THE SALE OF THE RECLAIMED LAND.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5653, 13 May 1879, Page 2

THE SALE OF THE RECLAIMED LAND.

The sale of a farther portion of the reclaimed land, which is advertised to be held at the AthenEeum Hall, on the 17th of June next, cannot be expected to realise the success which attended a former sale. The total falling off in the demand for land in the city, with its inevitable consequence, a fall in prices, and the monetary depression from which all classes of the community are suffering at the present time, augur unfavorable results for this sale ; and, moreover, it is confidently anticipated by those who are well informed on,this topic, that the only allotments which are likely to be sold are those which He adjacent to the proposed new railway station and wharf, and which so afford special advantages for the erection of hotels and warehouses. • If, indeed, other allotments should become taken up, they must, of necessity, in these hard times, realise prices that will fall far below the average of those obtained at the former sale of the reclaimed laud; and thus by causing a depreciation in the value of property a serious injury will beeome occasioned to those individuals who purchased land at that time. Hence it is difficult to understand the motives which actuate the Government to attempt a sale of these lands during such unpropitious times, unless indeed they emanate from pecuniary embarrassments. It may be urged, on the part of the Government, that there are serious financial considerations existing, which would warrant a sacrifice of this valuable estate, but confining our attention for the present to the extreme monetary depression now ruling, it is evident that such a sacrifice as is now proposed displays, forcibly the system of maladministration which has long characterised the actions of the present Government. It is, however, well known that the estimated revenue for the present financial year by far exceeds the amount that will be collected; that the item of land revenue alone will fall short of the estimated amount by some £IOO,OOO, and that the sum which the land tax was expected to realise, some £50,000, is to be accounted as nowhere. It therefore appears that the financial considerations which may have actuated tho Government to offer this new portion of the reclaimed land for sale, under conditions so manifestly unfavorable to the pubUc interests, are also solely and purely the results of maladministration, and that, therefore, there is not the slightest foundation' for the assumption that the proposed sacrifice of so valuable a portion of the public estate can be justified on such grounds. The conclusion therefore, may fairly be drawn that the action of the Government in this matter of the reclaimed land is even more prejudicial in its effects than the many other instances of maladministration which are of daily occurrence. We can refer to the recent events at Parihaka and Kopua to point out their utter incapacity and want of judgment in dealing with native affairs, to the delays caused in the conduct of public business by their constant, absence from office on perambulations in search of a policy, and to the general discontent which pervades the country, to show their complete failure in administration. But in the case we are now considering it is plainly indicated that, beyond incapacity and neglect of official duties, there is a wilful and a corrupt desire ou the part of Government to retrieve by any available means in their power an alarming deficit in the revenue, with which it is obvious that Parliament could scarcely be faced with any prospect of success.