The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 439, 16 September 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1870.

Beneath the Ruleof Men entirely i cst the PEN is MIGHTIER than theswoED

The goldfields are much indebted to Mr. D. H. Mervyn, M.H.R , for his advocacy of deferred payments for land. The whole of the goldfields, with only one exception, have petitioned the Genersd Government to amend the land laws, and include free selection with deferred payments. We must not, however, lose heart because the petitions were not favorably rereceived in Committee, or that Mr Mervyn’s motion, “ That the prayer of the petitioners should be acceded to, as presenting the only means of settling population upon the goldfields,” was rejected. It cannot be expected that such a sweeping measure could be carried in a single Session, more especially the present one, when the Government were proposing measures for a loan of a considerable amount, to be expen led upon public works. M e must content ourselves that public opinion has expressed itselt upon the matter, and, as this has been done so generally, we have much cause for congratulation, and for hope that the matter will ultimately be carried. No radical reform in the land laws of any of the Australian Colonies was carried without a hard fight, and vested interests will not

submit to put the population in possession of the lands upon easier terms than what they were originally acquired at without a struggle. It is for the people themselves to fight the battle of the lands. Those who desire lands, and who aro anxious to see the country populated and prosperous, must not cease in their endeavors to procure a more liberal land law. New Zealand, at the present time, oilers less inducement to the immigrant than any other British possession, and we may rest assured that to expend money on the introduction of immigrants unless we can place them upon the lands on easy terms, is only throwing money away. It is population that gives value to land. Of itself it is worth nothing. Whoever would have taken up land and commenced to farm upon the Dunstan in the absence of the goldfields 1 The very idea would have been preposterous. But, when population came and settled itself down here, that which possessed no value before became valuable in consequence, and wherever land suitable for cultivation was available it was quickly taken up. It is desirable now that still greater facilities should exist for settling the people upon the lands. Numbers have acquired means by their industry in gold-mining, and are anxious to remain in the province, willingly expending their savings in the cultivation of the soil. If we cannot give these persons what they want in the shape of land they will leave us, taking with them, of course, all the capital they possess, and expend it elsewhere, to our detriment. Instead of driving population away, we should be only too happy to encourage it, and, even supposing that the land was given away for nothing to bona-fide settlers, it would pay indirectly by the increased consumption of articles on which duty has been paid. All experience proves that goldmining and agriculture succeed best when associated. The one is of immense assistance to the other, and it most fortunately happens that, when the mining industry ceases to afford profitable employment, agriculture supplies the deficiency, or vise versa. There is sure'y nothing to warrant New Zealand being more conservative in its land laws than the Australian Colonies, Canada, or the United States of America. All have adopted the system of deferred payments, while, in the case of the two latter, the price of the waste lands is only one-fifth—-in some cases one-tenth—of what it is here. If distance lends enchant ment to the view, it can hardly be said to add value to the price of land, and common sense would suppose that the immigrant who voyages sixteen thousand miles in search of a home should have greater inducements before him than one who only travels three thousand. Every country which possesses large tracts of unoccupied land is bidding high for population. The countries of South America are holding out very superior inducements, for, besides giving cheap lands upon long credit, they also provide the means to till it. One pound per acre, payable in eight yearly instalments, is a good price for land in New Zealand, and, if it is desired to make it an attractive field for immigrants, a system of deferred payments must be resorted to. Population is essentially necessary to tbe well-being of the colony, and it is the only source from which prosperity can spring.

The great railway scheme now before the country is attracting almost universal attention, especially in those centres of population through which some of the proposed lines are likely to pass. That railways, to a moderate extent, will be constructed in New Zealand there is little reason to doubt; but, most assuredly all the lines clamored for by eager deputations from provinces who have waited upon the General Government to urge their claims, stand but a poor chance of being made within the pre sent generation. We are rather inclined to regret that the matter of railways has not been reduced to a system by the General Governmont, and a line projected that would, as nearly as possible, form a connecting link between the various provinces in the North and Middle Islands, passing through as many of the principal towns as possible on its route. If the General Government would form this Grand Trunk Line, the provinces could extend branches to wherever they deemed it advisable to do so, and the real benefits of a system of railw ays would he participated in by all.

But, if the railways are to bo made just where it suits the whim or caprice of each individual province, no end of money will lie expended upon very questionable benefits, while the repairs of our common roads will be entirely neglected. As a commencement, a colonial 'scheme would be of most practical good to the colony, and we must, in this instance, look upon railways as more of colonial utility than provincial. To ignore the (poorer provinces would bn u just, and railways are now mostly wanted to reach those places from which we are now almost completely isolated, and we are suie that there are hundreds of persons living in Otago who are in ignorance of Napier and Taranaki and their peculiar products and capabilities as they are ot Kamschatka. To reach Nelson from this is worse than making a journey to Victoria although only a hundred miles distant. Southland is practically an unknown territory. Such a national system of railways as that projected by the General Government must be under the control of a Minister of Works, assisted by a Board, and both Minister and Board, in their turn, responsible to the House of Representatives, and the whole carried out with Provincialism restricted to its narrowest limits. After the main trunk lines have been constructed the provinces could easily make branches, as their wisdom directed, and means allowed. His Plonor Mr. JusticeChapman,iu his able paper on the political economy of railways, read at the Otago Institute has pretty satisfactorily demonstrated that they succeed best when connecting the principal centres of population and commerce. This is undoubtedly the case in Victoria. The Ballarat and Sandhurst lines were formed to connect the principal goldfields with the metropolis,the Sandhurst line to Echuca was purposely formed# to extend the trade of Victoria into New Son th Wales and South Australia by the means of the River Murray and its tributaries Our railways must be carried out upon a. similar and comprehensive system, and the resources of the various provinces brought into such close contact with each other that mutual benefit may derived by all. luolutlou ia alike injurious to communities as individuals, and itisouly through a national system of railways that we can hope to escape from it.