FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13,1871.

Dunstan Times, Issue 495, 13 October 1871, Page 2

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13,1871.

The governmental enquiry as to the attempted sale of 50,000 ■acres of land on Moa Flat—including 5000 acres specially set apart for agricultural settlement, to the lessee of the run ; should hasten the consummation of what the public have long and ■earnestly prayed for ; the enactment of a just and liberal land law for the special purpose of providing homes for the people ; and'framed to efiectually i prevent all future mal-administration - of the public estate by any such insane institution--as the Otago Waste Lands Board ; assuming, as it does, to hold under vaguely discretional powers the right to deal with the lands of the Crown in amosfereckless and raischie v■ous fashion. It is of course already argued by interested partisans, that Messrs. Duncan, Cutten and Hughes, the immaculate solcns, sitting in solemn conclave; acted but in strict conformity to law and precedent, that valuable land has before been alienated from public competition, without evoking 'public disapproval; -that the Waste Land Act virtually sanctions the proceeding under notice, and moreover, th#t the public had already received in timation that the identical block in question would be disposed of, to obtain the wherewithal to make up a deficiency in -the Provincial Revenue; but such arguments-are mere shams, miserable evasions, ignoring the car■dinal 'points at issue : namely, that a valuable tract of land, part of which at least is known to be auriferous, has been deliberately sacrificed for a tithe of itsreal marketable value, and bona _fide settlers earnestly anxiously to build up homes and permanent abiding places, treacherously deluded. The message of his Honor the Superintendent, received at the last sitting of the Provincial Council; embodying a a suggestion that, to meetthe deficiency in revenue for the present year, the Executive Government should, if necessary dispose of land in one or more blocks, to the extent of 50,000 acres ; specially set forrh the undesirability of disposing of such a large area "to any one person, and the resolution in reply just as explicitly conveyed the opinion that the “ Council would recommend that before the sale of any •"land under the authority ef this " resolution, full and careful enquiiy ".should bo made, with a view to pre^

“ vent the alienation of any land, the “ sale of which may be, or may be *• deemed to be, prejudicial to the pub- “ lie interests.” And yet, what do we find ? The Waste Land Board assembled, ostensibly 'for the despatch of ordinary routine business, and, without the slightest' preliminary notice to the public; cooly disposing of the Moa Flat Block to one > 'favored purchaser, with infinitely less regard for obtaining a fair price for public property than the individual members of the Board would in their private capacity display in the disposal of as many sheep skins or dilapidated cornsacks. Would that this were the sum and substance of their offending ! but, either-from sheer ignorance, or malice perpense, they include in their precious bargain 5000 acres of fine agricultural land, specially set apart and surveyed for settlement. Promised to the people of the Teviot, and looked upon by them as their rightful heritage. The result of thisexercise of discretionary powers, heaven, save the mark 1 ■is thatifthe sale be confirmed, settlers who have taken up and industriously improved small leasehold holdings, and built homes thereon, in confident anticipation of being permitted to buy the adjoining agricultural land ; will be at the mercy of the monopolist. If they want the merest strip of the land as a freehold, they must trust to the liberality of Mr. Clark as the vendor or go without. His line of fences on the one side, and the Molyneux on the other, will eventually keep them “ cribbed, cabined, and confined,” to their present small holdings; unless they choose to abandon a country where hybrid laws and venial administration prove continual stumbling blocks and entangling snares to all honest industry. As regards the assumed legality of the sale; it is very obvious that in support of this plea, the literal meaning of the eighty third clause of the Waste Lands Act has been most mischievously wrested from its true and common-sense interpretation. It provides that “ The lands com- “ prised in such lease shall not be “ liable to he sold without the consent “of the holder of such lease; and, “ whenever such consent shall be givon “ as to the whole or any part of such “ lands, the same may be sold as if “ they had been included within the “boundaries of . a, Hundred.” By ingenious argument and free rendering, this clause has been actually held in this case, to signify that, if the holder of any lease shall consent to the whole or any part of such lands being disposed of, the same shall be sold to himself without public competition ! We may seek far for a more glaring proof of the factious opposition to true progress of settlement evinced by our present Provincial Administration. The question is, if the present sale is confirmed, where will-such proceedings terminate, There is in the united province of Otago and Southland still some fifteen million acres of land that may be sold, and it will be doubtless argued that the disposal of fifty thousand acres to one purchaser is a mere trifle, seeing what ample scope exists for settlement; but the greater portion of this land is but icaste land in the literal sense of the word—mountainous, and unavailable for settlement; and the portions really worth anything as agricultural areas are comprised within the leases granted to pastoral tenants. Under present tactics tens of thousands of acres may be sacrificed as recklessly as the Moa Flat Block, unless instant measures are taken by the people and their representatives to hasten the proposed amendment of the Land Laws. The equitable disposition of the public estate is no doubt a difficult subject to legislate upon, without inflicting injustice upon some section of the community. It has been the bate noir of Australian statesmen, and will prove even more difficult to Hew Zealand legislators. But the broad path of duty is well defined. The Land Law should embody strong incentives to speedy settlement by the people, should be stringent enough in its provisions to prevent the possibility of any further abuse of authority, and, above all, should aim at the speedy extinction of the discretionary powers of political Land Boards. We do not join with our contemporary, the Bruce Herald , in its lugubrious howl and melancholy wail at the lethargy and supineness of “ the people,” -upon whom is visited all sins of omission and commission ; but it must be admitted that an imperative necessity arises that greater public interest should he taken in public affairs, and

thot every man caring aught for his individual welfare and the prosperity of his country, should look a little beyond his own petty concerns and individual circumstances. “ Heaven helps those who help themselves” is a well-worn but still pregnant precept.