The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1877.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 71, 23 June 1877, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1877.

Public ■ attention is now fairlydirected to the land question, and not a little curiosity is felt as to the nature of the Bill that will receive the sanction of Parliament. The .desirability of preparing Crown lands for -sale by the formation of roads is fully recognised by a majority of the North Islanders, but whether their representatives m the House will' bring about this desideratum, and if they will, m what way, is not so clear. It seems to us that the land question is so nearly allied' to the County question- that upon the success of County .Councils will mainly depend the future success of the local waste lands administration. Obviously it would be impolitic to enlarge the powers of County Councils until their capacity for administrative work becomes -a proven fact. But we think their .cap"acity*has already been proved, so far as to warrant the Government transferring to the Councils the functions of the present Waste Lands .Boards, and, m, addition, giving them the option of constructing roads through marketable land, and putting the cost of the work upon the price of the land. By no other means could local interests be so effectually subserved. The expressed wish of intending settlers would be a compass to guide the action of the Council with respect to every block offered for sale. A land law without this special provision, and administered from abroad, could scarcely be so ingeniously framed as to suit the requirements of every particular locality' and class of settler. We believe the principle of local government might be carried much further than this, and other duties now. discharged by the General Government be. with great^dvantage transferred to the local body. Some such change will have to take place before any comprehensive scheme of retrenchment can be v successfully brought into operation. As County Councils now exist, they are almost an. unnecessary supplement to Koad Boards, and when County Councillors begin to grudge ''

tlieir chairmen and secretaries the paltry salaries of £150 per annum for their services, it is time to supplement the duties of the latter, and place these officers above the imputation of nothonestly earning the wages of a mechanic. The County system has been m many quarters declared a failure because some of the Councils have availed themselves of a clause m the Act that enables them to shirk their responsibilities and leave the burthen of local goyernment to the state. Where this is done the system is indeed, for the time being, a failure. But where, as m this County, the Council has accepted the Act m eoctenso, the system is successful so far as the Act will allow it to be ,so. But it is evident that all the possibilities of local rule are not conferred by the measure. In a matter so important as the promotion of settlement upon the waste lands the Council' is quite powerless to interfere, and while this is so, the system of County rule .is, manifestly defective; ' It , may be asked. Why could not .the.pre9en.ifc, Waste Lands Boards be empowered, to do just what is required? The answer is obvious- enough. These boards, having control (over a larger area than that containedin a county, are not so likely to know just what is required as would be; the more local governing body. Moreover, they are nofr constituted for executive work, and since the establishment of county councils, their very existence is.ai unnecessary i expenses to the country. In dealing with the waste lands, asthey.haje dealt with them, the Government are' following pretty closely m the; track 'of' the; other colonies^ But i6 :; this' right?' Is there not a sufficiently .great dissimilarity between the circumstances lof Australia and' New^Zealan'd "ad "'.to cause a dissimilar ! mpde of dealing} with the waste lands thereaiidh^re? 1 Australia, with its limitless andj to. some extent, unexplored territory, can afford to carve .it" away iii large; slices for the benefit df the* squatter^ and land jobber.; But eveii there thV wholesale disposal of land has raised a great outcry 'when JatHhasWJtakea' place m proximity to towns; Here, however, the interestsiofthecouiitry are wholly at variance with this proceeding. Large fragments have already slipped away, into private hands.; the geographical area . is limited, and the Gt-oy.ernmeiit v r:each ; circumscribed :i>y. natlveplaims^ Jflew/; Zealand, > therefore} should} notr.attempt to ideal with'her thousands as ' Australia does withi"her ; millions.. She should have a policy all her 6whV and the cardinal/ aim. of iheri land Jaw . Bhpuld be, not j'-so muchi 'the» salads the settlement of the land^lf ihe'rtOt'fc'vetiunent;; act ; ,iwisely", r ', they ; wilt m their next land act discard precedent^ correct the folly : and - extravagance of : the ana^ make t|he; rbestl of »■ the limited acres ;at}their>,disposal. They : -will^^.henceforth^pla;ce the Crpw^ Lands offered for. sale > m the most} favourable conditibn- for - ftona yftile' settlement; * They will provider $ov making a road thrpugb.. a block fof land on precisely} the same principle \ arid under the same progressive policy, that would actuate tHem in-making a railway though a province. . , h- i » In the cdunty counbils} tne Q-Q---vernment have^ an instrument w;eil fitted for opening ,up,}the „■ way, for f rest settlement.; If r^^tie%^gißKture will but grant them^ the autjbibrity and the means the work will be done bpth efficiently;, and epenprnicallyj -.'an_d : ; . cclonizatipn wM proceed/jinaimore: thorough manrier.vAs we have before remarked, the; enlarging of rthe powers of the couhinr cbuncfls. wili'be quite consistent with ,the,pppular;der!! sire for. gpyernmental^ It is true enougt that tiie -State^reVr; enue ought not to bp called iipdn to support the multitude 1 of- departments now existing m .^the' central administration, and at? tHe i same time two important systenis of local/rule.. The grafting knif e^sh^^ feiis^d'ta some of of I v the central tree to thie counisyi sap-i; lings. \~if\the\^Utter-v?iii?e.-V"to exist they should exist ;^ore^perfe6tly. r Were? we pn the • ■eve^'a^genißr^: elebtiori,. instead of -merely a 1 Pallia- ; inentary session, there;wo^ld be good, prospect of a ; wholesome ■reform being brp^glitabbut; 4 G^iiani que"s^ . tion has becpme suMeientlyamppci tant to be the 1 crucial test for de^> ciding the fate pf candidates. "And," "• m this matter, the. public would act' rightly, and return a majority pledged tothe terms pjt 1 ai jiidicjpiis reform. At it ; is A lwoj •bannotfJib^pe for much that is L }gpod, The pro--posed Native Land Act is now before the r .publiQjvand Bimply makes ,badworse by^^ recklessly playipg into > the : hands pi speculator; "If verjiment pplicy wi^i resp^c^' to the Waste LaiMlS'is^f %}piefee}mth !this, vwe cannpib^but jbrecast^ a : serieß ofmiserable mistakes that will involve, the country still more deeply m evils f rbm which it is ? striving tp escape.; }Wlsh: ihe public mind m. ife'|>reaien^

state, however, a retrogressive enactment cannot but be short-lived, and should the Government on this land question run counter to the public weal, we feel assured that the next general election will result m a reversal of their policy.