THE LAND REGULATIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 147, 6 May 1862, Page 4

THE LAND REGULATIONS.

To the lidltor nftlie Daily Timisa Tlfr Di.ar tint —You full well know with ' "" what, reiucttiuce i have hithcr*o intruded myself on your readers. I li'utc p"!itic.s, uml, 1 hud ul- f^ in > Jt km id, everyone mid everything .eoiijieote'lj' with them, ami griiilge tiie lime occupied i/t .„. entering into the controversies of the day." My lit tie farm ongugnti all the attention I enn arin-ln-ind in my leisure iuum.:nts, an.l, wne:i tiiu evening closes in, I. delight too much in the society yf my loving and hiT dozi-n litlle chicks, to withdraw my tlmujrhls from thfir affectionate conversation. I coiifosH. huwsttT, to tin interest in this new scheme, ho concisely deMgnmed by you us iiie " l«"tce Grant of Lind to Immigrants " system ; and believini: you h.ivo not fairly met the cn.se, and knowing v«mr .ov« of tair pl.ty, so eminently displayed in Icn-n-king dow.i thul young fj!!'>vr in who^i? wrisc was sprlined, 1 write these tow lines uxpressite of my luliins, a<>:iiiutr do thting that, ii' you do not rind the arguments too strong', you will, somehow or otho*, without disclosing my 11:11112, give admission to my sentiments. In dealing with Ilia Superintendent's mcssii/c you put ma muoh iv mind of the ni-iii who w.is eontuiit with his influence in wielding the masse* if he could control the national ballads, i'roviledyou are allowed to furnish your adversary's argument,, you will annihilate him in "a breath. You aptly illustrate your motto, '• Inveniam viaui autfucium" which, translated in the spirit of the author, would convey the idea, that if you cannot smash your enemy by fair means, you will find a way to do for him, and give him a f.icer ; and 4vliich is exemplified in the dying qiu'cer's pathetic exhortation—"Make money, Simon, honorably if you can, but make 'money." But, seriously, how stands the case ? Where is your authority for the asserti a that the Superintendent means to lock uji the title to thousands of acres for a pensd of several years." The proposed resolutions merely suggested a principle.' The working out of that principle would have afforded the necessary checks. The agents would be confined to certain numbers annually, and certain proportions of different Classes, and there would be a wide liel.i for judicious selection. The-whole • available country would still be open for selection on any terms that might be decidedon should the conditions of sale be amended. It is very easy for you to fix the immigration at 20,000 within the next two years, and give each of the immigrants 20 acres. You might have chosen 50,000 while you wore about it. If such are coming, tliarc is no need of any impulse. The power asked for is only a permissive power, which might be exercised when necessity arose. You say that nothing can prevent land orders being sold. Are there not such things as leases and contracts' not transferable ?—might not orders bo given to the - individual, on the pilot leaving, a descriptive roll being obtained previous to embarkation ? You tic up ths proposers of these resolutions to two positions. The warrants, you say, if faithfully carried out will he scarcely worth anything. Jf you can get immigrants without them there is no use in exercising the permissive power; if you1 O.WUOE, you gut an immigrant in return from your warrant. There would be no room for misrepresentation if the warrants hpre on the face of them,' the whole of t'io conditions and warned parties against listening to any other. • >. • - - _*• •. v Again, if the warrants are not faithfully adhered to ''enormous political'corruption will, arise." Have you considered whether the same . will not arise if the present law is enforced.', Slippose any Government were to attempt to carry out the provisions-of the-present-conditions, the obligations " to lay out upon the land, within four years" from the date of purchase, a sum equal to 40s. an acre. .The effect would bo that the three- ' fourths or two-thirds of the land in the Province would be lost to the owners.;.:. Is there ho room tor political corruption here? You must not fancy that you arc the author of immigration of half pifssngu money payment— " it is already in operation as regards females, or '• rather has been ; for, being found inoperative, the whole expense is now borne by the State. It has. . ' al-10 been often proposed as a scheme fo • goner: 1 .. adoption, bun if the 20,000 which arc piO:nisid are to come, why give any thing? The prcplu'cy is on record, and, believing the prediction*, we may dismiss the whole question as one of, supererogation. ' j • Believe me, my dear Sir, it is not the system which is distasteful to certain classes, but the clVoots ', population is 110 c wanted. But if come it must, then every immigrant must be' tested, ere he pa?s Jordan, by a- '■shibboleth." We'-livc in-times that are not to be trifled with, onr population f.iirly represents- the United Kingdom,' and if one shilling of the public nn:iey, drawn from this population, is to be expanded, the immigration in uot partake or' the same character as the population. You—though your Jove of ur^ gunient, induces you ,to creata a foe to your liking, are too strong aiVadvobate for fair play not, to denounce any such attempt, Jf the K'sbiutions are faulty, cast them aside—if 1 know aught of iheii* suppoi-t.-rs, they would be happy at the result and pro.-ofcd' to. reeou Irani ; but remember they will never sacrifice the principle) aiine I at— though, perhaps, unskilfully—fhn pc >p"i;ig of- this country with ■ immigrants from all part's of the United "Kingdom/and of every ■deuo-niiiatio:i, Un.l afllirdinjf every facility for th'j ni-a^ifeition" of laud on re--sou'.iWq term?. — Yoursiiuthfully,,— '■ . I Onr cDire.ipomleufc scireeiy uudiirsfcVn'U the purport of our argument. We say that, earned out ,in their ;n l.c grity, the warrantsjife scar&jly worth idiything to the hoi lers ; and that, therefore, if propjrly „ rep."CFe:it-.'d, they wou'd bs of no service in drawi ig i:ujiii<rnnis. If,, tw we a:iiiciptle^ t!ie imuiigijtiou . v.-ill b; cunsidurabie v.iihouc tliein,' then ,tliey'.are 'uieroly thrown away ; ami, little as th«y are v.orih to the holders, they are r. loss to tlio.Sbite of £20 e.icll, in loekiujj up at least that value of land. ' Kxpcrietice shows Oiat all instruelions to aj:ente,'antl checks of any kinl, aie f.'.tilc- Agenis have"to appointsuba^ents; aud the test of payment "is the amount of saede/s their efforts meet All the colonies'are biddiu;: for. iiniiii-jiautJ, and a/ant'j go roaiul the country dUtriulii ' -M, h'jmo trying to prouiire tiUein? ' Let us eupposa i:istruutioiis are scut to Ilia Ota^o pgcuts to procure a tliuusaiid or ten thousand immigrant*, ori tiie hrlucemeut of lauJ warrants. How are they to kuo«r whether thoy procuro eaiijjrants who would not othdrwfre lia.-ecoiue; and how ard they-to have "a wide field for judicious selection," when a~euts have agreiter ailfiunlty to secure cuugraiits, thfiji people who choose • to emigrate have to seeuro the msAtia to .enable them to do so. Wo say, if it bo necessary to entice cnii:j;r.i- . tiou, do «a l>y nuiiieyp_iymeataj the co»t to tli'o SLile wouid b3 far le.-is, while the inducement to the iruinigraafs would be far greater, unless they. -«-e:e fraudulently i»iprs->sed with an exaggerated ostimale of the value of the w.intiiits. liri-e^ird to prev6ntiug political' action, all our correspondenti's chsjks would • be useless. No matter wJi.it the'-conJitinns printed " on thd w.irranfc3,^the holders would cora:)!:iin of their hardship, would maintain they ware given to underytaiid them 'differently, ami woul.i ])leail their need as their excuse fur exerting their political influence in favor of mitigating tlu conditions. Speculators, too, who' give the imriiijnMnti a po'.md or two for their warrants vroaUl uiaiut'iiu they hiid done so fi'-jni elurital/le ijit3iitions, and v/ould exert their political iufluunco to alter the oomlitions. Hut Auckland supplies the truth of all tlin po forcibly that wo have only,to re'er tp ivs expeirience. With all Uie pitwutinns it endeavored vj fence itself round witii, the laud warrants have totally lailei to ivork the cffesfc3 they were meant to fulfil, whilst the conditions have.become a dead letter. The evils that ha\« - arisen hi Auckland will be intensified here,, from tho ■ /\ fact that a great many inirai^r.nits will reach these "shores, on tiie in Ju jcment of the gold di^coveric's. -I'lw >"' land warrants to th?nj would be hiuiply an'iustrnment to fleece the Ooveriiment. Our correspondent's argument, that the of Ui'e' v/arraiits"will be limited,. is simply an inairect..admission that tho fewer issued tho better it'will be. "We cheerfully concede to him, that in limiting the number, injury is lhaiteJ ; hat he will, perhaps, a3 he is such an adept at quotations, remember that mn^iiA .el minus "(M ._,* variant " speciem. aii'l that, by iirniting the use of dittflM principle, he does not by any means improve ite iia-JSSP/ ture. His argument concerning the v/orkisig of the piefent system, fallj to the ground, seeing thai'wo Itave been' tha first to denounce il. We have been ' tolerably explicit in explaining onr vinws as to the nature of the alterations reqnireJ to encouiu^e cnlti- " vntionanddi'rouia^espcculatiuii.]— Ed. Jf. 7. With respect to the sengoing qualifies of t!ie Warrioi-, of winch letters from Lisbon spoke dispnragiugly," Lord Clarence fagot, in the House of Commoiw, on Thursday week, quoted a letter from the Commander , of the Warrior, from which it appeared that the great ship behave" admirably during her recent stormy voyage to Lisbon.- Lord Clarence) added that, in • his opinion, he Warrior " bad now proved herself a first-rnte Beagoinjr'sliip,"