Page 2 Advertisements Column 4

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 488, 8 July 1857, Page 2

who have the confidence of the. Provincial Council, he must either attempt to carry on. the Government with an adverse Council or modiiy his views in deference to theirs. I think the cases can be very few indeed in which doubt can exist as to which course should be pursued. But while, for these reasons, I, abstanv from placing before you a policy which shall imply a rigid adherance to particular views on particular subjects, as being both indiscreet and at variance with the spirit of our present law, 1 have no hesitation in expressing my opinions "'frankly on some subjects of general interest and importance, which I believe are being at present discussed by you. It is said, but with what amount of accuracy I am unable to state, that there are some persons who do not approve of the price that has been fixed on our Waste Lands and who will make it the subject of appeal to you. _ _ It must be unnecessary,. Gentlemen, to insist on the fact that nothing can be more objectionable amongst our own selves, or more calculated to discourage persons in other countries from settling here than .uncertainty on this point. I could almost say that it would be wiser to adhere to an arrangement having some imperfections in it than by frequent changes toweate the impression that no settled law on this subject will ever prevail amongst us. But I venture to assert that the question has already received as ample deliberation as under any circumstances it could receive. When the price of land was under deliberation in the legislature of this province, every reasonable sum, and almost every imaginable mode of payment was proposed to the Council and discussed. I should probably be within the mark were I to say that more than a dozen divisions took place on this point. Ten,, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty shillings were all separately; advocated and proposed. The mode of payment, too, whether by money down or by instalments, was equally the subject of difference of opinion and division in the Council. £-$ length, however, by almost universal concurrence, the present price of £2 per acre (prompt payment) was determined on. That price has not yet been tried more than a twelvemonth, and even if there were no experience in its favour, I should still, for the reasons • I have given, be indisposed to change. But jl think the experience of the brief time during which £2 has been the established price may be safely appealed to in its support. The sales of land,without. being in any way forced, have been free and continuous ever since. Nor is there at present any indication of falling off. And should there be no falling off, the estimated revenue from this source during the coming year is £10,000. But what appears to me to be the most satisfactory fact connected with those sales. is this—that the large majority of them have been made to persons of the working classes and to bona fide settlers and cultivators of the soil. It may be fairly asked, how much of this land would have found its way into their hands had the price been materially lower ? It is matter of notoriety that, within two or three days of the present regulations coining into operation, some large capitalists arrived here for . the purpose of making extensive speculative purchases, even outside the original Canterbury block, and at a distance from the cultivated districts. How much land worth having would have been left inside, and especially in the neighbourhood of your towns, had the cheap land policy prevailed, I leave you to conjecture. But there are also extensive interests to be considered in this question of price. On the firm belief that it was definitely settled a very large amount of .capital has been embarked in pastoral pursuits ; and I.think the faith of the legislature and the Government is pledged to its protection—that is, protection to this extent— that the order of things under which that capital was invested and the. stockowners induced to, enter on their separate enterprises should not be liable to frequent change. But I am disposed to maintain that regard for our own in.terests, no less than .good faith towards others, should prompt us. to.resist any alteration in the price of land. The produce of our pastoral districts now constitutes a most important item in our commerce. .Whilst agritulture is. at present languishing, and its prospects are much clouded, the pastoral interest is happily flourishing as much as could reasonably be desired. Already^ wool is our main export, the clip of 1856 being ■valued at £70,000; and in a, few years it will acquire a magnitude that will abundantly justify all which legislation has done towards encoura" ging its growth. Nor is this all. While the pastoral interest is contributing to the progress of the country, as every interest does which materially increases its export trade, it is also yielding largely to our territorial revenue. Within a year or two the. rents derivable from that source will be alone sufficient, not only to pay the large contribution annually required from this province towards the extinguishment: of the New Zealand Company's debt; but will leave a considerable balance available for the use of the province. The present price of land, Gentlemen, constitutes the main, almost the. only protection of the pastoral interest; and I] ask you seriously to reflect whether.it is expe-j dien't to withdraw it—whether it is wise to kill: the goose for the golden egg, and,interrupt.this; steady and satisfactory progress for the sake of; a sudden influx of money into the Treasury, which our resources in labour may not permit! us profitably to expend, and the possession of; which might tempt us to extravagance. My; own conviction is tha/L it would not.

Another subject, on which I desire to say a! few. more words is> our form of Government. There are some persons who regard the present; mode of administering the affairs of the province as too cumbersome and too pretentious, and who talk of conducting the Government after the model o.f a corporate town in England,