Page 8 Advertisements Column 3

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 114, 22 August 1910, Page 8

In a leading article on the Bowron appeal case, the- Otago Daily Times says: We ventured to suggest when the decision of the Magistrate in this particular case was given that Mr. Smith owed it to his colleagues in the Legislature that he should tender to the Go- | vernor his resignation of his seat. lie did not see fit to adopt this course at the time, but his retirement from public life is now inevitable. Whether he should he unaccompanied in Ms withdrawal from the Legislature is a matter upon which a certain amount of speculation may perhaps be excusable. Rumor, which, to be sure, is not always reliable, has not hesitated to name another legislator in connection with a matter of this kind that has brought Mr. Smith's name into disagreeable prominence. This legislator, it is alleged, however, has effected a compromise with the Income Tax Department. If there is any foundation in fact for the reports which have gained currency on this point, there may be no difference between the quality of the offence committed by him and that committed by Mr. Smith, or, if there is a difference, it may even be in favor of Mr. Smith. And in that case there should really be two resignations from the Legislature, not one only. "Some people," remarked Mr. Herries in the House recently, "(have unfortunately the erroneous idea that any poor man can go and deal with the natives. If," he continued, "any workingman goes and deals with the natives, he will find that his purse will quickly come to an end. In the first place, if you want to buy land from a native you must pay cash down. That is not a poor man's job. The poor man can buy land from me or anyone else and pay a fourth or a fifth down, and the rest goes on mortgage, but not so with the native. With him it is, as I have said, cash down, and therefore, it is only a rich man's game. This position is the result of the present land laws. Anyone who has acquaintance in dealing with the Native Land Courts or the 'Native Land Boards, knows quite well that one must have a lonjj purse before one can' get a hold of Maon land. And then," added Mr. Herries, "you will generally find that you could have bought other land cheaper."