The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 1868.

Dunstan Times, Issue 331, 28 August 1868, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 1868.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely jI'ST the pen" is MiGimiK hanthtswoar.

The exciting accounts coming from the newly discovered goldfields at Auckland, and Gympic Crock in Queensland will doubtless attract a considerable number of our population from these shores : besides those in quest of the precious metal, there will be leaving us, persons who desire to take up land and form for themselves permanent homes. Already some few thus intentioncd have left this, and the surrounding districts. The loss of this class of the population is greatly to be deplored, besides taking themselves awnv, they take with them

the little capital they may have acquired by industrious habits, and the Province thereby suffer a loss that ■ can never be made good ; Auckland and Queensland are bidding high for population, they having found out by actual experience the unmistakable fact, that, without population, no country can ever hope to progress, and now both of these places are holding out such inducements for people to go and settle there, that, unless Ave actively take the matter up and insist upon the Provincial Government opening up more lands, aud also give increased facilities for the people to become owners of the soil; we shall experience the unpleasant difficulty that, the produce of our goldlields, instead of enriching and peopling the country, is only being carried away to add to the wealth of others. Within the last few days, many industrious and well intentloned colonists have left us, taking -with them their wives and families to settle in Auckland or elsewhere, who, could they have but made themselves homes here would never have gone away. Some short time since we found grandiloquently announced in the I'ruvindal Government Gazette that, fifteen thousand five hundred acres of land were open for selection at Clyde and Alexandra, and two thousand live hundred at Cromwell, but upon looking closely into the matter, we find that, with a trifling except'on, there is actually no more land now for occupation at either of these places than there was two years ago, The announcement which looks so grand and liberal on paper, amounts practically to this, that the commonages are open for occupation and cultivation, should any one be silly enough to desire to do so The land comprising the commonage at Cromwe 1 is totally unfit for agricultural purposes, it being little | better than sand, and the inhabitants of that district are disgusted at this seemingly wanton tailing with their best interests. The commonage at Clyde contains but very little land fit for the agri i cultnrist, except that which has already been taken up, and its area has not been extended as the Provincial Government would desire us to believe. As to the land open for occupation at Alexandra it is a mere delu" sioii, it comprises nothing more than the small commonage reserve on the west bank of the Manuherikia River, I from which no area could possibly be I picked out bigger than would make a tolerably sized garden. The an.. I noiiiiccment therefore, that such large j blocks of land arc available for cultivation, has no .shadow of truth on its side, and must have been purposely intended to mislead. The act is well worthy of those composing the P;o viueial Government of Otago, and adds another to the many reasons f< r the abolition of this detestable form of government. It is all very well, as we sometimes hear from the squatters and members ofihe Provincial Government, that the pastoral tenants of the Crown contribute a very large amount to the revenue by the assessment on their stcck. but, we should like to know, what good that does for the country ; it will certainly not people it, in fact, the presence of these shepherd kings has a reverse te dency and it might just as well be argued the benefits that would accrue to England or any other of the great European countries if they were turned into sheep walks. We have only the two alternatives before us, of a country enclosed in by wire fences' and converted into sheep pastures, or a country inhabited by God's image in the shape of men women and children' employed in beautifying and fructifying the earth. We are however quite willing to allow the squatteis every consideration, but at the same time when the land they occupy as a sheep walk, is required for the habitation and sustenance of the human species they, as a matter of inherent right should acquire it. The squatter with his flocks and herds fulfils his mission as the pioneer of a new country, but, he undoubtedly must retire before the onward inarch of population and civili-

zation, his business is to lead the . way anil not to stop the van, ajl pro- ' ■fessions are attended with certain ■ risks, and the squatter, when he ac- ] cepts hirj, knows fully well that his occupation must at some future date \ be numbered amongst the things that - were. Asa matter of revenue, the 1 returns from a " run " are undoubtedly large, but, how much greater \ would they be, provided such " run " had no existence, when instead of supporting some ten or a dozen station hands, it would support two or three hundred families actively engaged in the duties of cultivating the soil, let ' alone others that would necessarily find employment. Every individual resident in the , Province, and who intends making it his home has, a special interest in an equitable disposal of the Crown Lands, Otago possesses resources and elements of prosperity, which in other and elements of prosperity, which in countries would be highly ] rized, and all we have to do is to procure their utilization. If those at the head of affairs in this Province are ph dged to support the pastoral interests to the detriment of all others, they must be replaced by men more honestly intcntioned, who, instead of retaining office to secure purely personal or party moti* es, will do so, that the best interests of the country may be promoted, and the good of the many be not sacrificed for ;he benefit of the few.