The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Wednesday, May 20, 1863.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 6, 20 May 1863, Page 4

The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Wednesday, May 20, 1863.

" Under which King, Benzonian ? speak or die," we will parody, " Under which man, miner?" There are at the present moment two gentlemen wooing the rather coy embraces of the mining electors. Mr. Manders is not of much account. Hie jacet may he written of his political career. With his own hands he strangles that career in its birth. Had Mr. Manders been content to remain the nominee of the gentleman who was first guilty of suggesting that he might possibly be chosen a representative, less mischief to himself might have ensued. Devoid, however, of that first of talents—the knowledge when to remain silent —" he rushes into the field," and the miserable exhibition he made terminated his lease of political life ere it had well begun. It was only our sense of duty that enabled us to listen to the dreary harangue of this aspirant to senatorial honors. We have never heard anything worse than the costive diction of Mr. Manders, unless it be the utter barrenness of his ideas, as uttered at his meeting in Queenstown. We set him down, therefore, as one out of the field.

Mr. Moses, however, is a man of a different calibre. With talents above mediocre, and a suavity and sophistry that put men off their guard, he is the incarnation of a policy that will ultimately ruin. the prospects of every immigrant and poor land buyer in this Province. The miner need not dream of investing his " pile " in land if he return such men as Mr. Moses to the Council. We promised in our first number, to keep an account of all matters affecting the settlement of the land question, and the time has now come for us to shew that the promise was not made without an intention of fulfilment. We can 6ee in prospective, if Mr. Moses is permitted to have his own way. the monopolist and the large landholder, or his creature, obtaining an undue advautage over the bona fide settler. Mr. Moses, in his written address, shows that he is a leaner towards the greedy and monopolizing party. In his remarks to the Meetin"", a report of which will be found in another column, he shews this more strongly, and no man can accuse him of hiding his views. W r ith regard to the Land Ordinance, and the sale of agricultural lands and township allotments, he says he is in favor of the present price of agricultural lands, and sale by auction; the abolition of the present forty-shilling improvement clause, and the giving a valid title to all who have purchased

under the old Act; the placing in the market at all times a sufficiency of land to prevent undue speculation, and he will advocate the immediate sale of all available agricultural lands in the neighbourhood of goldfields; this last will apply to townships on the fields. We beg the poor elector, who looks forward to the time when he can purchase a small portion of land on his own account, to study well his proclaimed creed. No poor man J will ever sit under his own vine or his own fig tree, if Mr. Moses and those of his party can succeed in carrying out their policy. It is patent to all that great political contention and agitation in Australia, as well as in the Province of Otago, has arisen out of the I settlement of land; and we can see that its just settlement is as far off as ever. With reference to the distribution and disposal of agricultural lands in this Province, where the available ground consists of mere patches, ; great precaution is necessary. It is of the greatest moment that it should be obtained by those only who have the means and inclination to turn it to the profit of the country at large. We desire it to be borne in mind that we are not writing against the Squatter and his existing rights—our war is with the Land Speculator—and, judging from his I address, Mr. Moses belongs to that genus. | He is the enemy of progress, and particularly ! the enemy of the mining and agricultural ' community. He would give a clear title to all who have bought under the old Act, | which virtually means that those who have bought large quantities of land for speculative ! purposes under the existing clause of improve- , ment, shall have an advantage over the small holders who have honestly fulfilled their condition of purchase. Such a declaration on his part ought of itself to damn his prospects of succeeding in his present attempt. The inte- | rests of the miners and residents on the goldI fields are identical, and in Mr. Moses they have a political exponent whose every vote | would be an insult and an injury to them, I His policy is diametrically opposed to the in--1 terests of the working man or small capitalist. He declares that the non improvers are unable to borrow money upon the lands in consequence of the absence of a title. For the same reason they cannot sell. In opposition to this, we declare that by giving a valid title to land speculators, and keeping in the market an unlimited portion of the too spare fat land, he brings the monied land jobber into competition with the bona Jide invester, and deprives him of his right to hold a portion of the soil He insults the judgment of his hearers by saying, in effect, that the land speculator shall dole out to the small purchaser, at an enormous profit, the agricultural lands he has succeeded in gaining. And he generously offers to the community he seeks to represent a halter wherewith to hang itself, if he be returned to the Council. He openly asks our aid to help him in Council to relieve the speculator, and enable him to borrow money from the banks to purchase more land. He says to the poor elector, " come help me, and I will in return come into competition with you." He declares, without a blush, that "he was prepared to do so, and he did not know of a man who would not."

The law in Otago in reference to the sale of township allotments is very defective, and this law Mr. Moses would still keep in existence. The value is ascertained by taking the value of the allotments in the outskirts of the town unoccupied, and fixing that as a criterion for the whole. This holds out a premium for non-improvement, for it is not at all likely that men will be at the expense of improving for the purpose of raising the price upon themselves. In Victoria, the township allotments on goldfields are sold by auction, at a fixed upset price, and full value is allowed for improvements. This holds out a premium for improvement, and acts as a safe-guard against the speculator reaping the fruit of the small holders' labor. Under this system Ballarat, Sandhurst, Castlemaine, Beech worth, and other inland towns in Victoria have risen to wealth and importance. This is as it should be, but under our present system, we can see no fate for our towns except that of remaining Little Pedlingtons to the end. In the Parliament of Victoria no agitation or squabbling has ever taken place about the disposal

of the township allotments on the goldfields, and had the same rules been followed in reference to the settlement of agricultural land, the bona fide settler and improver would have been more fairly treated. These same remarks apply to Otago. Mr. Moses made a reference to some of the settlers atTokomairiro and their titles. Let him go there and solicit votes, and we predict for him a reception more warm than polite. In the above remarks, we have endeavoured to show that Mr. Manders is incapable, and that Mr. Moses is dangerous; and we therefore urge upon the miners and others to cast about and find better men than either.