The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Wednesday, July 8, 1863.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 20, 8 July 1863, Page 4

The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Wednesday, July 8, 1863.

" A country to be really prosperous must be permanently settled" is a truism which few will challenge. A colony may be peopled with almost unnatural rapidity—gold discoveries, for instance, may give an impetus to trade and attract thousands to the shores of the favored golden land; but unless, at the same time, the facilities for settlement are great, no permanent prosperity can be obtained, and the present success of the people will be but the forerunner of failure, retrogression, poverty and discontent. Otago may boast of possessing the richest goldfields of the present day, and point with exultant pride at the advancement which has been made during the last two years; but the boasting will turn to bitter complainings; the pride and exultation will give place to humility and repining, unless, contemporary with the development of our mineral wealth, the people are settled on the lands. If the broad domains of the Province remain uncultivated and unoccupied save by sheep and cattle; so long as the people are from necessity compelled to occupy the position of wanderers without a local habitation and a name, present prosperity will be flimsy and uncertain, the

future a dark and mysterious riddle; and the

bright prediction of the sanguine prove nothing more than a pleasing but delusive dream. If the yield of gold is made the sole source of prosperity, it will assuredly be found when it is too late, that we have been resting on a broken reed; that we have been grasping at shadows while the substance was passing away. Victoria made this mistake, and she is now gathering the fruit of bitterness sown by non-progressive rulers, under the direction of grasping land monopolists. With such a sad example as the history of that colony presents before us, is it not wonderful that the " powers that be" in New Zealand still with infatuated madness drive headlong to the rock on, which the sister colony stranded. The Crown lands in the vicinity of the Goldfields must be opened up for settlement. 11 Unlock the lands" was a cry, which for years resounded through the length and breadth of Victoria, and " unlock the lands" is the cry which will serve to unite the progressionists, and secure the permanent prosperity of the Province. The battle of progress against monopoly and retrogression must be fought in Otago as it has been in Victoria. Fortunately for the people in this Province the squatters have not the power they possess in the sister colony. Here the law provides for the suspension of the licenses the moment the country that license covers is required for actual settlement. The wisdom of this provision exceeds any other piece of New Zealand legislation which it has been our lot to fall across. In this Province the'squatter, while holding his run on lease, is liable to have his lease cancelled at any time, compensation being awarded. This we think fair and equitable. We do not believe that the miners would desire to interfere with vested rights except on fair and honorable terms. All that the miners and the people generally demand is, that the monopolists shall not be permitted to obstruct progress; that the pastoral tenant of the Crown shall retire when the land he occupies as a sheep walk is required for actual settlement. The law is equal to all the demands that are made by the miners of this district. The land now occupied by Mr. Rees w required for actual settlement; he acknowledges this, and expresses a willingness to accept compensation. Why then is that compensation not given, and why is month allowed to succeed month and the strife between the miner and the squatter permitted to grow faster and more furious, and nothing done by the Government in the matter. We are told to " Wait, wait, wait," —that there are difficulties in the way of a settlement, which will require time to overcome. What are these difficulties? Is it that the Provincial Government have not the power to cancel the pastoral license of Mr. Rees ? or is it that the exchequer is so low that they cannot afford to pay compensation ? It is not that they have no power. The following extract from a despatch received from the Hon. the Attor-ney-General by the Superintendent last year, and published in the Provincial Government Gazette of the 3rd April, 1862, will support this assertion. It says:—"There seems no " reason why your Honor should not at once " take steps to suspend the licenses of Runs " 53 and 54, over such part of the land as is " required for the gold-fields, making com- " pensation in the manner provided by the " Act; and then direct a survey to be made ** of the two pieces of land on which you pro- " pose to establish townships, the lots being "of such size as you may think proper. In " all probability, by the time this prelimi- " nary work is completed, the General Assem- ** bly will have been able to consider the " whole subject; but in case your Honor " should in the meanwhile find it necessary to " grant any leases, in pursuance of section " 111. of the Gold Fields Act of 1860, a clause " will be proposed in any amending Bill, " enabling the lessee of any lots within a " township to become the purchaser thereof, " either at the price realised by the adjacent " lot when it shall be sold, or at a price to "be fixed by arbitration. Thus, assuming " that the Assembly will allow land within the " gold-fields to be sold at all, the provision I " speak of would effectually secure the inte- " rests of any person who may erect buildings " or improvements on any land they may hold " under lease. Meanwhile I have transmitted " instructions to the Crown Lands Commis- " sioner (copy whereof I transmit to your " Honor), which I trust will have the effect " of facilitating the granting of licenses under " the Gold Fields Act."

This, we think, demolishes that excuse. It cannot be that the exchequer is so low that they cannot afford the money, inasmuch as the revenue which would be obtained in one year from the land in question, if it were sold or leased, would pay the fullest compensation stipulated in the Act. What, then, can be the cause of the delay ? May it not be that the

" Man of the Mountain" has friends in office—that it is known that a Land Bill is likely to become law, which does not limit the amount of compensation f We think it is. But, let this be as it may, the land now occupied by Mr. Rees is required for actual settlement, and it must be obtained. The Provincial Government must be roused to a sense of duty in this matter. It is clear that they have the power to cancel Mr. Rees' licenses—to lease the land in small allotments to actual settlers—in short, to permanently settle the people on the lands. They must be moved to do this—the people must agitate, agitate, agitate, until this is accomplished.