A DISAPPOINTMENT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1768, 16 February 1888, Page 3

A DISAPPOINTMENT.

We cokfess that we are greatly disappointed m tho action of tho present Minister for Lands. Wo had . believed that m the member for Mataura the colony had secured, as head of tho Urown Laudß Department, a Minister whose sympathies were entirely with the peoplo, and who would do everything m his power to foster tho cause of settlement vv"e were cordial and sincere m our congratulations on his accession to office, and pur disappointment h consequently all the keener on finding that we have apparently reckoned without our host.

1 he first indication to that effect was the fact that m " Gazetting " the lands mentioned m a recent notice as open f.r application, a ver* email acreage indeed was priced at £\ an acre, the groat bulk being at 80s and £2 and somo above that figure, while we are assured that much of the land for which 30s or £2 is asked is no bettor than can be brought m the opon market of private vendors at 255, and that on easy terms.

Wo do not f>r tbo momont complain of no " second-class " or ten-shillings-an-acro land being offered as yet, for we aro informed that the Department is carefully going over the Crown estate with a view to <jut ont as much of the land as is suitable for small holdings,, without rendering the remainder unworkable or unprofitable as large pastoral holdings, nud if this bo really tho reason and the object we are content to wait a reasonable time ; but we confess that our faith m tho. Minister's intentions m this direction has been sorely Bhak n by what has recently transpired at Kurow. In that locality therd is oven now a largo area under deferred payment settlement, and the settlers already thero have dono fo well wilh their holdings that many wish to extend their areas, aud many more wish to tako up land m the same neighborhood upon Similar terms. A large deputation waited upon Mr Hichardson at Kurow tho other day and this is what their spokesman, Mr Georgo Orr, himself a settler at Kurow, Raid :— " Mr Richardson, three years ago the voices of tho people of this district raised an appeal to the then Government to give them some land from tho Kurow run to make their homes on. Tho then Minister of Lands was, however, advised that tbo land was unfit for settlement and a deputation of tho Otago Land Board was sent up, to report upon it. Their report was dead against tho settlers' wishes, as it said the land was not fit for small settlement ; but m spito of this report the clamor for tho land was continued, and m ordor to still the outcry, somo 4000 or 5000 acres were eventually surveyed and offered. Well, mark the result — every section of it was at once taken up and keenly compi t'd for— ome sections having 10 or 12 applicants, and prices were double^ and treble the upset price spvorul, going over £5 per acre. Tho lat« Minister for Lands (Mr Ballauce) camo to see this part of tho country and having been shown over the Kurow run decided that its suitability for Hcttlement was such that tho whole should be mado available under the hill farm, ov as it is called the small grazing run, system, and tho Now Zealand Land Company's leaso had accordingly been cancelled for this purpose. People had como from far and near to take up these hill farms .Some of those present had oven brouclit their frien.de from - other colonies to be their follow settlers hero, and at the very last moment, when, the Land Company's notice had only a week or so to run — iho settlers to their surprise — to their alarm — and to their disgust — saw tho Land Board's resolution to again soil the country as a mere pastoral lease, as a mere sheep run to bo occupied by perhaps only one man, w}tu a few shepherds and rabbiters now and then employed, and this deputation had been appointed at a public meeting to wait on the Minister for Lands, and nrgo that tho Land Board's resolution be Bet aaidc— or that they be advised to rescind tho samo — and that the land be made available as originally intended for permanent settlers m smaller areas." Other members of tho deputation said that every one of them was proparcd to tako up one of these hill-farms, ajid at rents m no w£y lceu than that paid by the Company, and that tho areas desired were from 2000 acres on. tho lower parts, to 5000or(K)00 on tho higher ; and it was pointed out that under a permanent tenure- cultivation would go on, and tho land would bo mado to carry double the I nomber of tjhoop that it would carry while m tussock. And was the Minister's reply to all this? Simply that " from tho goneral features of tho country as ho had seen it that afternoon, ho thought it was most suitably cut up, and he failed to see how ho could divide it to better advantage." It waa urged m reply that "it would bo a great benefit to got tbo people settled on the land " and that " Government should grant tho settlors' wishes, if they had the welfare of tho co'ony at heart ; " but Mr Richardson w».s obdurat '. and could not even find timo {q stay .soothe* day and •' have a good look at tho land" PS he- wa? urged to do, and then delivered himself iv tho following extraordinary fashion — wo quoto from tho '• Oamnru Mail ' — " It scsrna that a very Ktrqftg fooling prevail m th;B dintrict regarding thie Kurow fun ; and it aluo beems to mo that a strong feeling j revailfi .again&t tUo L»nd Cojnpapy, ..No\7 I with to, say this is quite a wrong thinp*. We should look upon tho matter from a pinoly colonizing point of view. Tho Land Company lias had the option of keeping on tho run to ttio end of tho original lease, if they liked, as tho notice given them by Mr Ballanco had been nn informal notice."- To this Mr Duncan, tho member for the district, rop\ie^ ilmt j-*-I c Mf 0 ut»;ong Reeling exists against tho Company, it is caused by their opposition to GOtiloinoht ; and tho timo naij now arrived when mucb, largev areaq that} the Kurow ran will have to bo opened m thfe manner.'' Finally, tho Minister undertook that " theyo would bo no 6j>lp of thlii country on pastoral leas v o till. the Government had tut opportunity of deciding tho matter," and, with this' cold comfort ihe deputation, w.hich wns a very numerous onQ, liad pprforco to be, for \ha t^cno, oontont, t-hough they *re vory prororly determined not to lot tho matter rest thero, but to persist m agitating till the Kurow country is thrown open to settlement. But they have ovidontly little to hope from Mr Richardson, nx\{\ as little from tho (j[Q7epmu^nt y >whi\>iU j wjll dQuWjps? t'e 1 ' "by 'Wa adMce, 1 I and it begins to 'bo ovident that tho polioy of th,o ptoseut Mioistry is to \wsn «4 eva wtb « rqtrw^eat

scheme, and that if the colony desires something more than this, if it desires a new era of progress, and consequent prosperity, it will have to demand yet another change of rulers.