The Land Question.

Dunstan Times, Issue 991, 15 April 1881, Page 2

The Land Question.

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According to advertisement, Mr Pyko, member for tbe Dunstan, mat the electors of Clyde last Friday evening in the Town Hall, A fair and representative number of persona interested attended the meeting, and evinced great interest in the nroceodings. Mr Welsford was voted to the chair. In opening the meeting, the Chairman said that it was unnecessary for him to say anything on the subject which would be brought before them that evening, and all knew the object for which their member had called them together. He asked for a fair hearing for Mr Pyke. Mr Pyke, on rising, was greeted with applause. As good feeling had always prevailed between himself and bis constituents, he felt groat confidence in coming there to address them that evening. His subject was one which had always been tke question of his life. They had just entered on a crusade--not a crusade to recover the Holy Sepulchre, but to recover for the people that which they must have at any coat, no matterhowgreat.aud which was their right —namely, the land. The question of reclaiming the land from the run-holders and giving it to tke people w.is one of great importance to them all. Otago had been long enough impoverished by the squatters converting the land into sheep-walks. The prosperity of a colony depended absolutely upon its population. Without people land was of no use. It could not prosper; cultivation would not be followed ; and the land would remain a sheep-walk for ever and ever. If the electors were not up and doing immediately, the land would be again lost to them for another period of ten years. It was for the people, the backbone and sinews of a country, to say what should be done with the laud—whether it should be leased to the squatters for another period of ten year? and still continue sheep-walks, or lie cut up and offere'l tothepublic. No one could gainsay the word of the p;ople. No single man could thwart their wishes ; no Parliament could ; uo, nor even a Government The speaker contended that the public works policy of the present Government was ruining the Colony. The consequence was that the wealth of the county—its people : people who had means and were competent tradesmen, and industrious when they could obtain employment—bad flocked to the coast in large numbers. All would remember the old days of m : n : ng, when gold was as plentiful as dirt, and when fortunes were won and lost in a day. Although there was plenty of money then, it did not do the district much good. But although the land made good returns in those good old days, still the returns ware not so good as they were when the laud was under cultivation. He (the speaker) had met them that evening to consider the question of dealing with the runs in Vincent County. The great question of the day was: “ Should the land be opened to the people or not?” On that point it depended whether Central Otago was to remain a howling wilderness and a desert, or bo transformed into a blossoming, fruitful garden. With this question and others the people had to deal. Besides the land question was that of the Central Otago railway. Without a railway, settlement was comparatively useless. We wanted (and must have) a railway to carry our dairy and farm pro luce to market. When he (the speaker) opened the bridge at Blacks, the manager of a station told him that he had grossly insulted him (the manager) by telling tbe people there assembled that he would be glad to see the country opened up. The run-holders wanted the land for their sheep, not for the people and their railways. He hoped the electors would insist upon the land being cut up, and thus prevent the re-leasing of the runs to the squatters. (Applause.) Ho had before him a Parliamentary document laid on the table of the House last session. On reference to it, it appeared that in that portion of Vincent County which was within the provincial district of Otago, 1,000,000 acres were at present held by 21 persons or firms. Touching that portion of the county which was in Canterbury he knew nothing. He could get no information about that part; but this much he did know—that it was just as hard to get a piece of butter out of a dog’s mouth as try and get information from the Canterbury Land Cilice. In Otago, the enormous number of 20 persons held 1.500.000 acres ; and there were resident on these stations : ten managers and two runholders. When referring to the landlordism and absentee questions, the speaker expressed a hope that they would both soon be numbered amongst the things of the past. Not long since a good local man applied to the Dunedin Waste Lands Board for a paltry 50 acres, to bo taken from a run of 80,000 acres, and the manager then successfully opposed the application. A man couldn’ttakoup32o acres of land unless ho resided unon it and made improvements. But—and this was what made the Act inconsistent—a squatter could take up 500,000 acres and live at Timhnctoo nr the North Polo if he chose, and the Government wouldn’t interfere with him. The splatters would not improve or cultivate the land. Sydney Smith once said—“ Give a mm a lease of paradise and he’d make it a desert ; give him the ownership of a desert and he’d make it a paradise.” This saving applied with great force to the squatocrats of the present time : they came to the country and found it a paradise, and in a few years they transmogrified it into a desert by overstocking. This was a substantial reason why the obnoxious and ruinous system of run-leasing should be abolished. At this stage the speaker adduced some figures, showing the amount of 'and in Vincent County held by five persons alone. No 1 held, besides freeholds, 384,000 acres ; No. 2, 172,000 ; No. 3, 84.000 ; No. 4, 82,000 ; and No. 5, 80,000. Thus, five persons held in Central Otago alone no loss a number of acres than 782,000. On Septembers, 1882, 739,047 of the acres alludedtowonld have to be dealt with by the Dunedin Waste Lan Is Board; but,literally,the re-leasing would be determined this year, the question having to be decided twelve months previous to the expiration of the leases. In all. 1,000,000 acres of land in Otago (now held by eleven persons only) had to be dealt with by the Waste Lands Board this year, and if the people did not act at once, they deserved to be called what Sir George Grey had so often termed them in Parliament—“ Serfs, rather than free men.” When the Central Otago Bailwav Commission were traversing this district, their eyes wore opened to the value of the land for settlement. They said the best thing that could happen to the land would be to have it sett'e 1 with an industrious population. The speaker hoped to see at no distant date fields of waving corn, frnit gardens, and groups of happv, smiling children in place of the shepherd’s solitary habitation, his dogs, and a few thousand sheep. By Section 119 of “ The Land Act, 1877,” it was provided that, as the leases fell in,they should bo exposed to anction in runs not larger than wonld carry 5.000 head of sheep or 1,000 head of cattle. According to this Act, the re-leasing of the runs depended upon the Governor-in-Cmincil; but, whether the Act were carried out or not, it depended upon the advice tendered him by bis Advisers. When this Act was before Parliament, Mr Donald

Reid and the speaker fought a hard battle over it, and the Canterbury squatters, to defeat tboni, amalgamated with their Otagaa brethren, and thus bod inserted in the Act some very curious clauses. If Mr Hall advised the Oovornor-in-Council to release the runs, then his advice would bi followed, and the land would again be a sheep-walk for another ten years, and continue a wilderness. It had been brought forward by some that the manner in which the Act was worded was a good reason why no agitation was necessary. How awfully jolly the squatters were ! Something was in the wind i otherwise they would be downhearted and in the dumps. Tl eir jollity laid in a few words—Tho Act was' only to be carried into operation “ If the Governor in-Council should see fit ” What was to be done to prevent the question being decided in the squatters’ favor ? Something must be done, and that at once. What should they do! Why, they must form themselves into a brotherhood and make the “ Governor think Jit ” to coincide with their wishes. (Applause.) He had not tho slightest faith in the run-holders, because when in Sir Julius Vogel’s time the question arose of adding ten years to the land tenure, a condition was made that certain lands on the goldfields should be set aside for settlement purposes. The number of acres was set down at from 5,000 to 10,000 on each run ; and the squatters were glad to accept their runs on those conditions. However, when Government tried to enforce the condition, the squatters resisted, and the matter was taken to the Supreme Court. The condition was declared by the Court to be ultra vires, and the run-holders were freed from the condition upon which they obtained their runs. If the matter was not soon settled in some way or the other, the speaker said he would live to see the Town Hall a wool-shed and Mr Benjamin Naylor’s store a rabbit-skin depot. (Laughter.) Ho who sat down and was neutral in the matter was a traitor to himself, his country, and family. He was going to try and form throughout the province what he would (appropriately) call a “ Laud League,” whoso operations should be on almost as extensive a scale as those of its noted Irish brother ; and this League should strike terror into the hearts of the squatters. (Prolonged app'ause.) The survey question was also one of great importance to the public, as the surveyors could ruin any country by their mode of survey. To meet this difficulty, he proposed that members of the Dunedin Waste Lands Board should be appointed as a Survey Commission. This Commission should indicate where all boundaries shall be, issue general instructions to the surveyors, and cause all land to be surveyed in such a manner as to fit it for settlement. Mr M'Kerrow, Surveyor-General—a just, well-meaning-man—once told him that surveys were often made contrary to instruction* issued from his office. It was often asked—“lf the lands were cut up, where was the capital to come from!” Why, he would cut up and lease, with right of purchase, the hill-land. A well-known manager told him lately that he could make every four acres of the very worst hill-land in the province carry, at least, two sheep. The question of remuneration for improvements made could be settled by Government paying the squatters so much for their works, and tenants paying up in yearly instalments standing over the terms of their leases. (Applause ) In conjunction with the several matters he had alluded to, he would ask them to appoint a Committee, the objects of which were embodied in the following resolutions ;—(I.) “That a Committee, consisting of Messrs Welsford, Sims, Naylor, M'Arthur, and Fache, be appointed, to draw up a memorial for presentation to Parliament, requesting that a sufficient survey staff bo appointed, to enable the conditions of Section 119 of the Waste Lands Act to be carried into effect, and to suggest such amendments of the law ai wou’d tend to facilitate the settlement of the people on the waste lands of the Crown, whether classified as agricultural or pastoral.” (2 ) “ That the adjacent Counties of Maniototo and Tuapeka bo asked to join herein with the Committees of Vincent County, so as to form a powerful Land League, advocating the common interest of all.” Mr Muir had much pleasure in seconding the resolutions, as, if carried into effect, they would be the means of bringing much good to the people of the county generally. The motion was put to the meeting, and carried with acclamation. Mr G. Fache said he thought that all tho Committees should he composed of purely local men, and the Committees would then be able to work harmoniously together. Mr Pyke thanked Mr Fache for his suggestion. He wanted the Committees to be c imposed of well-known, local men. and he intended to place all the Committees in communication with one another, thus forming a formidable Lan I League. In replv to the question it any eleotnrs present wished to put any questions to Mr Pyke, Two electors asked for information anent tho deferred payment and residence clauses Mr Pyke gave satisfactory answers, and adde 1 that questions like those asked would lie within the scope of the Committees. No one else having interrogations to put, Mr Pyke proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was carried. A cordial vote of thanks to Mr Pyke for his address and tho interest displayed by him in his constituents, was proposed by by Mr Sims, seconded by Mr Bell, and carried nem. con. The meeting then terminated.