The Man on the Land.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 11 March 1914, Page 4

The Man on the Land.

LAND GAMBLING

Tlio "'Napier Telpgrapb," in its discussion of the fact that 240 persons recently went into a hallot for 1,585 acres of land in the Hawke's Bay district, diviled into fourteen sections, throws a llashlight on a sinister feature of the incident. Our contemporary asks • flow far does this, taking piace in a dirtrt.iot were 128 persons between them possess no Jess than 1,748,068 acres, and where the sum total of all the ho'dings—3,2ll, 068 acres—is in the hands of only 4 648 persons, represent tuie and legitimate land hunger? And then *,he paper goes on to say: We propose to dissociate OU7-selves from any suspicion of party hias in considering the facts, by candidately admitting our be lief that the noticeable ru*h for tickets in the "sweep"- does not entirely stand for a desire for land for strictly settlement purposes. Most of ihese rafriers ni^ so arranged that the winner in any one of them may mount upon a sub. sti'.ntial "bonus" if he wishes to take it from some redly anxious woulcUhe settler. But this, while partly explaining the rushes which t<ike place at th<--o ballots, also emphasises the vicious nature of this method of dealing with land, proving as it does that before the true settler can get lair] lie has to pay toll to some Uickv rjeison vilnse marble hay turned up at the ballot, and who in seven cases out of ten "takes his ticket" in the hope of making1 a rise, liut making allowance for the conditions—which would quickly be altered and would give us the true demand for land for productive pur. poses if the leases were, submitted to auction—thorn is a very keen demand for bin.-], Those who will take, the trouble to think out what this unsatis. ii''d denimd, on the one hand, and lioaV on the. oilier it b?iii^.s into flaminy contrast the ci.Ti'livions under which a handful of p'-'onlo h--l ■ cihucisf the c-v.----lire province', uiu>t conclude. ;hu the 'his (juh ti<>:i is rackh'il il orouyhly tin; brlttT it wiil b- ju: the country.