ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 971, 30 May 1879, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE OAMARU MAIL. " Give me liberty, or give me death."

Sib, —England, by the assistance of a poor law, at a cost of nearly £7,000,000, keeps the masses quiet by degrading them ; this is the result of the feudal state of the land tenure. For example,there are nine peers in the House of Lords who own property amounting to 490.000 acres; five holding 216,000 acres ; twenty-three, 770,000 ; forty-five, 1,087,000 acres ; thirty-four, 564,000 acres between them ; seventy-two, 523,000; and eighty-one 230,000 acres ; making a grand total of three hundred and thirtythree peers owning 5,422,000 acres, or onesixth of the lauded property of England. 43,000 persons own an aggregate of 100 acres each, and 4500 landed gentry .17,500,000 acres, or ,53 per cent, of the total ratable area of 33,000,000 of acres of English lands. Of this last mentioned item, it is said to be doubtful if .it yields to its possessors L 25,000,000 a year. Scotland possesses a total area of 18,946,C94 acres, owned by 131,530 persons out of whom about 70 own half of the given area; out of this 2,000,000 of acres have been depopulated to make room for deer. The question may bo asked what all this has to do with us in New Zealand? The answer is readily given, and it is this, that wo may prevent the occurrence of similar evils. Wo have already the beginning of a poor law svstem springing up in our midst. Wo have the same thirst for landed possessions, for social distinction, for transition from the lower ranks to those of the upper, that ,• we may ally ourselves to the system which maintains the social supremacy of largo land owners, and this is why it ia necessary to maintain reform in our land administration, and institute reforms in those systems which are calculated by their command of the j channels of capital to exercise fatal influence on the present and future of the land tenure in New Zealand. One of the best evidences of the bad policy of locking up the public estate, occurred in this Provincial District many years ago, under the Provincial system, when money was pretty plentiful, and successful diggers and others made application for rural Crown lands;, wishing, like wise men, to settle in this fine agricultural Province. Their applications were refused, and they drifted with their wealth to Canterbury and elsewhere. On the other hand we now have many working men who are rural land owners in our counties, and possessors of valuable town allotments in the various towns of the Colony. This is as it should be, and it is to the farsightedness of our present Government that we look to perpetuate a land system whose reserves will always retain, both in town and country, a moiety of land for the investment of tha working man's capital. This will give that protection which the English laborer on English soil lacks ; it will also maintain the independence of the workman's character ; it will stamp out poor laws, and men will feel that in this new country our political rulers understand the difficulties of their position, and make rational allowances for them. Following this we should have restrictive legislation on the game Ip,\VS, for why should a few people introduce any of the feudal institutions whose barbarism has so long disgraced and distressed the United Kingdom, or why should the people be taxed to support the criminal code, which is the direct result of the excessive protection of £;ame preserves.—l am, &c., Liberty. TO THE EDITOR QF THE OAMARU MAIL.

Sru, — J. learn that the Hon. Mr. Macandrew, the Minister of Works, is to visit Oamaru immediately. It is to be hoped that the hon. gentleman is coming for the purpose of fulfilling some of his promises to the people of the district. If this be the object of his visit, the sooner he comes the better, for the woi'king classes are without -eniployment-**soine of them parading our streets from morning till evening—not through sloth, but for want of work. If Mr. Macandrew gives work to the unemployed, his kindness will be long remembered. Can Ue do so 'I I think he can. If he fulfil No. 1 promise, he orders the commencement of the railway station here ; and thus the cavations for the work will give employment to some of the laborers ; and the masons and carpenters will soon be in full swing at their trades. If No. 2 promise is carried out, that will for the present meet the requirements of the working classes. Let the hon. gentleman commence the Livingstone railway line, and give work to our men, and I feel satisfied that our people here willjalter the opinion held for some time of the members O of the present Government —that they are always promising andjiever performing. I think the present opportunity should bs availed of' by our respected Mayor and Messrs. Shrimski and Hislop to wait as a deputation on the Hon. the Minister of Public Works to urge the pressing wants of our unemployed. Indeed, I often hear the remark, " What good are our two members ?" The Government do not appear to set any value on them. If they did they would not be promising to build a railway station, promising to construet the Livingstone railway, promising to build a Courthouse, and a Post Office,. and not fulfilling any of these engagements. Now, when our people are in want of work, is the time for our members to show whether they have any influence with the members of the Government. If the work is not commenced before the opening of Parliament, it may be years before we see these works carried out, and in case nothing is done I feel sure the people will say Mr. Macandrewlooks upon our members as men of straw, and sets 110 value on their votes. Though I hear these remarks, r,ntl though on the surface they appear to have some foundation, I know for a fact that our members are doing their utmost to advance the interests of this district, and I feel certain, that it is a source of the deepest pain to tliera to find that none of the promises made by Mr, Macandrew are being fulfilled, I hope the Hon. Minister of Worlds will be once more appealed to by our representatives ; and that for the sake of the unemployed, the appeal will be successful.—-I am, &c. A Sympathiser.