to any but to the landowners, a system that takes from every kind of labor and exertion in order to raise the price of land, then let us do nothing at all but live ; no, exist contented with the leavings of the landowners. Many a man wonders after spending a lifetime of under-paid toil, how it is that he is still poor, with nothing left him but his lessening labor to procure a half-living with. Let him look around and he will see his labor in the hands of the landowners, and in* the exaggerated and. excessive high price of land. It cannot be denied that there is a great deal of unoccupied and half occupied land in the . colony ; that there are very few people in the colony ; that land is high in price ; that people must have land to lire on and to produce food from ; and that people are stoppedfrom taking land and from utilising it because of the extreme rates they have to pay for it. Why should we allow _this ? Now, what is really the rent that is paid by a tenant to his landlord ? It is merely that the tenant gives so much money or labor to his landlord to be allowed to live at all. Landlordism is everywhere in the world, and always has been a curse. It prevents, in a great many instances, those men and women who wish to work from obtaining any work to do. It compels those who do work to take less than their proper wages. It is the chief cause of our present depressed state of trade and business. It will cause wages to steadily fall as the years go od. It lowers, and will lower, the rate of interest. It will add to our jails and our reformatories, our taxes, and our poverty. Because we have been living under an unjust system since the formation of the colony, is that a reason that we should continue to do so 2 Have property and the hard times so depressed us, have they made us so indifferent, so lazy and so callous, that we have forgotten how to act for ourselves ! There is no difficulty; when the people say a change must be made, a change will be made. The landowners will receive compensation, but the land of the people must return to the people. — I am &c, Straddlebug.