The Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1883. LAND NATIONALISATION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1087, 27 March 1883, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1883. LAND NATIONALISATION.

Major Atkinson is evidently the strong man of the present Government. Tite Hon, the Premier, the Minister oi Public Works, the Hon. Mr Rolieston, and all the other members have been cruising about from end to end of the land since the session closed but not one of them dared to address the public. They received deputations and promised that the subject brought under notice would receive careful consideration, they hive smiled blandly on everyone took copious notes of all grievances, but they have not let fall one single utterterance of any importance. During nil this Lime Major Atkinson was at the helm in Wellington. He was so to speak minding the house while all the other Ministers were enjoying themselves. It is now Major Atkinson's ' Sunday out,' and he has chosen, the less pleasant task of making speeches wherever he goes. Major Atkinson is not a man of sm'les. There is very little of thft ' oily gammon ' about him, and it is very probable that he feels ho would not be a success should Ik adopt that manner of winning the confidence of the people, Hence, per. haps, his ieason for adopting the speechmaking method. There can be nr di'Ubt but that Major Atkinson is th> ablest man in the Ministry, so far as figures are concerned, and there is much in the two speeches he has delivered at Christchurch deserving of praise. His speeches, however, are very vague, in fact they convey to us the idea of the Yankee statesman, viz., ' Them's my sentiment=, and if they don't suit you they ken be altered.' For instance, he treated the question of land nationalisation, and though we read and re-read that portion of his speech in which he referred to it, we could not satisfy ourselves as towhetherhe was for or against it. He said certainly that he would not be in favor of it immediately, and then suggested to wait uniil it was found how the Act of last session would work. We quite agree with him that it would not be wise to rush slap dash into the matter, but we certainly expected cleater views on the subject than those enunciated by the gallant Major. He seemed to be ' like a cat on hot bricks' while talking of land nationalisation, He appeared to be feeling his way, and ready to s&y : ' Well, if you want it done I am the man that will do it,' 01 vice versa. In fact all he appeared to aim at was to ascertain now the wind lay, He laid down no principle by which he would stand or fall as a Minister, lie appeared to be trying to be all things to all men. The gallant and honorable Major is one of the most outspoken mm in the colony, and he certainly must not feel secure in his position when he tries to hide what he thinks. But the weakest point in the whole speech is that in which he discusses the application of the rents raised from leasing land. The great problem which disturbed his mind was whether rents received from Crown lands should be applied to the relief of taxation, or tc some other purpose. After quoting authorities in favor of making it national revenue, he goes on to say ' There arc others who think to apply it to the relief of general taxation would be practically useless to the community, Supposing we got sufficient rent from our lands—as it is estimated could be got in England—to do away with the whole of taxation, you will lee in a

moment that then you woud lie apply- , ing the National Estate not to the owners of the estate—that is the individuals—but to the relief of th« tax-

payers in various proportions .according to the amount they contribute to taxation ? We should like to ask Major ( Atkinson a question or two on this matter: In the first pluce what is the meaning of the words * national estate.' It must lie an estate belonging to the nation. Well, then, who are the nation. We think they must be the people living in the country to which reference is made. The national estate muafe therefore be the property of the people as a whole, and by right all of them ought to derive benefit from it, In the sentence quoted from the speech, however, Major Atkinson seems to think that the occupiers of the land under perpetual leases would be owners of it, and that they would derive no benefit because thsy would hare to pay for the land. T!iis is very funny logic. How could it be a national estate if only occupiers would be benefitted. Those who occupy the lands are benefitted to the extent of tlieir gain from it, and those who do not, are benefitted to the extent of having their taxes paid for them. If the rents were to be applied to anything else than the relief of the geneial taxation it wouid not be national property, and it would be a misnomer to call it a ' national estate.' Really for a man in the positbn which Major Atkinson occupies to speak with so ' Ittle regard to common sense, argues that he does not understand what he is talking aboutt But the way he settles the question is funnier still. He proposes to devote the money to a fund for widows and orphans. Where are all the widows and orphans goin<* to . norao from ? Surely if we adopted the system of land nationalisation we woull not want all the rent to he derived from land to keep our widows and orphans. We think the M«jor might have remained a month longer in Wellington cogitating-oi over this subj"ct, for he certainly appears to have only very foggy notions of it. An! such are the men that rule us!

THE HARBOR BOARD. The Timarn Herald yesterday attacks the Harbor Board with its usual regardlessmess of personal feeling. It points out the various views he.d with regard to the extension of the present works as follows:—" (i) tu concentrate all efforts on carrying the mole straight out into deep water, so as to form a first class harbor, japable of accommodating a grett trade and vessels of large tonnsge ; (2) to devote a large portion of the available funds to the construction of a jetty to be serviceable as a wharf when permanent protec-._ tion to the Harbor is afforded by the completion of the design ; (3) to complete the design at once by construc f ing tha kant, or seaward mole, at right angln to the present mole at the termination of tha present contract." After discussing the relative merits of these plans the Herald's dander gets up at the idea of none of them being adopted. It points out that the intention of the Board is not to carry the mole out straight nor jet turn the angle abruptly but ' to diverge it at an angle of 135 degrees. So as to make this intelligible to persons who do not understand degrees we may say that if carripd out in this fashion, the Breakwater will reiemble much the hind leg of a dog. The Herald flares up fearfully on account of this being dbnn, but it brings only one. logical objection against it. It says that by this the mo'e instead of being taken ont into deep water will be carried across into shallow water. If this is a fact w© entirely agree with the warning given by the Herald. Whatever inconveuienoe may be felt at present, the future of the port ought not to be sacrificed in the -■ slightest degree, and consequently we should recommend the Board to have soundings taken and assure themselves as to the accuracy of the Herald's statement. We have very little regard for what the Herald says because it never considers itself bound to toe truth when it suits to say something else. Still the matter should be put beyond a question of doubt. We may s'ats that the plan is not a new one, It is one which has been suggested to the Board by Mr McGregor, Engineer to th« Oamaru Haibor Board, and taken up at the last meeting of the Board on the reeommendatin of our local representative, Mr K. F. Gray. If it does not result, as the Herald says it will, in running the mole into shallow water, it ia certainly the best plan that could be pdopted. We cannot see how it could. There are 22 feet at low water at the en of the present contract, and as the proposed extension ia to run seaward, although not in a straight line, it does not stand to reason that it will get into shallow water, However, that is a matter that can only be ascertained by taking soundings, and as our local representative is to a certain extent the father of the scheme, wo hope that he will cause aocurate information to be obtained with regard to it, If it is found that sufficient depth of water can bo obtained, we say by all means take the molo out in the obliqus

direction as proposed. It wilt destroy tlie range of the sea and a safe harbor will be made much more quickly ; it will obviate the necessity for a turntable for the crane at the angle, and «ve shall hare a harbor much sooner, and at less cost than if the mols were taken out straight. But these considerations must be sunk into insignificance be-iide the depth of water question and we trust thnt the Board will be altogether guided by that.