The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 415, 1 April 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1870.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely j usi the pen is mightier than the sword

Now that the Provincial Council will so soon be in session, no opportunity

should be lost tojsecure a' more liberal distribution of the public lands—of course, so far as any radical change is concerned the Provincial Council are utterly powerless, but at the same time, their recommendation goes a long way, and if the Provinces will it, they can remodel the whole land law of the Colony, considering the advantages possessed by Otago, it should progress at a very rapid rate, we have elements of prosperity possessed by no other community in New Zealand, consumption and production takes place at our very doors, the rulings of distant markets but little affect us especially in the interior, and in the best of seasons we do not produce sufficient cereal crops for local consumption. In the settled mining districts of Victoria, this has long ceased to be the case, and instead of importing, they are now exporting. Ballarat, Sandhurst, Aiarat and Beechworth are not only chief centres of mining industry, but they are so of agriculture and commerce, their respective ability to consume their produce upon'|the i .spot enriched them far beyond, what would have been the case had they confined their attentions strictly to mining, th onfarms and orchards and vineyards kept their "old or a great proportion of it at home, and instead of finding its way to Melbourne it circulated from one to the other, calling many industries into existence which otherwise would have been foreign to their wants. The miner seeing that other, and perhaps more congenial employment was open to him took care of his earnings and invested in land, or tinned his attention to some occupation which he hud followed before the days of the gold diggings, and he became a settler in the distiict which had enriched him. This is just what we want here, to be prosperous wo must combine other operations with mining, and our population must have every inducement held out to them to save their earnings and settle amongst us. The land of course is the great desideratum and increased areas must be thrown open for occupation. In Victoria every inducement is being held out for people to occupy the soil, the new land law of that Colony should put our legislators to the blush The 19i.1i section empowers the Government to issue a License to occupy any Crown lands not exceeding in the wm ile, tit roe hundred and twenty acres for a period of th ree years at a fee of two shillings per acre per annum, and when the conditions of subsequent sections are complied with, such as fencing the whole and cultivating one acre out of every ten du ring three years, ihe occupier mav obtain the fee simple, at the rate of fourteen shillings per acre, or a renewal of his lease for seven years at two shillings per acre, entitling him to the freehold upon making payment of the last years rent, or during the currency of the last lease, a Crown "rant may Vie obtained by making up the difference between the amount of rent actually paid and one pound per acre. This new Land Act has had the effect of attracting population from here, and when -we consider how liberal are its provisions, and the finer soil and climate of Victoria it is not to be wondered at. To be prosperous. we must increase the number of our permanent resident population, and this can only be accomplished by a more liberal land law The Agricultural Leases system might be extended all o'-er the Oolonv. and we might emulate Victoria by making the last payment of the seven years rent entitle the holder to (he freehold.