The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1886. A FLAW IN OUR SETTLEMENT SCHEMES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1446, 3 January 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1886. A FLAW IN OUR SETTLEMENT SCHEMES.

" The possession m freehold of the least piece of land bars a colonist m New Zealand from acquiring any portion of the wastelands of the Crown that are being offered, and which people are being begged to take, under the exceptionally liberal terms advertised by the present Ministry, A working man who owns the thirty-sixth part of an acre m the town or suburb, on which, perhaps he has built a cottage, is not allowed to take up land on the H )mestead system, nor can he become * " village settler," or a tenant of the Crown under the perpetual leasing system. If he wants land he must go in'o the market and buy as any other capitalist must do." Thus the Napier Daily Telegraph of the 28th ult. The complaint is, m the main, true though by no means new, as this flair m our land settlement schemes has previously betrn pointed out m our own columns, and, we think, also m those of our Oamaru- evening contemporary — probably too m other journals. Certainly it was brought prominently under the notice of the Minister of Lands during his recent visit to the South, both at A Bh burton and at Waimate. It goes without saying that to shut out the owner of a quarter-acre section m a township from taking up land m the country is to defeat the very object of Village Settlement schemes by enforcing tha remaining m town of the very class it is desired to draft off into the country districts, and recently we observed m some regulations issued with regard to a particular special settlement that it was specially provided that the ownership of freehold not exceeding an acre m extent should not disqualify applicants. This is better than no concession at all, but it does not go far enough, and we would . raise the limit to fire acres. If this were done there would, we think, be nothing to complain of. This was veiy strongly urgf.l upon Mrßallance by a deputation at Waimate, and the Minister was understood to be favorable to that view. Possibly the difficulty can be got over by amended regulations for Village Settlements under Order m Council, but if nor, then special provision should be made to meet the case m the New Land Bill which Mr Ballance has announced his intention of submitting next session. The matter is one which should not escape his attention.