The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1186, 4 February 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1880.

It is a pity that the partisanship of the Timaru Herald should lead it into such ridiculous excesses. We know of no newspaper that has so little regard for the common sense of the public as the Timaru Herald- Its leading matter—if political—is scarcely ever anything better than fiction. In taking its choice of two masters, ifc prefers it 3 political friends to the public, and would follow them—even to the scaffold. That is, the paper would—we will say nothing of the sincerity of those who are behind it. The last instance of the strong political partisanship of the Herald is to be found in an article on the Te Aroha land sale. It ridicules the Thames people because—although they have beenagitating for years for the sale of large blocks of land in a manner fair and advantageous to them—they did not purchase the Te Aroha land offered to them on Tuesday last. It say 3 that there was not a single purchaser from the Thames, and that the suburban lot 3 offered were purchased by speculators. If true, this is not difficult to understand. "When the Thames gold- J field began to fail, those who had, up to j that time, been existing on mining and | the industries and trade which grew out of it, were driven to seek other means of subsistence. Some very naturally turned their eyes towards the fertile lands in the vicinity of the goldfield. Othera agitated for tho opening up of Ohinemuri, in the hope that that district would offer a good field for the prosecution of the industry with which they were most familiar. Ohinemuri was tested as a goldfield, and proved a failure. Agriculture was therefore the only resource for the Thames surplus population. At this time there was not only the inclination to purchase land, but there was the money. But not an acre could the people get. The land was always locked up in some mysterious manner known only to the Government of the day, or, rather, the Governments that ruled for several years prior to the accession of the Grey Government. But, whilst there was no land for the struggling Thames population, there was plenty for speculators. This class, assisted by the various Governments, succeeded in acquiring block after block until Te Aroha only wa3 left out of the land available to the Thames residents. Piako had disappeared mysteriously from the map of the Auckland Crown Lands Office ; and we have lately learned how nearly the heart of Te Aroha was being plucked out for the gratification of one whose earth hunger appears to be insatiable. But Te Aroha, so far, is safe, and a portion of it was offered for sale by public auction on Tuesday last. Seven or eight years of bad times, however, had made sad inroadsr upon the little money that the Thames "people had put by for land purchase., What they have left they prize too highly to allow the eloquence of any auctioneer to get possession of it in -exchange' for land that is entirely* unsuitable for agri? cultural purposes. What was offered to tho Thamesjpeople was a number of town j

sections and some swampy rural land. Yet our contemporary says that the land offered was just what was required. It insinuates that those who clamor for land seldom want it, and it cites the Te Aroha sale in proof of that. This is the result of mental obliquity and blind rashness. If our contemporary had allowed itself to think it would have remembered that the Thames people already have too much town land, and that, although they are desirous of turning their attention to agriculture, they are not prepared to carry on that industry up to their necks in mud. This Te Aroha sale has been another clever attempt to throw dust in the eyes- of the people of the Colony. It would appear that the design of the present incorruptible Government, or, rather, its representative in Auckland, was to convey the impression that the Auckland waste lands would not sell in small blocks, and, at the same time, to reserve the heart of Te Aroha for Mr. Russell. Mr. Russell has every chance of success, if the people and Press of the Colony should only keep as quiet as they have done in the past. His friends are once more allpowerful, and his friends and the Government are identical. But even should what is known by the title of " The Government" remain passive, and leave the settlement of Mr. Russell's claim to the shrewd Attorney-General (the Hon. Mr. Whitaker), would there be no room for hope that justice would be done ? He will have to contend with the solicitor for the Government, who, let it be borne in mind, is the best lawyer of the Whitaker family out of Parliament. Then there will be the Commissioner to overcome. He is Mr. Hesketh, another lawyer. There was not another Whitaker available, orMrHesketh would probably nothavebeen entrusted with a position fraught with so much responsibility. He is, however, a favorite of the Attorney-General. Wicked people might say that the Hon. Mr. Whitaker, his son, and his protege, have no right to have anything to do with the settlement of a matter in which they are more or less interested. But such objections are a libel on the AttorneyGeneral and his friends. Mr. Russell is attempting to wring from the colonists that which is theirs, and we know of no better men to deal with such a matter than Mr. Whitaker and his friends. We have digressed somewhat; but we have done so in order to take a glance at the dispute by which Te Aroha is again entrenched from those who would be legitimate investors. We say that no portion of Te Aroha should be held back pending the settlement of such a claim as that of Mr. Thos. Russell. The people of the north saw the superbly fertile land that rose up out of the quagmire that was offered to them, and they very naturally wanted to know when it was to be offered for sale. They were not going to throw their money away and leave the advantage of sure investments to speculators. Let the Government try to forget that the promise of 30,000 or 40,000 acres of the creditors of Te Aroha was promised as a gift to Mr. Thos. Russell by a Government which included the Attorney-General and others of the present Ministry, and let them offer Te Aroha for sale fairly and every acre will go. The administration of the lands of the North is virtually left in the hands of the Attorney-General. He is swayed by old prejudices and friendships, and it is not fair that he should have been induced to accept a position in the Government that lays him open, to such severe temptation. The lands of the North that have been alienated from the Natives should not be subjected to exceptional treatment. All should have a fair field and no favor.