Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY. AUG. 2, 1898. Precept and Practice.

Manawatu Herald, 2 August 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY. AUG. 2, 1898. Precept and Practice.

If the present Government pride themselves on any one duty before another which they undertake, it is that of their fatherley care of the poor working man. They appear to be never easy until they have unearthed some of the iniquities of the landowners, capitalists and professional men, and passed some Act to restrict their dealings or charges. This naturally pleases the masses who do not bother themselves to question the accuracy of their statements or compare the action of Ministers with their loud protests of consideration for the worker. Unfortunately we have in this district an example of how very differently Ministers act to their public assertions. Foxton is known as the centre of the Flax Trade and has constantly employed labourers in stripping the green leaf since the year 1889, despite the continual fall in prices of the fibre in London. This has been of immense value to both the labourer and the settlers, giving employment to the first and saving Charitable Aid rates to the latter. The reason the millers have been enabled to do this so long is from the fine fields of green flax on the Motoa estate, and which, bordering on the Manawatu river, has enabled the flax to be brought down by water. We have at last arrived at the point where the Directors of the Assets Company are placing themselves in direct antagonism with labour — arriving at that point supposed to be so dear to the Liberal Government — of Capital versus Labour. Mr Oswald Gardner, the well-known settler and flaxmiller at Paiaka, an estate on the bank of the river surrounded by the Motoa estate, has been of late purchasing green flax from the estate to supply his mill. He has naturally been annoyed to see so many acres of valuable flax grubbed-up and destroyed to make way for grass, and he therefore the other day visited Wellington and interviewed Mr Foster, the General Manager of the Company, as to the extent the Company proposed to keep on clearing, and in reply he was told that the idea was to go on continually until all the property was in grass. Thus a terrible blow is aimed at" the prosperity of Foxton and the Flax Trade, to enable Capitalists to make a further profit on their investments. We have no objection to leaving the control of private estates in the hands of the owners, but this Motoa estate cannot be viewed as private property, but oven if it were, the public views of the Ministry would lead one to suppose that they would step in and prevent the employment of men beinp done away so as to be replaced by cattle. The flaxmillers have experienced much bad luck, but the treatment by the owners of Motoa is worse than any of their other misfortunes, as from having no decent agreements by which they can make sure of getting flax, their employment may be stopped at any day and the capital they have invested in machinery lost. Such a statement may appear exaggerated until the facts are known, when it will be seen that the tenants of the flax lands of Motoa are in a similar position to the Crofters of Scotland, being liable to be turned off the land at any moment the. whim may seize the Directors of the Assets Company. The millers have had certain areas of flax land set aside for them to cut from, but their only title to the land is a letter from the Manager of the estate, which sets forth a time or the sum to' be paid, so that the miller must'pay whatever price is asked from month to month, and must cease cutting when told to 1 It will surprise good Liberals, who yet pin their faith in the Government, to learn that one of the directors of the Assets Company is the Rt. Hon. Richard Seddon, P.C., and Premier of the Colony, and as one he must be accounted answerable for this one-sided agreement We can ask our readers if Mr Seddon's platform utterances would lead them to suppose he would be a party to such very capitalistic notions ? The remedy for all this trouble appears to be so very remarkably simple, which is perhaps, why it is not acted upon. The Motoa Estate, like all the other estates of the Company, is supposed to be open for sale, and we believe none pay so well as this estate does. Millers have no desire to turn graziers, but they would be willing to lease certain of the flax lands at a very good interest on the value that the land covered with flax has been estimated by the Government Valuer. Thus the Government could purchase such lands from the Assets Company, or, which to our mind, appears simpler and cheaper, lease all the flax arreas at a fixed rent, for a fixed period from the Company, and the Government could then sub-lease them to millers on tithes, the same as they have been paying. The proposal is nothing new, as the Land Boards sell timber off Crown lands before leasing the land, and thus supplies the precedent for any action, which is so dear to the official mind. The value placed on land under flax is some three pounds per acre, and say that 2000 acres could be secured, it would, for purchase, mean only an outlay of £6000, .which is bound to produce good interest, and would put the Flax Trade in this district on a secure footing and make employment safe to at least one hundred men and the families dependent on them. The interest on the purchase money at five per cent, is £300 a year, and if no tithes were forthcoming the outlay would be better than charitable" aid. However, an acre of good flax will give 30 tons of green flax every

third year, and to average it say ten tons a year, which at a tithe of ninepence a ton (which is the lowest ever paid, and the millers would gladly pay higher tithes when values were high as they are now), equals seven shillings and sixpence an acre a year on a capital \ .due of £3, or twelve and a half per cont. ! Yet the directors want to deprive men of employment, and replac~ them by cattle, to make even larg i- returns I We are not speaking abos :t this without the book, as a year ago the Mayor forwarded a petition to the Minister of Lands on this subject, and in which it was stated the millers were willing to rent these lands. The quer.tion intimately concerns the millers, but it is also of the greatest moment to the tradespeople and inhabitants of the town, as well as to the shipping interests, and also to Wellington. Some course to rectify the mistake which would be made if all the flax was grubbed off this estate must be found, and that quickly, otherwise deserving men will find that they have worked hard and long for no benefit to themselves. We earnestly trust the Government will see the necessity of moving in the direction asked.