COLONIALISATION OF THE LAND FUND.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1067, 28 November 1877, Page 3

COLONIALISATION OF THE LAND FUND.

PUBLIC MEETING. A public meeting was held at the Schoolroom, Phillipstown, last evening, convened by the chairman of the Heathcote Road Board, at the request of a number of ratepayers, to consider the action of the Government with respect to the Canterbury Land Fund. There was uot a large attendance. Mr S. Manning, chairman of the Heathcot e Road Board, occupied the chair, and briefly called upon Dr. Turnbull to move the first resolution. He might say that several resolutions would be proposed by gentlemen present, and he felt sure that they would commend them • selves to all those present.. [Hear, hear.] He would now ask Dr. Turnbull to propose the first resolution. [Hear, hear. | Dr. Turnbull said the resolution which he had to propose was as follows: —“ That this meeting is of opinion that the appropriation of the land fund for colonial use is not only opposed to the compact of 1856, but is a direct violation of the promises by which the abolition of the provinces was mainly accomplished ; it is further of opinion that no radical change in the land laws now in force should be made until the whole question has been submitted to the constituencies.” Doubtless this resolution had been entrusted to him because he happened to be their representative in the County Council. However that may be, it was so far fortunate that he was in perfect accord with the opinions expressed in the resolution. _He was a provincialist, and therefore he supposed a believer in the proprietorship of each province of the waste lands within its boundaries. If the alternative had been open he would rather have given np their waste lands and retained their provincial institutions, but since the provinces had for a time disappeared, he could not for one consent to surrender that which their prudence and forethought had preserved to them without a vigorous protest against this most unjust appropriation. There could be no doubt but that the prime movers in this policy of seizure were the members of the Province of Auckland, and of all men they ought to be the last to attempt its accomplishment. They ought to be the last because it was chiefly the Province of Auckland which brought about the bargain by which the land in each province was handed over to be dealt with by the various Provincial Councils. In 1856 the position of Auckland and the Southern provinces seemed to bo that Auckland had little Crown lands to sell and a good deal of native land to buy. It required money with which to buy native land, and it got that money. The Southern provinces had a great deal of Crown land to sell, and they consented to give Auckland the money, provided the Crown waste lands were handedover inalienably to the provinces. The consideration in the bargain which Auckland received was the waiver of the public debt, the exemption of Auckland from the New Zealand Company’s debt, and the proviiioa by loan o£

£500,000 as a capital fund for the purchase of native lands. It was sufficiently on record that the men of Auckland of that day thought they had done an exceedingly smart thing in effecting this bargain, for, as one of their best men had said the other day—“ This was a bargain, it is a hard bargain ; we have been held to it hardly ; but as it is a bargain, so be. it.” But this bargain was duly ratified by Parliament. The Land Ecvenue Appropriation Act of 1858 said—“ After and subject to the payment to be made under the provisions hereinbefore contained, all the revenue arising from the disposal of the waste lands of the Crown in the several provinces of the colony, shall in pursuance of warrants to be from time to time granted by the G-overnor, be paid over by the receivers of the land revenue to the respective treasurers of such provinces for the public use thereof, subject to the appropriation of the respective Provincial Councils.” It was useless wasting their time in the old attempt to prove that the people of each province were made the proprietors in perpetuity of the waste lands within the province. It was a fact which was now’ barely disputed, but when those Auckland men made the bargain it was as likely as not that it w’ould turn out in the end a smart thing for Auckland. Had the early settlers of this province followed the example of the old provinces, and sold by auction huge blocks of land to a few people fora mere song, and then spent the proceeds of the sales in paying the ordinary working expenses of the province, then the Province of Canterbury would have been as poor as they say they now are. They were indebted for their prosperity to their early settlers, who framed the land laws. The two great principles of those law’s were of vital moment to their prosperity. They recognised the necessity of the sufficient price for the waste lauds, and fixed it at £2 per acre. They recognised in that price not only the acquisition of funds sufficient to open up the land to the settler, but they aimed at the far higher object of deterring capitalists from absorbing the country [in huge blocks, and hoped to secure settlement by a numerous population on small sections. They hoped to keep the land open for the industrious farmer, for the men who ever formed the back bone of the country; and they did it. Beyond their most sanguine expectations their aims have been accomplished. The land laws of Canterbury were the sole cause of the bargain of 1856 not turning out a smart thing for Auckland. The people of this province deserve the utmost credit for their steadfast adherence to those laws. They had to a certain extent reaped their reward, but he said that it was a cruel thing that any section of this colony should attempt to wrest from them what w r as still a magnificent estate—an estate preserved to this day solely by their by their own prudence and forethought. For the future welfare of the State he was grieved that this unjust appropriation should be attempted. For the continuance of amicable feelings between the two island he regretted the movement. Times now were prosperous, and men were apathetic in political matters, but when bad times came round, and taxation told upon them, men would bitterly recall, if this thing was done, that it was done with a double repudiation of solemn engagements. That the compact of 1856 was broken and cast aside, that the solemn promises given in financial statements —in Parliament by Ministers and Statesmen, given verbally and in writing, that if they sacrificed their provincial institutions for the good of the State, their land fund would be preserved to them. Yet at this early date—at the session immediately after abolition—the proposition was tabled in the House by Ministers that the land fund must be appropriated. Ho had already said that of all the provinces Auckland should be the last to push the colony into this unjust procedure, not only because of her prominent action in the compact, but because of the large sums of colonial money which had been spent for Auckland. It should not be forgotten that out of colonial loans upwards of two millions of pounds had been spent for Auckland in the formation of roads, bridges, and the purchase of Native lands for the province. These were substantial guarantees that the people of this island were anxious to see each portion of the colony prosper. Such an unselfish expenditure should surely make them hold their hands from attempting this thing. But in the settlement of this question it should surely rank as some small claim upon the people of the North, that this island anxiously incurred the three million war loan to save the sister island from utter devastation, A loan incurred by the colony without the slightest hesitation, to secure the safety of this very province which now threatens to despoil them of their land fund avowedly for their own good. Was it the proper time to make this appropriation ? Had all legitimate sources of income been made use of to meet our requirements ? If the Ministry of the colony were to say, it is absolutely necessary to save the credit of the State, then they would make but a feeble protest, but it was only one of two methods of raising the necessary income. It was unquestionably right that the other means should be first exhausted, namely, taxation of property and incomes. It would be remembered it was part of the public works scheme that properties through which railways passed should pay a certain per centage to assist in defraying the working expenses. That had never been done ; but in addition to that the whole property of the colony had increased so much in value by the expenditure of millions of borrowed money that it was high time it should be made to bear some portion of the expense. He therefore thought there ought at once to be made a fair tax upon property and incomes. He put aside as hardly worth consideration the barrier such a tax might prove to the importation of capital. Such an evil would be nothing in comparison to the barrier to the settlement of the country which want of money for local necessities would create. The absence of a land fund to develops the country already purchased on the faith of that fund being forthcoming would be markedly disastrous, and there would be little need of capital to purchase waste lands, if there was no money to make the roads and bridges necessary to the profitable occupation of that land. To him it was perfectly wonderful that the people of other provinces could imagine that there would be a fund if the generalisation took place, because it could not be entertained that they should continue to pay £2 an acre for the bad laud which was left, and other provinces pay only £l. If, as it must be, the price was reduced to £1 here, as elsewhere, and the sales dropped away, what would be left cut of that fund after paying the expenses necessary to the settlement of the land. To him it seemed apparent that the determination to seize this fund was based primarily upon a false idea as to the cause of our prosperity. Vsitors from other provinces sawour schools, colleges, hospitals, asylums, and all

the commodious public buildings found in a prosperous community, and they said —“ Ah, their land fund did those things for them ; we must make them share it with us.” Had this been so, he almost thought they would deserve to have it taken from them. Had they for a moment, forgotten that the very essence of our land laws—the sufficient price—was to treat the land as capital, to be returned to the land whence it came, to be used to make their permanent works, railways, harbors, telegraphs, roads, bridges, and immigration, and all v/orks necessary to work the land. No one could deny they did all those things with their sufficient price. They did them all not only without jobbery and corruption, but in a style which had never been equalled here. They steadfastly adhered to the principle of their land laws to treat the land fund as capital. He would show them that the cost of not only every public building in the place, from the wayside police station to their colleges and courts, but the cost of every department necessary to population, education, police, charities - all were paid for, not out of land fund, but out of the ordinary revenue of the province. Men even in this province believe the land fund did those things for them, but out of the province, beyond all manner of doubt, the conviction rested on men’s minds that the money from the land fund was used to meet the requirements of population. This was a grave error, an error which was now about to lead the Legislature into the grossest injustice. He repeated that ordinary income had been used to pay ordinary expenditure, and more than that, they had taxed themselves through local bodies more than any other province in the colony. He would read to them two or three tables which were carefully prepared : Statement of the ordinary revenue, and of the ordinary expenditure of the province of Canterbury, from April, 1868, to June, 1876. Ordinary revenue, April, 18G8, to June, 1876.

Balance in favor of ordinary revenue after paying for buildings and departments £105,646 16 1 Such being the case in regard to their ordinary expenses, it followed that not one penny had been taken from the land fund. The whole fund went back to the land in the shape of harbors, railways, bridges, roads, and immigrants. If such had been the policy they had rigidly adhered to, could it be a matter of surprise that they should protest against this bold attempt P He would not detain them longer, hut in conclusion he ■would remind them that he had said he was a decided provincialisfc. As such he had been told his ideas were not broad and libei'al, but narrow and parochial. That was now the fashion of speech, but it would change. To his mind, there were two styles of rearing a State, the one objectionable, the other most healthful. If he were outside the colony, he would sink Canterbury and Christchurch, and be proud of New Zealand, but in the colony, and among fellow-colonists, he upheld the rights of the province. If he had to express in a kind of formula his degrees of feeling, he should say, “ I love Christchurch and its people, I have an unbounded respect for my constituents of the Heathcote, I am proud of the province of Canterbury, and it is a satisfaction to me to be a colonist of New Zealand.” Suchjin reality hejbelicved to be the feelings of almost all of them, and it was a happy thing it should be so, because whereever love of city or district was the strongest, there would order and progress be best sustained; and wherever love of city or district prevailed there in times of trouble and depression, there would patience under suffering be evinced, and in times of danger there would the bravest defenders of the whole State be found. [Loud applause,] Mr H. W. Packer seconded the motion. He thought the abolition of the provinces had mastered what was said to be inevitable when it was done, viz., the spoliation of the land fund. Ho need not go into the history of the compact; that had been done by Dr. Turnbull, and he hoped the meeting would support the resolution he had proposed. By so doing they would, ho thought, strengthen the hands of their representatives in the House, who also was in the Government, and who had said if his was the only voice raised in the House he would raise it against the taking of the land fund. He quite agreed with Dr. Turnbull that the keeping of the price at £3 per acre in Canterbury had been the cause of the prosperity of the They had used their revenue to make roads and bridges to enable the settlers to get on to their land, and hence their prosperity. He hoped to see the resolutions earned unanimously.

Mr Treadwell supported the resolution. Mr Hopkins also briefly spoke in favour of the resolution, contending that the action of the people of Christchnrch in returning thre< members pledged to Abolition had been the means of the province losing its birthright. Christchurch, he felt sure, would yet regret having done this. The resolution was then put and agreed to unanimously, amid loud cheers. Mr F. Jones rose to propose the next resolution. They now came to another branch of the subject, and he thought they would very heartily support the resolution he had to place before them. They had not yet lost their land fund, and no doubt the resolutions of that evening would to some extent act as a check. But they must remember that the County of Selwyn, of which they formed a part, had very large funds to its credit. They were therefore naturally interested in seeing the funds of the county handed over to the local bodies instead of remaining in the coffers of the Government. The resolution that he had to propose was hearing upon this subject, but before reading it he desired to speak as to the compact of 1856. It seemed to him after what had taken place that it was perfectly astounding that any one could be found to violate it. The Financial Arrangements Act of last session provided that the balance of the revenue collected in the counties should, after paying all the necessary deductions, be handed over to the County Councils. As, however in the County of Selwyn there was no Council, the Government handed it direct to the local bodies. The balance due to the County of Selwyn was very large, and, therefore, the proportion of the Heathcote district would be proportionately so. The resolution he had to propose was as follows —“That should Parliament during the present session decide to colonialise the land fund, this meeting is of opinion that the funds at present in hand and belonging to the provincial district of Canterbury should be paid over to the local bodies, as provided by the Financial Arrangements Act.” This was quite irrespective of the first resolution, because, whether the radical change contemplated took place or not, the accrued money should be handed over. (Cheers). Mr Andrew Duncan rose to second the resolution. He understood that there was nearly half a million of money lying to the credit of Canterbury, and if the Government were going to steal that money —for it was nothing but stealing —they were breaking all faith and compacts entered into. There was, he was sorry to say, such an air of demoralisation about the House of Representatives that he was afraid that any one, even the most honest amongst them, going up there as a member would soon become demoralised. As pointed out by Dr. Turnbull, Canterbury had done her duty by charging a fair price for her land to enable her to make roads, Ac. Why, then, should she be compelled to send her money out of the province to make railways to large estates in other parts of the colony. Their revenue was to be taken to pay the cost of railways which had been made in unproductive provinces. Their railway revenue in Canterbury was as large as all the rest of the colony put together. [Hear, hear.] Ho thought that this resolution would have a good effect in strengthening the hands of their representatives. It might be said how was it that Mr Fisher, their representative, had joined a Government which came down to take the land fund of Canterbury ? Well, the Government were not worse than their predecessors, who proposed to take the land fund indirectly, and did not come down and say they required it for the exigencies of the colony. It had been said that there were dissensions in the Cabinet on this land fund question, and he believed that Mr Fisher was the one who was sticking against'the colonialisation of the land fund. They all knew Mr Fisher, and they would require some stronger proof than mere newspaper rumour that Mr Fisher had gone over to the party who desired to take the land fund. Only in August last Mr Fisher, in a speech made by him, appealed to the Hon. Mr Bowen, who he claimed as a Canterbury pilgrim like himself to preserve the land fund of Canterbury, and stated that if only his voice was raised against it he would protest. He (Mr Duncan) thought that it was a very good thing that Mr Fisher was in the Government. [Cheers.] He hoped the meeting would carry the resolution unanimously. [Cheers.] The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mr Toomer, jun., moved the next resolution—“ That the chairman of the Heathcote Road Board be requested to forward copies of the foregoing resolutions to the Hon. Colonial Secretary, the Hon. J. T. Fisher, and the other Canterbury members.” Mr Hopkins seconded the resolution, which was carried.

A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings.

£ s. d. Capitation grants 421,361 15 5 Pasturage rents 351,962 19 3 Education 40,321 7 7 Licenses — Publicans, Auctioueers 50,583 9 0 Lunatic Asylu in ... 4,766 9 10 Hospitals 4,309 0 5 Eents 5,055 5 0 Kents, education reserve 14,621 1 0 Rents, reserves superior education ... ... 10,047 14 0 Dog tax 23,999 10 0 Incidental... 9,103 14 3 Total =£936,135 4 9 Ordinary Expenditure—April, 1868, to June, 1876 —Departmental Expenditure. £ s. d. Administration 23,083 5 7 Provincial Council 18,253 0 0 Administration of iusticc, ineluding police, gaols, &c. 141,604 7 2 Education 137,902 3 11 Hospitals 41,875 10 7 Lunatic Asylum 48,102 0 10 Orphanage 12,453 0 9 Industrial School 3,206 9 1 Charitable aid 46 810 12 9 College, Museum, Library 15,389 13 6 Miscellaneous 89,018 7 1 Total 577,699 7 3 Balance in favor of revenue ... 358,435 17 6 Expenditure for Public Buildings in the Province of Canterbury, from April, 1868, to June, 1876. School Buildings throughout the Province 113,452 18 11 Supremo Court 12,451 17 2 Addington Gaol 9,794 0 10 Lyttelton Gaol 11,933 9 1 Police Depot 6,389 5 0 Normal School 11,235 18 5 Hospital 13,082 7 8 Lunatic A sylum ... 23,660 17 1 Public Libraries 13,540 16 6 Orphan Asylum 7,207 9 1 Industrial School 5,081 4 11 College 2,693 7 8 Museum 12,559 11 7 Public Library 3,009 0 6 Country Police Stations 0 0 0 Quarantine and Immigrants’ .Barrack 0 0 0 Casual Wards, &c 0 0 0 Total .£253,092 4 5