SELECTED ARTICLES.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXI, Issue 2388, 14 July 1866, Page 3

SELECTED ARTICLES.

THE COLONISATION" OF CONFISCATED LANDS.

(Wellington Independent, Juue 26.)

-Among tho passengers who left by the Kailioura on Sunday, is one who if he succeeds in the object he has in view iv visiting Eug■land, is likely to add greatly to the prosperity of this pavt of the North Island, and materially to benefit those who join him in his undertaking. The gentleman ire refer to is Mr. A. Poy'man, who goes to London via Panama, for the purpose of organising a Joint Stock Company whose capital is to be devoted to the purchase of a considerable block of land, somewhere between the Wailolara and Cape Egmont, and the carrying on of pastoral and agricultural pursuits. In the course of a week or so, the prospectus of the proposed " Pastoral and Agricultural Freehold Land Company >f will probably be published, when our readers can see for themselves whether the scheme is feasible or not. At present we shall content ourselves with giving an outline of the plan which the promoters intend to adopt, and with pointing out the claim it has upon the attention of the Government, without whoso co-operation tho first practical steps cannot be taken. "We say the first practical steps, because iv a eammercial undertaking security is a primary condition of success, and though capitalists will lend their names, they will not risk their money, without having something more to go upon than the mere representations and promises of individuals. If we are rightly informed Mr. Peyman's proposals to the Government are briefly these. To urchaso a block of from thirty to fiftythousand acres out of the West Coast Confiscated land, at one pound per acre. To raise chiefly in London, at least £100,000 in £100 sharps, reserving a certain portion for allotment in this colony and •especially in this province. To expend the capital remaining after paying for the land, in stocking and improving it, employing as much labor as may be found remunerative in fencing and grassing tho land, and in raising agricultural produce for the use of the men working there, and for sale to the neighboring settlers. It is further proposed that a board of resident directors should exercise a. certain control over the manager of the Company's property, and that no capital should be paid up till the land is actually ready for transfer to the Company. Of course only a portion of tho whole capital which it would be necessary for the Company to have at its command would be called for immediately, and thus •credit as well as cash would (as is usual in such cases) be utilised. It is calculated by Mr. Pcyman that the return from stock ; alone— from wool and from tho sale of cattle and sheep— would yield a handsome return "upon the original outlay, and it is certain that even if this estimate is over-sanguine— and we have no reason to think it is — the increasing value of the land would render ultimate loss impossible, and large gain extremely probable. . So much for the purely commercial aspect of the question we are considering. As a speculation we are convinced it would pay, and were wo capitalists would gladly back our opinion with our money, but it by no means follows that because a speculation would pay, that therefore it ought to be fcided by the Government. It is tho duty of the Government to regard such a subject as this, from a higher point of view than that which a person on the look out for a good investment naturally and properly adopts. In this respect tho duties of a Governnient and thosoof a journalistareoroughttobe identical , both are bound to consider any question that comes before them, as it affects not this or that particular interest, but the well being of the community aa a whole. Looked at in this way, we have no hesitation in saying that the formation of such a company as the one proposed, would be an unmixed good to the colony even were it less likely to be profitable to the shareholders. For to what does the proposal amount ? Simply to this, that the colony shall sell at a fair price, not land which is to Ho idle till the -exertions of other people have given it a "vastly increased value, but land which is to be occupied, — land, which increasing in value, owing to the general progress of the colony, also tends to increase the value of all other land. It is, to borrow an illustration from physical science, the case of a heated body which gives out the heat which it receives, and adds to, instead of subtracting from the general temperature. Unoccupied land is a lump of ice in a not over warm room. Occupied land is a glowing fire in the same apartment. Between the two, there is all the difference between unsocial shivering and social enjoyment. But, besides this advantage which such a company must give, (for the very good reason that, even apart from any specific agreement between the company and the Government, non-occupation would imply no dividends) there is the futher consideration that such a company would introduce that capital which, in a new country, is so much needed. Land, capital, and labor are the three elements whose combination forms the true philosopher's stone of political economy and turns all that it touches into gold. Land we have in abundance, capital and labor have to be imported. Ignorant or unprincipled politicians, too often endeavor to foment class animosities by representing capital and labor as naturally antagonistic. In reality they are mutually dependant. Labor without capital is like steam without the engine. Capital without labour is like the engine without. the steam. , In the one case a great natural power is dissipated, in the other, an ingenious artificial combination w useless. Unite the two and endless "utilities" are the result^ So it must be in this case. Provide capital, and labor will be employed and attracted, iust because there is capital to employ and attract. Nearly all the schemes for the benefit of the working man have been more or less failures, only because wo have neglected or attempted to evade a natural law. Here is an opportunity presented which will enable us to obey it. The law is, that labor requires capital to support it till its results are attained. Before a man reaps he must plough, whilst he ploughs he must eat, and what he eats is capital. It is of very little consequence whether the "wages fund" belongs to the labourers themselves or to others, so far as general results are concerned, and it is very certain that till prudence and the habit of saving are much more common virtues amongst the mass of the people than they are at the present, that working for hire must be the normal con•dition of large numbers even in this colony,

and that the introduction of capital will especially benefit thoae who are emphatically termed " working men." It may perhaps be argued, that after all were the Government to sell this land at thprico we have mentioned, or indeed were to sell it at all, except by auction, they would be sacrificing the property of the colony for the benefit of private individuals. To this wo reply, that in the first place the present value of tho confiscated laud is not so great as some persons imagine, and in the second, that even supposing a portion of it were sold below its market value to a company able and willing to expend a largo sum of money in improvements, lhafc the toss to the Government would be move than made up by the increased value of adjoining land, which occupation on such a sealo would immediately cause. Besides this there is the further consideration that the more rapidly the country is settled the greater are its resources, that in short the money obtained directly by the sale of land is but a fraction of what the colony will gain indirectly by its profitable occupation. Above all we must remember that the speedy settlement o f the West Coast meaus peace. A paper confiscation is as much a sham and delusion as a paper blockade. The Maories have all Mr. Carlyle's coutempt for " wind-bags, whether they take the form of peace proclamations, or official warnings that some military " bogey" is coming, if they do not behave themselves and keep quiet. For de cided action they have the highest possible respect. " Theiand is gone from us,' they say, " Waikato has become England, but they do not say this till they see it. To their minds, confiscated and unconfiscated land is much tho same thing, so long as confiscation is only a paragraph of unintelligible language in the Gazette, The sooner tho Government take up this question of confiscation and settlement in real earnest; the better. We are well aware that tho subject is one of no ordinary difficulty, but for that very reaaon the Government is most competent to deal with it. Our own opinion is that the lands on the West Coast at any rate, should be dealt with one the principles of a wide and farsighted expediency. Whilst the clear and acknowledgedrightsof friendly natives should bo jealously guarded, the shadowy claims put forth by thoso who have done no service should be ignored, or at most conceded as a favor instead of being granted as a right. The adoption of such a plan would of course expose us to the censure of those sentimentalists, who take their political economy from Buskin, and their morality from Tiipper.and who consider "expediency" and "justice" Avido as the poles asunder, simply because they attach no very definite meaning to either term, and take for granted that words which every one uses all must understand. Fortunately, however, these people have been tried and found wanting. They have had ample time and opportunity for trying their experiments on both races in this colony, and they themselves confess that they have failed. It is clear to everyone that the natives must be governed rationally or not at all, and that especially with regard to land, the old system is no longer possible. The rights — we as a colony managing its own affairs — have given them, we are prepared to maintain inviolate, those derived from nobody knows who and founded on nobody knows what— constituting a mere quicksand of savage notions and Exeter Hall superstitions—we ought to disregard. At the same time we ought to be doubly careful not to mislead the natives as to our intentions. Having determined what to do, let us do it. Already the West Coast natives have begun to think that we are not in earnest in endeavoring to restore order where mere anarchy has so long prevailed. It is a positive cruelty to them to make them believe both by word and deed, that we intend to put down violence, and then to stop before half our task is accomplished. General Chute's campaign will be a great work thrown away if it is no} followed up by the settlement i of the country. Even now something more is required. Theattack on Major McDonnell I and his party shows that the natives are recovering from the knock-down blow, which they received from General Chute. To some extent, the knocking down process will have to be repeated. This will cost something, perhaps half the price of the land which the Government will, we hope, have as opportunity of. selling in one block. But once done, and the land once occupied, there is an end to any further expense beyond what is necessary to enforce law and order. We will engage to say that Major McDonnell would contract to finish the West Coast war (for it is still war in spite of our saying that " the war which began at Orakau ia ended,' and facts have an awkward habit of not conforming to words) for £'50,000, and make a fortune out of it, were he allowed to have his own way and pay bis own men for six months, j Were this done and the country occupied by one such Company as that which Mr. Peymau is endeavoring to form, the general settlement of the district would soon follow, the remnant of the native race would be saved, and the North Island would become as cusere and prosperous as the South, whilst the interests of both, would be as identical in the present, as they must be in the future. '