PROGRESS or RETROGRESSION. WHICH IS IT TO BE?

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1663, 15 September 1887, Page 3

PROGRESS or RETROGRESSION. WHICH IS IT TO BE?

We now proceed to consider some of the minor issues involved m, or intimately connected witb, the main issue which will be decided by the ballot-box on Monday week. By that decision either the present Government will be maintained m office or the Atkinson party reinstated. Should the electors go against Government — which, however, we do not for a moment consider probable — we shall have some rather startling results. The legislation, with regard to the land for which the present Government is responsible, has met with the hearty approval of the great body of the people. It has had the eff?ct of remedying the evils of prior legislation on the subject. It has put a stop to land-sharking, and it has enabled the working man to acquire land on easy terms. From past experience we know what we may expect should the Atkinson party be restored to office. Village settlements will be swept away, and the land will be sold by auciion to the highest bidder. This will enable the monied men to add to their already vast estates, and prevent their less fortunate fellow colonists from obtaining a freehold. New Zealand has suffered greatly from having so much of her land locked up m large estates, and the evil will then be accentuated. The frequent alterations m our land laws cannot fail to have an injurious effect upon the colony, and it has often been cited as the cause why men of capital do not care to come and settle here. It must not be forgotten that the next Parliament will have to deal with the question of the conditions under which the pastoral leases of Canterbury shall be treated when they fall m, as they will do m 1890. This, as Sir Julius Yogel observed, when speaking m Christchurcb, " is not a small matter. There is a total area of 27,000,000 acres now m the hands of 92 leaseholders, many of them large Companies representing many shareholders. The total rent is Of these lands 710,000 acres are included m the lands set apart for the Midland Railway. The question will be to deal justly with the present holders, and with the community as a whole." These leases were renewed for ten years by the Atkinson Government m 1879, and the most strenuous efforts are being made to have the same party m office when they have to be dealt with again m 1889, m order that the present holders may obtain equally favorable conditions again, the present rental being less than a half-penny per acre. We are strongly of opinion that while dealing justly with the present holders, conditions more advantageous to the community as a whole will be arranged if the present Government remain m office. From what we have advanced m the present and previous articles, we think our readers will understand how very undesirable it would be for the colony to be again committed to the tender mercies of Major Atkinson and his friends, The present Government have a good record j they have introduced and carried through Parliament many beneficial measuses, and during the three years they have held office have done more m the way of settlement of the people on the land than any previous Government did m twice that time, and if owing to a combination of circumstances over which they b could have no control a deficit m the k revenue has occurred, and their proJ* posals fo; making good that deficit s offend the sensibilities of the Free- . traders, we fail to see why this should • be regarded as a reason for ousting 0 then*, and CO, we think, will the country also,

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