Correspondence.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 128, 28 November 1896, Page 2

Correspondence.

OUR LIBERAL GOVERNMENT. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — As the poor working man is the hobby horse on which our present rulers hope to ride to power, I propose, with your permission, to show how very "liberally" they treat him. Nearly thirty years ago a poor and very illiterate man and his wife went to live on a rood of la:id fiven to the latter by a Maori relative without any documentary title. The place is between here and Wellington. They built two cottages and a small bakery on the land, and have lived there continuously ever since. The Hutt County Council valued the property at i'2oo, on which they paid rates for years. The man has always been a con«istent supporter of Mr J. G. Wilson, late member for Otaki. Early this year the Government ordered him off his pretcises on the Ground that all his buildings were on the road line. As the site never teas a road, or on a road line, and tbe Government do not, and never did, own a foot of land there, he naturally refused to give up all he had and go out. Government then went to law, and, to suit their case, ordered a surveyor to survey the place, and he, of course, placed the buildings on tbe road line on his plan, as none of the old maps showed it to be so. Tbe unfortunate man's Maori witnesses were away at the time, and the S.M. decided against him. Mr W. T. L. Travers, of Wellington, wrote to the Government and strongly protested against such a bitter wrong and a gross injustice being inflicted, and told the man he was absolutely certain that an appeal to a higher Court would decide in his favour, but the poor fellow had no means to appeal, and on the 31st March last the Govern--ment sent a Land Board officer and two policemen, and they put him and his wife and children and all their belong ings out by force in a thunderstorm, the rain spoiling their provisions and clothes, and the Government refuted to give them any compensation save the right to take up land elsewhere at 30s an acre. And at 62 years of age this nun has to begin life anew by carving ont a home in the bush after losing all he had. I am, etc., Iconoclast.