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Dunstan Times, Issue 699, 10 September 1875, Page 2

The granting of the 640 acre block on Run 325 n, Cairnhill, to Messrs Strode and Fraser, of Earnscledgh Station, is an act to be greatly deplored. It is most decidedly opposed to the interests of the Dunstan District, and those of Clyde in particular ; and we cannot wonder at the inhabitants memorialising His Honor the Superintendent to relieve them from the great wrong which the local Waste Lands Board seeks to inflict upon them. Ttisno excuse for this body to say that they were compelled to do so by virtue of the right of any squatter to select from any portion of his

run 640 acres, and which ho may purchase as a freehold We will even go so far ns to allow that Section 103 u, Otago Waste Lands Act, 1872, permits of this ; still, there are these redeeming circumstances left that the selection shall not be opposed to public policy, and which is most unmistakably the case in reference to this selection. The block of land in question is the only available one wo possess for agricultural purposes on the western side of the Molyneux, and when we come to consider that it is intended to build the now flour mill hero ; also to connect both banks of the river by means of the bridge now in course of erection by the Corporation of Clyde, the alienation of this block by the squatters becomes a question for very grave consideration, and neither the townspeople or the Council, if true to themselves and the future prosperity of the district, can stand,idly by and witness this act of spoliation without making an effort to prevent it. The Cairnhill Bloek contains at least an area five miles in length, by one in breadth, of magnificent agricultural land, probably the verv best in the Dunstan District, and which, cut up into fauns, is capable of supporting a considerable number of a very desirable class of people ; but this cannot be the case if Messrs Strode and Fraser’s application is finally approved of in Dunedin. Their selection comprises the very heart and best portion of this magnificent block, while the remainder w mid in consequence thereof he rendered valueless for public purposis. The present is the first case on record where a local Waste Lands Board basset at defiance the expressed wishes of the people, and it only proves-our previously conceived opinions that the establishment of these Boards was a very great mistake, while they never can represent the interests of the people they are supposed to conserve, their verv constitution alone proving them an abortion, and another of the abominations which Provincialism has inflicted upon the Gold fields. We find the whole of the Goldfields complaining that the local Land Boards do not represent the interests of their respective districts, and it is impossible that thev can do so, as they are not sufficiently cosmopolitan. Any person possessing a know'edge of the North-western districts of Otago cannot come to any 0W co ;elusion In t that, while ps (s sing plenty of sheep country, the area av.d able for agricultural pin poses is extremely limited in extent. This, including the reserves for gold-raining purposes is all we have to support a working population upon, and if this little falls into the hands of the squatters, all other interests, except the breeding of sheep, must come to an end. It will not pay to make railways into the interior solely for the transport of wool to the aeuboird, nor ago the squatters themselves in a position to bear the interest of the Co--1 my’s indebtedness, lit ther fore becomes plain that, unless the interior portions of the country wherever pra--ticab’e, more especially the gold-fields, come to be settled upon by an industrious class of people, whose sole business it is to conjure riches out of the soil itself, as the reward of their own handiwork, the present unsatisfactory state of New Zealand finance cannot otherwise but eventuate in universal bankruptcy and ruin. Clyde has made a hard struggle these last few vears against a continuation of ad verse circumstances, and considering that now it has before it a fair chance of recovering itself, it would be positively criminal, were it d< prived of this important element towards its success. Run 355u is only a portion of a run, consequently it would be illegal to take 040 acres out of it. The land can only be wanted by Messrs Strode and Fiasorfor purposes of monopoly, while they can select a similar and more suitable area in the flat of the Earnsclengh in the immediate vicinity of their Home Station. It the people of Clyde and its surroundings are only true to themselves, they need not despair of successfully opposing this wanton spoliation of their rightful estate. The Superintendent cannot shut his cars to the righteous complaints of the bone and sinew of the country against the prayer of the applicants, Messrs Strode and Fraser.