The Fielding Star. SATURDAY. JANUARY 7, 1893. The Palmerston Land Trouble

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 851, 7 January 1893, Page 2

The Fielding Star. SATURDAY. JANUARY 7, 1893. The Palmerston Land Trouble

The Wellington Post in dealing with the extraordinary transactions of the Forest Reserves Special Settlement Association at Palmerston North and the still more extraordinary conduct I of certain Justices of the Peace, after discussing and commenting on the evidence, says : — " We shall wait with some curiosity to see whether the Minister of Justice will also wink at the transactions disclosed in the evidence, to which the Land Board has directed his special attention. Justice is supposed to be blind. If it winks it must also halt." The New Zealand Times of yesterday says : — " The decision of the Land Board in the Palmerston special settlement case settles a vexed question of theory. When the system of special settlement was ottered to the public, it was opposed as certain to be ruined by the abuse of speculation. We heard much in fact, of the inability of any possible authorities to check the abuse of wl)at was in theory admitted to be a good thing. The Land Board has token the first opportunity to give a practical r«piy to these fears. It has simply thrown daylight on the h'rst case of speculation, forfeited four sections, pronounced the strongest condemnation on the leaders of the special settlement affected, virtually recommended that one or more Justices of the Peace shall be dismissed for malpractice, and demanded that all transfers shall be left in tho case of thi-s settlement to the Land Board alone. In olden times speculation, when known because rampant, never could be prevented from stopping settlement. Under the altered circumstances of a superior regime speculation, which will always ride for first place, gets a most tremendous fall.'