Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16,1884. CROWN LANDS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 223, 16 August 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1884. CROWN LANDS.

V Some extracts from a contemporary journal were published by us m a late - issue,/ on the subject of the settlement of Crown Lands m the Bush districts. These were evidently written by some one who has a knowledge of these districts, and will possibly be of much assistance to the settlers m the 70 and 40---mile Bush, m enquiring more facilities to settlement than they receive at the present time. One of the candidates for the Manawatu seat recently, at an election address, made it the great test point m the capabilities of a Government, whether they could successfully manage the railways or not. We can hardly support that idea, but if the test of a Government lay m its administration of the Crown Lands Department, we think that the country could be fully justified m exacting it to the fullest extent In other words, if a Government cannot settle the lands m a satisfactory manner, such a weak point m its administration ought to be sufficient cause for its fall. Mr Rolleston has been almost universally praised for the interest he took m promoting settlement, and the facilities which he afforded to those who were desirous of taking up land; but on looking closely into the matter, we fail to see m what way he is deserving of such praise. As a matter of fact, the settlement of the 40 an*d 70-mile Bush has been lamentably neglected during the last year or two. In the Manawatu district the land is mostly sold, or at any rate lying open for sale. On the other side of the Range, the great proportion of it is neither sold nor settled upon, nor can it be purchased. If no one wished to make farms of those fertile tracts, no complaints would be made of the Government's want of action m not putting them m the market. But when there is an nueeasing demand for country m that locality, it seems both cruel and foolish for the Government to persistently take no notice of that demand. Cruel, because men and their families are induced to come to the colony, chiefly with a view to acquiring a few acres of freehold, and consequently, if unable to obtain it, their plans are upset and their hopes marred ; foolish, because our colony is m just that state we require and must have ; all the settlers it is possible to obtain, to come and reside here, and convert the forest wilderness into pasture lands. Anything calculated to be a stumbling block to settlement should be removed, and every possibly facility that can be thought of as calculated to induce men to settle on the land, 1 should be afforded. Probably " The Bush "is capable of maintaining a population if at least 50,000 people. Surely these would be no small factor to the [prosperity of the colony. Large inland towns would grow up, and branch railways would be made. And why do the Government delay the important work ? Why do they keep thousands of acres of good land fast under lock and key, when hundreds of men are disconsolately wandering up and down the country waiting for it to be put up for sale? We are sure we are not wrong m saying that if the settlers of the 70 and 40-mile Bush set an agitation on foot, to ensure a better administration of Crown Lands m the district,they will receive the sympathy of the outside public, and the co-operation of the various public bodies m Manawatu to assist them m gaining an object on 'which depends, to s,o great an extent the progress of these districts and of the country at large.