THE LAND QUESTION.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 457, 26 March 1890, Page 6

THE LAND QUESTION.

Oamaru, March 20. Sir Rorert Stout, who is here attending the sittings of the Supreme Court, delivered by special request a speech on the land question in the Public Hall last night. In the course of his address he instituted comparisons between the land legislatiorrof his own Government ..arid'‘ that of the present Ministry/ He mentioned that while his Government thought the tendency of legislation was to obstruct the formation of large estates and promote settlement on the land on conditions favourable to the settler and to the principle of State ownership, the

LAND LEGISLATION OF THE PRE SENT MINISTRY

had been quite the opposite. In proof of this he instanced the alterations which had been made in the small grazing runs system, and the facilities placed in the way of cash purchasers; also, the various eases, with the necessity of personal residence and settling, for cash. He also spoke strongly against the native land legislation of the present Government. Legalising free trade in native land was, he argued, like legalising free trade in anything between children and adults, who would inevitably make it their business to take every possible advantage of the children. Being opposed to the well-being of the Maoris, the legidabion in question would certainly be bad for the colony, for it placed no limit upon the areas which might be acquired by individual companies or syndicates, and this encouraged the

GROWTH OF THAT BIG ESTATE SYSTEM which has been the curse of so many other parts of the colony. As to the land grants to the Midland Railway, Sir R. Stout said that whereas his Government had told the Company it must take its grant in alternate blocks along the line, Sir H. Atkinson had in effect given the Company the right to select land throughout the greater parb of Canterbury. He advised the people to insist on the reversal of the present policy to the utmost of their ability, and told them not to let themselves be led away at the next election by such catch cries as the “Bible in schools,” etc., which, he predicted, would be roused for that very purpose of hoodwinking the country with regard to the vital points and issues of the land. There wab a large attendance, the Mayor being, in the chair, and at the close of the address Sir R. Stout was enthusiastically thanked by the audience,