Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 414, 22 October 1856, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

PlilCE OF LAND IN N. S. WALES. (From the Hominy Tier aid.) The live shillings an acre scheme proclaimed by Mr. Campbell in Mr. Cowper's presence, must of. course be taken as a Cabinet measure. It may be admissible for the Premier to repudiate the political notions of his colleagues, delivered by them when they were private members of the Legislature ; —this we shall not now discuss; but when the Finance Minister announces a change so vast in the land policy of this colony, we have a right to attribute it to. the head of the Cabinet. The changes in the prices of land since the land was first sold have been many. In 1523 grants were liable to a quit-rent of J.Ss. per 100 acres. In 1833 the fee simple was conveyed at the upset price of ss. In 183fc> the price was raised to 12s. per acre. In 181-2 it was raised to £1 per "acre. This price has continued in all the colonies to the present hour. It has been sufficient to prevent tiie profligate alienation of public lands. It has not prevented their sale wherever the survey has been effective. In no colony save this could any party be found to ask for a reduction. In every colony but this it would meet with an effectual resistance. If any other valuation hs adopted than that which determines the value of private property, the Government is guilty of fraud, and the people are despoiled. We see no reason, indeed, if the principle be once adopted, for stopping at os. Mr. Duigan recommended that the public land should be given away. He said "he would go a little farther'," than Mr. Campbell: he would dispose of the land without cost. He would give it to them for just nothing at all." He proceeded further to illustrate his doctrine, intimating, however, that the lands were to be held upon lease—probably intending further to reward those who consented to accept them without rent, with a free conveyance! We shall find some parties go still farther than Mr. Duigan. Ws have seen recommendations thattha Government should advance capital—as it did, indeed, to the first settlers,- —to enable the poor man to cultivate ! And perhaps some might be inclined to go yet further, and to imitate those good old times when the Government guaranteed a minimum price of 10s. per bushel. Mr. Campbell will find himself very far from reaching the last step in political liberality. He will find nimself parsimonious, compared with "the coming man' when 'the " friend of the people" shall be steward of the commonwealth.

We do not imagine that- it will be of the slightest utility to urge the claims of public faith on those who are resolved to waste the resources of the country. Those who have confided in an Act of Parliament, —still respected in all the adjacent colonies, —and who have bought under the present minimum of £■! per aero, will find themselves deprived of their capital by a stroke of the pen. The land adjoining that which the.y have purchased will be sold at onefourth the price. It is true, we still may have the auction competition,.but it is quite possible for Government so to regulate its sales as to reduce competition to a mere form. We, however, see little use in arguing this point. There are too many partisans to be found to whom the bait offered by the Ministerial hook will not be less welcome because it is a gross breach of public faith. It is not possible for Mr..Cowper to be ignorant of the operation of this new system, and on him its responsibility must rest. If, for the sake of popularity based on delusion, be shall tamper with this great 'colonial interest mid resource, ho wiU inflict an injury on the coup!/v far beyond any that cat) be done by the iii: 1.].!.!----tude and absurdity of his colleagues. We bring to these colonies gre;'t mvjvv vos on the subject of land. In England tlir ■.>■. s > of an estate is^ho patent of ai'ii^oenu'v. T'.ie farmer who tills? his own ncres tnke< theh\;' .>i rank in the parish ; the labourer who v 1 n ov -n lease a roo:l of ground gains upon hU 'mi o'u\^m neighbour wlio holds by the year. The ■vlni^. 1 patriot can appeal to "old world" i.\iis, .i vl persuade the working man fchfit l?.n 1 i: ' vi."ii more to him than Ms tools, which yv! : hii i '"^ times as much as he could cbs-iu by tl>e plough.

Last year the cry—unlock the lands—was raised, in, Victoria. It was occasioned by a real want, but exaggerated by a sad delusion. The Government did unlock the lands. The cry wis no longer heard. A few thousand acres gtutkd

the market. The high price of provisions everywhere stimulated agriculture. People who might have made much more by their osvn t.v;-.<lc and handicrafts were seized by a noble phrenzy for subduing the earth ; and what have been the results? The-produce of the farm will not this season, except corn, pay the expense of lisa <illage. The truth is a very small portion of land— and that should lie the most fertile and the most accessible to the markets—will supply the whole population of these colonies. Even in England not one-third of the people are tiller.s of t'iu: ground. If this proportion be exceeded, the farmers would have plenty to eat, but they would have nothing else. Generally the crops are anticipated; they pass i-to the merchants, who can better wait for a price. The cry for land is, therefore, to a great extent,* a delusion; the stimulus to settle farms beyond a small proportion of the people, is often a snare., Were the lands of the colony offered without any restriction, and without price, thoy would bo useless to " the poor man." He would have his own lands to till —he would be his own market! The.sale of land at five shillings an cere beyond Ilia present reach of markets would be :i dangerous temptation to both, the Government and the settlers. It was when land was five shillings an acre that landholders were ruined. They bought what they could not cultivate. What produced nothing" but grass, and reared nothing but cattle, was worthless as an investment. But dreading competition, they mortgaged all their possessions, and lest them all. Various results would indeed follow the sale id five shillings an acre. A few fortunate men would acquire, at a nominal piice, rich tracts of land, and re-sell at an enormous advance. They would effectually prevent any "poor man" purchasing at auction; and they would amply indemnify themselves for out-bidding the "poor man" by purchases beyond competition. Another and far more numerous class, tempted l>y the low price, would buy what the;/ might Lave rented without molestation for ages to come. The squatters owe more to the nature of their tenure than to the scale of rental by which it is enjoyed. They have had no temptation to lock up their capital. They have avoided the fatal snare— the fascination of expensive homesteads and disproportionate non-productive improvements. They have thus grown comparatively rich—just as other classes would, have often doi;e, h?.d not the desire for fine houses and costly luxuries tempted them into expenses which entail years of sorrow. We wish to see land accessible to all who desire to buy, but the offer to reduce its price is an offer of both, public and private confiscation. Every piece of land worth jobbing will be alienated for a song'; and although money may for a time be realized "by the Government, it will be at the expense of the future revenue and the sacrifice of public works. The people of this colony have had too long experience of various land systems to bs captivated by the cry of cheap lands. What is necessary is that kind should be surveyed end sold in quantities equal to the demand, and in lots small enough to be oh-bained by any man who desires to become a cultivator. What the squatter requires is thai he should have ihe'unmoivsted u;-e of the grass until the progress of colonisation shall require fclie exvlvnij c oi' p\utoivl for agricullur.il pursuits. ~ The iivfi-siiiiling project- is a robbery and a cblusion. Lind nor worth £1 an acre, to a working' m:ui, is not worth having at a gift. Ilirssrv. —T"v C/.v r1 ido his entry inlo Yf,u's.r» OM O.e "~~ K.".i?". The follow ire: is tho -.uK!.:rni.e o.'.i v\ •>. .'..?>, e^ "I X :.i-; t \o .i djju'i" tion o ' t!u i;. 1- . i v.;. v.'.. ■• w.-.itva r;v.:i l'im on t io : " X \ :i .^ .>■*' c< :vV> i 'km-'. "L you 11 eoa.i l\\ is—.b '^ > 1' : :\A:!.u>s cl' t;-.L-V:i->'. I •.'" ■> <-'- ">' -■'■ ■ ■■ ' ■ *V\'. " ■>- '.iV-.-iK b." v-t1. ii - : t v. i. '. • • „".u yws i,: v.-l-.fc. 5.51 ..-..'•>. \ .'•-.. ' .? lv.'\ylv.-o nut i.>. •"! o > :h • .'. . ..•- o >'. r > v-ui ,n ;n-l t.) t.l Mi 'v:\-.\- ■" - \ ;-v l" •'- ' if tlrnv1.!),, v •- - "..V. i":'iv>ii'- il>a.j havo cli* ) a\v I.:"s . ' ;■ • J i " ■< i'< '•-' b^n t ->v ';< v :. ;1 .'■- -1 oi. I ' *\ T'^;a vV vi r;\ ':o ', :■ ••. ■ i ll -. > '^ >o . \ ;>;.' I :ilv -'■> .v-e.-..- cl•] 'r . i".i ". i :- " t ) U'V.1 ,' i!o\\' i ii,'."- v n ; lvi I I 1 iJ—ii * -o tli.il I\- -i >..• }>. ". .:/( , :.„• i- v • v ;.:>:• I\"o I move oi' i.-v- r".v^. U•; V:/en, 1 w'»>'.' iv'rnd to | Iv h:',M- . v,ii JO i-in .■!-'- >o l.y h> r ui.io'i ', wifc'.i JJu*>;.•." It 1.- r. -v-u-cd V.i ,: t'eb^oiol

is to be rebuilt on an entirely new plan, and tint the srreatcst portion of the expense will bo defrayed\v the Czar. Vkv-Admiral WassilielF lias been 'appointed military governor ot JA\* 'Astracan : and commander-in-ohiof of the Russian fleet in the Caspian Sea. This fleet- is to b-» gro.itly increased. Two now division?, composed entirely of gun-boats, will be created, and part of the'old Sebnstopol ships-of-line have been placed at the disposal of Admiral WassillieiT. to be incorporated in the fleet. The Czar left Warsaw on the 27th for Konigsberg. and readied Berlin on Thursday evening, attended by Prince GortschakoiT* and a numerous suite. He wa.< accompanied by the King and all the lv\val Princes of Prussia. i TALV .—The Roman States. —The following are said to be the reforms demanded of the Pope. as agreed to by the Cabinets of France and Austria: 1. The entire remodelling of the iudieial administration : 2. Recruiting among 'the natives of the Papal States in order to form a national army: 3. Continuation and completion, of the network of railways. When these measures shall have taken place, the foreign troops composing the army of occupation are to be withdrawn. Inrx-ecp.—The amnesty bestowed on Smith O'Brien and the other political exiles has given universal satisfaction. A resolution in favour of temnt right has been adopted tinanimously by the ]>üblin corporation. James Montgomery Kniirbtine. who had been committed for the ibrgerv of several transfer deeds of the railway shares' to a large amount, has been examined on some fresh, charges of the same nature. The atreregate amount of the forgeries for which be iw stands committed, and "all of "which were fireefel v.'itliin the last three years, is £-14J70. Jt is rumoured that a? soon as Holy-head new harbour is completed, the American mails will he despatched from that port instead of from Liverpool, in accordance. Avith the recommendation of the packet station commissioners.— There are two men in in custody on suspicion of bc-inic engaged in the conspiracy to murder "Mr. Callrveban.—A compensation allowance has been ifranted to Mr. W. 'Stanley, the late popular secretary to the Irish Poor Law Commission, the office having been recently abolished by act of Parliament. He is to receive a pension of -£'833. Gs. Sd. per annum. A dividend of 2s. in the pound in the affairs

of the Tipperary Bank has already been declared payable oa and after the 17th June. There is a reduction of nearly fifty per cent, in the number of paupsrs this year in-the Cralway workhouse, r,s compared with th« corresponding period in 1^55. In the latter year, the numbers were 5?'.J2 to -1-S7 in 1850. A local journal states that

in??? is not. up to the present, a single prisoner ] in Clomnel gaol for trial at the coming summer i as?izo?. In. fact. Tipperary, north aad south, is j b?eoming quite a model connty. The Limerick j papers report a very discreditable outrage in i that city, on, the evening of the 22nd. When I the procession of bishop, clergy, und psople were returning from the consecration of the new burial ground, as they were passing the I OrdnGne-2 Barracks, a party of Horse Artillery I stationed-there came out, some of them wearing ' liats irca.de of straw, in derision of the bishop's mitre, and others mocking the singing of hymns by drawling out some ridiculous dogj*reL The excitwnent of the people at this I insult to their religion war; scarcely possible to ! ii-3 controlled: "the women pelted them with stones, and a rush having bean made at them by the crowd, they took rei'uge in a. publichouse opposite the barrack gate. The Rev. Mr. I Synan isaving asesrfc'.ined the naraes of the riiiiitary concerned, calmed the excifcer:if.-nt of the pi'Opi-?, induced thejn to separate, iissurir.g tluon that the ina't^r v.-oidd not vest theri\ A member of t!>e Congregated Trades, Mr. Davis, v ma: : o-.i, i-tri?.-p'.'(i one of the urtiHeryi-ien of the ehara ;i-er of n mitre which he wore, and Ikb it in lib };033*/.rion. On Friday following, an inve.siignt'on was i:t-ld be'bre the city magistr^tss, yvj;; at its tksi the co;i:niand:!!ir oSit-er of the vstukry ei:t;rj.:l the court and"infbn ? -d the "benah tlutt the ruan v,-i-re placed uijdr-r arrest, that there woull ba a conri-nvr.vlvi) on Monday, ;;nd that the civil power could t:;ki; cognizance of tin .issiitiY aft. 1!v/arcb. il th^y t:iot;ghfc j3roj)cr. 3lr. Miall, in !ii« notes from the H-mse of Commons in tue. * i'Vononiurri;:.1!:!.' r'.'jnail:.-: that —' Li h i;i:itri:-;t'v^, but not g;v.l:iiyi;i;.r, lo iA>s;;r':<i'bo'>/-t)i? -mosaic of ~i del:bi-r..-!vc yvgr.-.da.-Jlycl'.-tK'ioritM un'-U-r tbv I^d-.-r.ittp

of a man who has no fixed principles, and whom no one believes to be in earnest. Tlic House of Commons, under the guidance of the Aberdeen Ministry, especially whenever that Ministry was represented by Mr. Gladstone, was as different in tone and character from that which follows Lord Pahnerston as is possible to conceive. It consists, for the most part, of the same members —the difference being that, under the Aberdeen real me, the earnestness and sobriety of the house wvre paramount in influence—under Lord Pulmerston, its insouciance is in the ascendant. As the present session wears on, and it becomes more and more evident that the premier will not be unseated, serious debate becomes more infrequent, and downright business is treated as a bore. Not that the noble lord himself is wanting in industry. On the contrary, and notwithstanding his advanced age, he is as assiduous in his attendance as any man can be. He is always in his place fronting the middle of the table, and seldom leaves it, except for a hasty dinner, until the house rises, however late the hour may be. But it is pretty generally believed that he has no fixed principles of domestic policy, and it is impossible to guess whether the measure introduced by his colleagues arc to be pi-essed on, or, after making a transient show, to be abandoned. Hence, the house has become disreputably cai'eless, and deep interest in what is going forward is now quite exceptional."