An Alarming Prospect.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1579, 11 December 1885, Page 2

An Alarming Prospect.

[WoodvilW Examiner.] The tendency for accumulation of thaj lands of the small settlers around WoodvilJc m the hands of a few, cannot bat be viewed with alarm by every well* NmlKv of the district. The mea who have made Woodville what it is and promises to be are the small settlen. They have spent the best part of their lives amid hardships ot every form ia turning the dense forest into fruitful , fields. They have prepared the laud to afford a livelihood to manhood while tbe> land itself exists. On ibV strength" of their industry has been built the town which has of late been fast increasing m size mid is population. But achaugf is coraine o'er the scene. Already tho j deferred payment lands aro being purchased from the licensees and being converted tutu Urge properties ,whoae> owners will merely look at the grass grow, aud see their stock increase, thrive, and become marketable , by nature's goodness with hardly any effort lof their own. Little or no labour will |bo employed. Sheep will be found to -' take the pi .ice of the men who hay* been the bone and sinew of the district. This must be the inevitable result If the* accumulation ot large properties joes on What will be the effect on Wood villa? It is clear that the town must «jo back instead of forward ; the production of the distriot will decrease ; the district will loose many of its best men and tho healthy vigor which now characterises its inhabitants will become a thing of the past. The outlook might be called " blue " far so it would be. The inherent selfishness of human nature ever seeks monopoly, and until the manhood of New Zealand rises above this and makes laws baviug for their object social rather thau individual welfare) there is little hope tojook for anything tdse. That the evil will work its own cure we ihavtTho doubt, but how much more Jnfrusified must that evil meantime -become ? Speculation can never bo stopped while private ownership of land is recognised, and with a fictitious valuo m land there can never be sound settlement, successful farming m the Teal sense of the word, aud g«ueral prosperity of a permanent character. We trust for the sake of tho district and for the sake of themselves the settlers will try to hold their properties m their bands. They have a duty to perform m establishing homes for their children to com* after them, and uothing can more unsettle families and tend to lead them to ruin than the fact of tbeir homes being changed from time to time. Until th« law is sncli as to kill monopolies of every kind the matter roust rather bo left to the good sense and judgment of the people themselves.