SMALL GRAZING RUNS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2338, 3 November 1908, Page 6

SMALL GRAZING RUNS.

MR. DARTON’S OPINIONS

THE MINISTER’S ACTION

'During liis* political address in His Majesty’s Theatre last evening, Mr. Dart on referred to the much-discussed question of the renewing of the lease of a certain small grazing run and the refusal to -renew the- lease of others. When the speaker introduced the question he Avas greeted with applause. Mr. Darton said thoso present' had liea-rd a great deal in the candidates’ speeches, and read in the newspapers a quantity of correspondence, upon the-' question, and the facts', as far as they had been disclosed, suggested Ministerial interfeicnee. The Minister accused Avas the Hon. James Carroll, and that gentleman hid promised a full explanation cl his action in the matter. ITe (Mr. Darton) did not intend to pass any criticism, upon! tlic position at present, hut to Ava-it until Mr. Carroll .had made the explanation lie had promised. When the explanation had been made, he (the speaker) Avould probably have something to say, bub at present it Avas only right- to Avait for the Minister’s explanation. In the criticism he- Avas going to make that night, lie- Avould not. refer to Mr. Carroll’s action in the matter, but lie would submit that the time position had not- been, touched either by the other candidates or by the newspapers. The Land Act under which the leases* Avere granted! prOA T ided that the leags of the runs could be -renewed or could be t-lie discretion of the Land Board—by giving the tenant® notice within one year o-f the expiration of the lease. Of this the Hawke’® Bay Land Board Avas av/are, and the Crown Lands Ranger av as "sent- out to inspect the inns. The Ranger recommended that the- runs be subdivided. The Land Board approved of the Ranger’s report, and decided to determine the lease in question. The lessee was notified of the Board’s decision, for the Land Board alone had tho power to determine"" the lease, and acted upon that power. Why the Board’s recommendation had been interfered Avith, lie (Mr. Dartn) did nob know. The Minis ter Jar Lands had no more, right to interfere Avith the work o'f -the Land Board than any other person, and ouch an act of interference by Mr. McNab was illegal—(applause) ; for the Land Board, and the Land Board alone, bad power to determine the lease. The Minister had only power to interfere Avhen the land .again re-A-erted to be CroAvn lands, and the runs Avere not CroAvn lands, and' Avere not under the Minister’s jurisdiction, until the lease® had expired. ' The Land Board had recommended to- the Minister that the run in Question should be sub-divided, but the recommendation was not adopted. The circumstances pointed to Ministerial interference, and he (Mr. Darton) only hoped that the Minister for Native Affairs would] be able- to give the electors -a satisfactory explanation of the position. (Loud applause.)

MR CARROLL AND THE GRAZ-

ING RUNS.

[To the Editor.]

Sir, —Have you correctly reported Air Carroll’s statement about the small grazing runs P Everyone is amazed that so weak and evasive a statement should hive been made in reply to charges so definite. No doubt the Almister is sorry—extremely sorry —that the whole thing occurred. But he is pleased “to object to a man squeaking when he lost, a few thousand pounds.” Of course in the case of Air Black the man who was “squeaking” should think nothing at all of the loss of a. few thousand pounds (so Air Carroll implies) whereas the tenant whose run was returned to him is a, poor man. The squealing which he did deserved and received from. Alinisters respectful and favorable consideration. As a, member of a Alinistry which Iras driven hundreds of thousands of pounds out of the country to Queensland and elsewhere, of a Alinistry whose .ill-con-ceived and socialistic land policy lias made English investors vert - chary about handling New Zealand securities and prefer to send their money to .South America, no doubt the fact that the Government’s action means a loss of some thousands of pounds to Mr Black is a matter for amusement land for laughter up the sleeve. But when men not so gifted with humor, remember that Air Black stands for the best type of settler, that ihis son lived and worked, and had his home on this run, it is with very „.different feelings that they regard, what •has been done. Again, if everything that took place between: the Board and the Ministers in connection with Air Hall’s run was so free from suspicion of political influence, why was the correspondence 'denied to the House land to Air Eustace Lane ? Possibly this was a sort of practical joke played h,v the Ministry which finds so much humor in serious matters. As to Air Carroll’s reference to his private affairs, he surely has been in politics long enough to know that when a member’s and particularly a Minister’s* private • affairs have even the appearance of conflicting with hi® diuty, they no longer remain his private affairs. When the private affairs of a trustee conflict with his duty to those for whom he is trustee, the latter ‘are entitled to know exactly what »the position is. So with a member land! the electors who have reposed their trust and confidence in him. Is Mr Carroll afraid of enquiry on the part... of the electors whose votes, he nevertheless seeks P If not, why is he so anxious that the transactions which have been referred to should not be discussed ? Impartial . electors ■ will. draw their own conclusions. —I am, etc., “DOUBTER,”

[To the Editor.] Sir I , —lt is understood, I believe, that the Native Alinister dees not pretend to he an. expert in matters of finance. But he is unfortunately one of .a Alinistry which is in a great measure directly responsible for the difficulty which many a fanner, many a. tradesman and many a professional man is now experiencing in getting enough, money iin to meet current expenses. I venture to say that there are very few email farmers ■and very few tradespeople who have not begun to feel ia pinch which before Song will be much more severe. “AVhy is money so tight?” is .a question, that cue bears every day. The Liberal Alinistry, which claims to have done so much jSSpod, is ‘directly responsible for

muoli of this; for by means of dneir iinanciail operations i» till© local money market they have taken olirb of oiroplatiou the floating capital which ought .now to ..b© available to assist trade and production. The blanks cannot meet the increased demands) for accommodation and the result is that business is being restricted on 'all sides. It needs no political economist to point out that as a result employment will also bo restricted aikl wage-earners will. be thrown out of work. Bankruptcies have increased 1 during the last six months and no indications are forthcoming to show that thing® are going to improve. Perhaps some-of your ' readers canto!:! us how much money the Government lias borrowed! locally during the past two or three years. It will not he much consolation' to the man u ho is pressed for money to know that the money.he needs is part of the millions the Government lias taken, hut it will afforddmn a, very good reason for voting against the return- of the Government, which is largely responsible 'for the position in which he finds himself. —I am, etc., “HARD-UP." [To the Ethtob,.] (Sir, —I have read the statement on the above subject -by Mr Carroll as appearing in' vour issue of Saturday. There is one- part of it that I take exception to and l that is where ho says he (Mr Carroll) had no objection to a man parading his grievance, but he did object to a man squealing when lie lost a few thousand pounds, for the runholder who was squealing was a “sub-tenant." He had, perhaps, paid too much for his lease, and the original lessee was laughing up- his sleeve." Now, Sir, one would think Mr - Carroll was talking about pigs when he talks about squealing. I would remind Mr Carroll that a subtenant is just on the same footing as the original! lessee. Clause 203, Section -I), says:—“Every lawful tmnsferree of any lease or purchaser of any- lease as aforesaid shall have all' the rights and privileges, and be subject to the same obligations as the original lessee.” The lessee that Mr Carroll refers to bought this run from the former tenant. He did not foreclose on a mortgage and squeeze the owner out as other run holders that I could mention did. The Government are now trying to victimize this young man out of a few thousand pounds and deprive him of his second term, which be is fully entitled to if the run is again let. It will I .’ take all Mr Carroll’s eloquence and choice oratory to convince the public that there lias nett been wire-pulling and favoritism shown, over these runs. —I iam, etc., “ANOTHER VICTIM.”