WASTE LANDS ADMINISTRATION.

Dunstan Times, Issue 531, 21 June 1872, Page 3

WASTE LANDS ADMINISTRATION.

—o— . , ;; ; (communicated.) The Otago Daily Times is very wroth that the-Provincial Government does nbt possess the power of alienating the waste lands of the Province as it may deem kxpedient, to endow educational and benevolent institutions. It raisps something analogous to the cry of “Separation” that was rife in Canterbury several years ago, and states that “ our Representatives, in conjunction with those of Canterbury, Westland,Nelson, and Marlborough should agree to, fight under ,a banner bearing the legend “Middle Island Temtorial Revenue for the Middle Island.” It informs the public, “ The theory that the unsold lands of the Colony belong of right to-the Colony,'as a whole, is a theory and nothing more; that the unsold lands of the Grown should be considered the inalienable birth-right of British men is a theory that has passed l into oblivion, retaining hold only on the minds of some old Tories-; and that in thi» world, waste lands (by inference) belong of right to those who can grip hold of and-keep them,” It would apparently wish to ignore the liabilities the Colony generally has undertaken, and;which Otago, as a Province, helped to impose ; and cries Otago for the Otagoites as lustily as the most zealous advocates of Home Rule ever cried “ Ireland for the Irish!” - In the leading journal of the Province the enunciation of broader vieWs might certainly have been expected; less willingness to sneer at “ right ;” a manifestation of disgust at trying to evade the,payment of a contracted debt; a better knowledge of British law; and evidences of a higher morality as to right of property than it has tried to inculcate. It is certainly amusing, the coolness-of the request that Nelson, whoso agricultural land has been sold, and Westland, which possesses little or none, should make common cause with Otago to enable it to escape its proper share of taxation for social purposes, by alienating large blocks of land. What can Westland or Nelson gain by such a course of action ! Will this Province promise Nelson aud Westland, for such support, to educate their children, and maintain their poor and sick free of charge ? What other inducement can it offer ? flow will it benefit the denizens of Okarita that the Benevolent Institutions of.this Province are amply endowed? This mode of appeal is simply the raising of a false issue to gain a covert end. It is like the rich man the beggar to help him preserve his large possessions intact .when the .day _of_Bpoliation is at hand. The’same spirit that influenced the choice of the first immigrant appears now to animate our leading journal, in its seeking - to circumscribe the benefits resulting from the appropriation of its waste lands to this Province alone. Both settlers and journal know the ‘ grip.” In 1841) a Statute, called “ The Land Claims OfdinandeNo. 1,” was passed by the Governor and Legislative Council, in the second section of which it is declared, enacted, aud ordained that all unappropriated lands within - the Colony of New Zealand, subject, however, to the rightful and necessary occupation and use thereof by the aboriginal inhabitants of the said Colony, are and remain Crown or domain lands of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors. The land of the Colony was thus declared to be the demesne of the Crown. This was only in consonance with British laws. In all our. colonies, colonial-titles uniformly rest upon Crown grants. “ The Royal Instructions” in 1846 declare that all unclaimed lands should bo considered as vested in Her Majesty, and constituting her demesne lands, in right of her crown within the islands of New Zealand, The 73rd section of the; Constitution Act confirms this view of the case. In 1862, when theColonialauthorities accepted the management of Native affaire, the rights of the Crown were in no wise abrogated—only delegated to the Executive and Her Majesty’s Representative; and while any waste lands remain in the Colony, so long as it forms a part of the British Empire, such waste lands form a part and parcel of the Royal domain. No other means can be adopted to obtain a title to any portion of them, or the liberty to make a reserve It will be remembered, when the Colony was divided into Provinces, the waste lands were put under Provincial control, to enable the Provinces, by the sale of laud, to raise moneys for the purposes of immigration and public works. Provinces and settlements were isolated then. Mails were erratic in their times of delivery, and three months after date the people of Dunedin would learn what was doing in Auckland. Steam-boats now run up and down the coast of both ' islands bi-weekly j the telegraph wire convoys iutilligence from Auckland to the Bluff; and by sheer progress the necessity for out-lying settlements managing their own affairs has been done away with. In fact, the resumption of the control of the waste lands of the Provinces should have been thq. initial step in the General Government policy of Public works and Immigration. PublioYVorks and Immigration being under the management of the General Government, it is only reasonable and wise to expect that it should have the management of the estate from whence the funds necessary for such outlay can partially be obtained. Sooner or later such control must be centralised', and the sooner such centralisation takes place the better; the Colony is one and indivisible and must be relieved from the Pedlingtonism of Pro.vincialisia. Tlia waste lands have not hitherto been so well managed under Provincial control as to render us unwilling to see what can be done under another regime,

relief fromjhospitais in ( London. The Food Journal says, orange trees are singularly prolific. As many'as 20:000 marketable oranges have been gathered from one tree, and the branches have frequently to be propped up with wooden supports to prevent their breaking. Eisso mentions a tree Nice 1789 which was more than 50ft. high and the trunk of so large a girth that it required two men with outstretched arms to embrace it. This tree usually bore from . 5,000 to 6,000 oranges- . -■. “ZEgles," in the Australisan, says:—“lt is doubtless very uncharitable and unchrisianlike, but the souls of men revolt at the matrimonial alliance of Mongolians with English women. It dosen’t mend the matter much, nor does it quite Anglicise the bridegroom that Ah Sin appends ‘Esq.’ to his native appellation. Nor need the lady feel so much pride in the alliance as. to parade in the journals’the names of her distinguished, ancestors—an announcement which, if they could read it, would make them shudder in their graves.” Holloway’s Ointment and Pills.—Tinsolicited Testimony.—Mr. |Rippon, Hairdresser of Exeter, in a letter dated July Ist 1862. Writes.- “My wife had been a great sufferer for several years from bad legs. A fter many different applications for months together to no purpose, a lady strongly recommended your medicament and 1 do assure you we feel.most thankful to her and yourself for the perfect cure they have effected. My wife is now able to take a walk of four or five miles with comfort. You may publish this letter. r aud I only hope it may be the means of inducing, other sufferers to use your admirable remedies, whicV have proved a blessing indeed to us.” Such testimonials are indisputable.”