THE DUNEDIN 'STAR' AND THE LAND QUESTION.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 263, 21 March 1874, Page 3

THE DUNEDIN 'STAR' AND THE LAND QUESTION.

The' difficulty is to place a bona fide population of' cultivators oiv the soil, and-at every election there is^^niuch^-spmpathy expressed with small 'and: farm laborers. That horrid bugbear, the squatter is painted black; and held up to -electoral odium, just as the devil is exhibited in puppett-shows io create a sensation. ' Yetwe are much inclined to think.that the lease under which, the squatter holds his: run is a much more just tenure to the country, than the freehold that a farmer has to purchase:, before he can put a pimgh into the ground. How can it be expected that a. man with; small capital can provide money to- purchase laud, and to ■ reclaim and bi ing it into cultivation ? The capital that might have coiiverted the wilderness

into a garden is sunk before he has done a stroke of work. Jle has not wherewith to buy ■ implements, nrn^cattle;: nor to - build even a shanty, if he is to have acres to live upon. When land in Otago was less: valuable than now-: he inight : perhaps struggle through preliminary difficulties by having.his " pig in'his stye'and cows feeding on natural grasses," . but thattime is past, and will never return. To meet the financial -difficulty," land legislation has' assumed a new phase, and sale of land ; on. deferred ■ payments is tbe quack medicine fiir the disease. That "is: now that the. value of landed property is in Otago, we are selling it on easier terms;-

When it was coiTiparatively worthless, men had to, pay money- down ; the price was the san.e, but there was no trust Now that plenty of persons would be willing, on an equitable lease,' to cultivate the land; and'pay as rent;-annually, what they contribute towards-purchase of-the freehold' we give them credit on a payment equal to bare interest on the nominal pur-chase-money, and at the end of the stipulated term make them "a present of the

land. Between the two systems we think .the last may probably work the best, for we consider population alone can give a value to land': the only point we ■wish to draw attention to is the question of tenure. So long as an estate is in the hands of a landlord, lie can dictate the terms on which it may be,occupied, and

in which it must be worked,:' and so with the Male. , Hut let either part; with the control,, any interference not warranted^■by., the original contract;is inadmis-. sable. Even a tax on unused land would be a breach ot contract on past sales. When, therefore, a person purchases land :on deferred payments, it seems a very tempting bait to hold out for settlers to cultivate the land ; but the temptation ,may' be greater to exhaust it, just as the five shillings an acre land 'in the United States is cropped until it is worthless, and then abandoned because it is cheaper t.> take up fresh land than restore fertility. ,to the first holding. Like - all quack medi -

cines,' deferred payments may work a cure in some, instances ; but so far as the constitution of the Province, is concerned, the end. may be; to aggravate the disease—the : land will ultimately pass into the hands-of large capitalists. Al r. Reeves said the land is the people's birthright. . . It isjone of thGse common expressions, so often used, that .what is implied is almost ; unnoticed ; but.it contains a deep truth. Land is like air, and ! water, the common property of the

hdman race ; • and therefore the community lias the right to prescribe the terms, upon which the class who seek profit" by uiing i.t shall occupy it. -Unforturcate'.y, this birthright Ims hitherto been • dealt with as iFmankind'in general'had no .interest m.jt; and so little has the privilege : of this precious birthright been understood, that piecemeal it has ,been. parted; with for a trifle,-' as Ksau sold his "lor a/'" mess of pottage." Force has, made;'many lords over it, law has createdhi'iany more, money more,than both, and habit'has led to-what force, law,, and mon fey- have done. -Air. Keeves in ay be right in, thin king revers'/on-.-tp t first principles Utopian. Perhaps, so; Ave fear he is rightbut.- even if; so, and we are to-continue' tijjsrn against durseives and posterity, let us do it v/jth our.eyes, open.—'Star' ' " .. -.i.