The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 433, 5 August 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1870.

Beneath the Rule of MenENTXREi.v just the pen is mightier than theswoßl)

A. subject upon which we have oftentimes written about has at last been actiuely taken up, and we ave glad to see that the goldfields have made an almost unanimous movement towards obtaining a reduction in the upset price of waste lands on the goldfields. Because almost everything else is dear in the mining districts, it is no reason why land should be dear also. Every other commodity has to be carted here at considerable cost; but, with respect io land, quite the reverse feature presents itself. Where we are now living, and where prosperous towns exist, and thousands of persons engaged in the pursuit of mining have made themselves homes, was. previous to the golden era, a barren and dismal wilderness, with human habitations many mi'bs apart, and only a few small flocks of sheep here and there might be .seen browsing upon the pasturA Land was at that time comparatively valueless, and had some of the best portions of the valleys of the Dunstan and Manuherikia been offered for sale they would not have found buyers except at a mere nominal price. But mark the result. It is now leased at annual rental for more than would have been paid for the fee simple previous to the sturdy miner coming to dig gold from the soil. It is the mining interest that has given value to the land, which, in the absence of goldmining, would neve; have been applied to other than grazing purposes, and the squatter, with his flocks and would have remained “ lord of all he surveyed" down to the ent. Experience has proved that the mining interest is compatible with the agricultural and the agricultural with the

mining. Without the one there is no prosperity foi the other, and we can only rejoice that, though late in the day, public opinion joins issue with us in this matter. To encourage, therefore, the settlement of the mining cotmnunily upon the lands we must give them every facility to acquire an interest in the soil, and this can he best promoted by selling to them the land at a cheap rate and by the system of deferred payments. From the want of communication, land can never be so valuable up here as it is on the seaboard, for reasons that we must depend upon local consumption for a market We cannot, with advantage to ourselves,- either expdrt oii import farm produce, and we all very well know that the occupation of the lands means cheap living, and that, in its turn, increased development of the goldfields. To lessen the expenditure is to add to the means of the miner. Another advantage we derive from the lands being occupied is that we beget a diversity of employment, and those who may not be successful in prose, curing their researches after gold, instead of being compelled to return from Whence they came, are enabled to remain where they are,and, although actually discontinuing their delving for the precious metal, place it in the power of others to commence exactly where they left off; consequently the advantage to the community at large is precisely the same. It matters little to the masses who actually gets the gold : they have only to deal with the fact that it is got. The miner having thus given value to that which, previous to his coming, possessed none, has a right to the property he has created, and it is only perpetrating an injustice to cause him to pay more for an article than it is really worth. If the dwellers on the Taieri Plains can get land at ten shillings and one pound per acre, why should the occupiers of land at the Duustan be required to pay two pounds. Every British possession is move liberal in its land laws than New Zealand, and that portion of it called Otago in particular, and until we place the land within easy reach of all persons we shall still continue to read in the English papers of thousands leaving for the United States and Canada, never for once dreaming that there is such a place as New Zealand. In looking over our late files we find the lollowing paragraph on the subject - —“ The immigration of a Day.—The “Prince’s landing-stage at Liverpool “ presented a busy and a footing scene “ the other clay, when about two “ thousand three hundred people of all “ ages and sex embarked on board the “steamers European, Malta, and “ Siberia, for the United States and “ Canada. The European altogether “ carries with her about eight thous- “ and souls to Canada, whilst the “ Malta and Siberia, both which are “ bound to the United States, have “ between them about' one thousand “ four hundred or one thousand five “ hundred emigrants. The German “ and continental element was strongly “ represented amongst the vast con- “ gregation, nearly one-half of the entire “ number of emigrants being Germans “or foreignersofsomekind,the remain-. “ der consisting of English Irish and “Scotch”. The agricultural lease system has done a great deal towards the peopling of the lands on the goldfields and f.-om its influence many are in the enjoyment of comfortable homes who would otherwis have left the country. We must, however, increase our efforts to entice population to come and dwlel among us by holding out still greater inducements, and, if we are about to organise a main complete system of immigration, it is ver-y clear that we must provide something for the immigrants to do upon arrival, or they will soon find other places that will provide a more fitting welcome. The upset price of land is undoubtedly much too high, and, instead ot the half-crown per acre per annum rent, it should form portion of the purchase money, which payment, at the end of eight, or say at least ten, years should, without equivocation or evasion, entitle the lessee to the freehold. The'difficulties of settlement upon the goldfields are of no mean order. The land can be soon worked out. It oB 'BXpensive to stock and fence, thamaiket fcr prpduce is limited, and for bona-itde occupation it wouldbe none too cheap werept given away. The present land agitations are a convincing proof that people are beginning to understand the value of populating that there can he fio prosperity without it, that population fihds employment for itself, and, if we hsve

homes to offer, people will come almost of their own accord and occupy them The coming elections will be our opportunity for procuring tte reforms we now desire, and, before voting for any candidate, we must be assured that he pledges himself to do the utmost in his power to remodel the system; of dealing with the waste lands of the colony, while so far as regards ourselves the half crown per acre per annum rent must, form a portion of the purchase money.