THE GREAT LAND PROBLEM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 568, 24 July 1909, Page 12

THE GREAT LAND PROBLEM.

.GOVERNMENT METHODS CRITICISED,

"TAIHOA-RIDDEN" • DISTRICTS,

• In a recent interview at' Wellington, the Acting-Prime Miui&ter: said that /since 1906 areas aggregating 1,530,129 acres' of Crown lands had boon leased' or . sold. iKo "Herald" attacks this Ministerial', statement, and says editorially ;—"Mr. Buddo is J®Fy POJf'Wy path'e; ically ignorant, of what this 1,530,000 aoroß consisted, but Mr.. James Carroll can plead no such excuse. Nearly all this .great area-consisted : ,of, Eheep .country, and, .represent#};;|a.nd lll .of..,,jvhicl\the leases wero.;,ei%rr,ronwSi; ; or. ...transferred.'. Wo recently analysed , the. pretentious . figures Ministerially put forward to show that an extraordinary quantity of ; land would be thrown, open duj-ing the present month, -and .similar rosults issue/from lan analysis, of Mr.v James t Carroll's /absurd' attempt - at justification. By far, the greatest proportion of this, laillion. and a half acres consists of great strips of/mountain tops and blocks of cold country in, the most desolate parts of the South Island. .We are further ; told that tho. Crown Lands Guide coutains attic present time 1,144,443 acres, but we are now told that this[ is-almost wholly sheep country, of the tag ends '.of bygone ballots. If thei whole matter were not so desperately important the_ oountryj v$ could afford to; ignore the discreditable travesty.'of /administration which, has-taken possession of our national land pqlicy;- but while; Mr','-Buddo is; being 'staggorali'j whild.Mr. Caaroll is , leisurely concocting excusesy and while Mr. Ngata is preaching the new gospel of,- 'absorption, ' the unemployed are demanding employnient in .every city in the Dominion,' and a stream of agricultural; capital and labour is pouring over to Australia." - .

After referring to a want of iknowledgo in the South Island regarding Native lands andNative' affaire; 1 a writer in the "Herald", to»' day . says' There v arp now, , however, signs of a change for the" better oh the other side of Cook Strait in regard to the great land problem of .the north.. One ,of tlie- best tljngs is to get-members to visit the 'Taihoaridden'districts, and. obtain ocular-as well- as oral demonstration of actualities that are blocking their, progress... This.is a,-matter that is- being taken'up ina.'practical' way by the To Kuiti Chamber of Commerce, which lias decided to arrange for a series of visits to be made to the King Country by southern members during the coming session of Parliament. Tho member's will be ablo to leave Wellington on a Friday, arrive at To Kuiti' early the following mornings and. spend ,two or three days in tho distnet beforo returning to, their legislative labours on the following Tuesday. Several small Parliamentary parties of this, kind will probably, be arranged," ,