THE FEILDING CHRONICEL AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1879. THE COMING STRUGGLER.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 67, 20 August 1879, Page 3

THE FEILDING CHRONICEL AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1879. THE COMING STRUGGLER.

liTour last we .dealt with, the re r imposition^pf tha* timber duties as one of the matters outside the" Ministerial policy as shadowed forth' in' the Governor's Srpeech 'and flcpej)tejd by the ( House generally, which' in'ore- tha'n^ny-other-i concerned the Northern Island, and upon which it; behoved ?the electors to : see that ; the. candidates they intended to support werfr sound... .We pointed out- disastrous' effect which the re-} mission of these' duties' had had upon the trade and commerce oE the North," m all its imam-fold ramifications, as well as ..thejloss to the revenue of, the .colony, traceable to ,thev, same cause, .and. : . we; urged the electors to caution m this direction; m.theexergisp .of the. franchise .i ;;•.;■ There; are other, matters, v however, which are almost as Jvjtalfy. 'impprtant to v's Noi therndi-s, andj,ippn i^hi |h it is equally essential that our represehiativ.es' political trumpet? should give no- uncertain sound. Though m the South the Native title , has ;beenwhpUy extinguished, yet m our portion , of' the colpny the Government are constantly .acquiring large; blocks o£ land fr-.om.ithe--iNa'tiyes, and the. manner m which these; CrOyrn lands l: arei dealt: with : will ma'-'. jte.riajly. 'affect our f riturb , prosperity, and ifc is therefore, indispensable that our future legislators shouldbe sound ' upon | this, which we may term the Settlement Question I -also. Hitherto , three great'^aTid-Tinitca-IT-Tfefeci.s lnrrgcharacterisßd the disposal of the Waste: Lands of. the Crownj which have immensely retarded the "work of settlement. The first .and foremost of these is that the'larid lias been disposed of m; too large lots, and to speculators instead of top bona ftcte.. settlers. , Of, course where'the'larid 'is so poor thajr it requires five or ten acre? to carry a single sheep, no one can' ; object to >6hou\sands of acres falling to one man, but it is quite another matter* when one can ride * for' miles -through- property which' , -on either side of the road— the cream of the land of the di s trusty too— belongs (;o one man.. Thefblly of such a policy is ; .then, top; plainly evident. The evil at last assumed such gigantic" proportions as tqhaye, partially effectedits own cure, and we no longer hear of immense areas being sold to one pur T chaser, the rule which has obtained of late being that sections , are restricted to 640 acres, or a square mile. No one can complain of this quantity as excessive^ v but : the conditions mighty with great advantage, be made much less lax with' regard to 'residence. -' M 1 - ■'■'■. Another grand defect/ and one that has militated m an especial ; manner against successful 'settlement/ is ; that the landhas been sold-prior to the con-* striiction of roads. There is a right way and a wrong way pf- doing- every thing it is ? perhaps' rioitvery Bufpris : ing th^t our legislators shoqld hitherto have adopted the wrong one m, this, particular instance,:, seeing thatXsuri rounding circiimstances pointed m that direction.!^ But it is exfremely undesirable ijhat such system should be pcr r petuated. Its ev^s were strikingly exemplified m the case of theEiwitea Block,' where' the settlers wer-e'. for- Upwards |of twelve months after.: purchase without a road or means of . access to their- holdings. The hardships endured by the 1 Eitvitea 1 "settlers have drawn' ; ajtention to the faultiness of a' system which is at once, a loss to the Government and aTpinjusticeto the ? borta : fide Igettler. The li ">!alue *of : iaiid^ varies, ccßteris jiaribus according to its distance /Erpm, or proxinufy to, a metalled Toad or railway, and 'the advantage of -con ■? structing-' roads- before -sale is that the' enhanced, value of- the land more than cprersthe cost of the ix>ad while the enter at once upon the profitable! occupation of their land. The Grey Ministry, however, judging from i their inaction m the matter of advance, applied foi?:by the County Council^ for ..Qtamakapua road, seem obstinately opppSed to any reform of the old system, although it'is. so generally denounced. The third defect inthe system of disposing of .Crown Lands is the neglect-, ing to/p/ovide for purchase on !def erred payments and for Small Ear m SettlementSi TJntil the abolition of Provincial institotionß, each province had its own system of dealipg with Crown Lands, and these provisions, so necessary to succesful settlement. ■. were m too • many iiistances wholly lost sight of. In. the provijices, however, wherein they were -adopted; they were 'found to work very beneficially, and it is desirable that should bo applied to all blocks of .Native land* which may from time to time beacquirfcd by the •Government; The conditions i attaching to profitable Bettleftieat, such as sale \q hqnafide,

settlers only, roads before purchase^ deferred payments, and. small farms settlements, may appeal' small matters; unworthy the hptice of blatant : anil grandiloquent candidates ; bat they are eminently practical, and hay* a more direct beaming on our f u ture well-being ;than. Triennial Parliaments or manhood suffrage, the advantages of "which aro .to: say the least merely problematical their wordy theoriser with expatiate by. the Vbour. Such , being .the case jlforthem. electors will "do ..Well' to see that their: favorite candidate will do his duty' m this direction, as as -being thoroughly reliable in ' the matter of the re -position of the duty foreign tim-