Banquet to Mr Ballance. Important Land Settlement Proposals. [TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Masterton, October 12.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 174, 16 October 1886, Page 5 (Supplement)

Banquet to Mr Ballance. Important Land Settlement Proposals. [TELEGRAPH — OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Masterton, October 12.

The Hon. Mr Ballanco was banquetted here last night by the members of the Small Farm Association. In the course of his speech he said that in dealing with the land question his desire was to get successful settlement and afford opportunity to sons of settlers who had saved money to settle upon the land. He could not say how they had got on, but ho heard that the settlers were fulfilling the conditions with scarcely one exception. There was ono great thing to be done or settlement would not be so successful as it ought to be : that was making roads. He believed railways were not nearly so important as roads for the settlement of the country. Of course, main arterial railways, to connect the chief centres, were necessary ; but, 'taking the vast amount of railways in the colony, the money yielded , by .them, and the settlement they had encouraged, they were not to be compared with roads. Therefore he believed that if this depression was to bo renijovcd they must push on road making, thoy must curtail the amount to bo spent upon railways, and augment the .amount to be spent upon roads to open up the countryi He urged increased efforts in the immigretian | of small capitalists, and under the nominated system as being beneficial and not inimical to the interests of the working classes and reviewed what been done in this respect. He also reviewed what the Government done in village settlement in Auckland, as showing how to meet the unem ployed difficulty. He advocated the approprie tion of private estates- near towns for this purpose. There could be no injnstice to the owners if a fair price, say ten per cent abo\ the property tax valuation were paid. This matter would have come up soon, possibly next session, and he believed the Government wouldface it. What he proposed ,was to proceed upon the <lines of the special settlement system, and where the settlers wore prepared to pay the property tax value, and 'had a quarter of the money to pay for ■ it, the : Government shouldjadvance i of the money at s,por cent interest. In his opinion this would result in settlements springing lup in' 'all parts' of the Colony.' On the questdon'of protection while not opposed to the, system ot bonu ; ee he thought the Customs waa the best means of industries, and would onable us' to hold 'outf own against Foreign ' markets! Wt was <! purely a ; question between vthe jmportermiid tne.ihanufacturers, ;and to decide .between them ,he Jthro w inmslot with tho manufacturers; His Yecep-' tion was" most enthusiastic: ' " *<*-- tsl '■*> 'i '- > i