The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JULY 18, 1886. THE UNEMPLOYED.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1531, 13 July 1886, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JULY 18, 1886. THE UNEMPLOYED.

The present depression has bad one good effect ; it has set people thinking very seriously, with the result that various schemes have been propounded, and many suggestions thrown out, for the purpose of remedying the present condition of affaire. Amongst the many suggestions made which have received very little attention, there is one com tained in a little pamphlet which came to band some time ago, bnt so far has escaped notice. The pamphlet to which we refer ii entitled “ Ihe unemployed and the remedy,” by Gavin M, Park, of Maeterton, and the proposition it makes is as follows :

(1.) Blocks of the bast obtainable Grown lands in each provincial district should be set aside for settlement under the perpetual leasing system, without the right ef purchase at any future date, and information as to position, quality, etc., of the land freely advertised. (2.) Persons deiiirous of taking up land in any of these blocks should intimate

their desire lo the proper authorities*, giving full information as to the purposes to which they intend to apply the land, together with the quantity required, which, in no case, should exceed 150 acrea of Brst-claas land, or 300 acres of second-class land.

(3.) After the selector has received an intimation that a section has been allotted to him, he will immediately furnish to the Government, certified by a Grown lands ranger, or other qualified officer, an estimate of the cost of clearing, fencing*, and necessary buildings, the amount to be bo expended being limited to, say, £4 per acre. (4.) Where the selector desires to follow any special profession such as »< gardening, orchard planting, hop growing, fine growing, or any such calling, necessitating extra outlay, the area of bis selection shall be limited to, say, 50 acres, but the amount to bo expended may exceed the limit named in the preceding section.

(5.) After (he applicant's selection has been granted, and the expenditure necessary to make it reproductive agreed upon, the selector shal>, within a given time, commence to clear and prepare his leasehold for the purpose for which it is required. (6.) The Government shall pay (on the production of a ranger’s certificate) for the improvements periodically, as the work progresses. (7.) When all the improvements agreed upon have been completed (or previously, if the land has been rendered sufficiently reproductive), the selector shall be granted a perpetual lease of his holding, subject to re-valuation every fourteen years. (8.) The value of the land shall be assessed in the first instance, at £1 per acre for first-class land, and 10s per acre for second-class land as its original value, with the cost of improvements added thereto; thus, if £4 per acre has been expended on the holding of first-class land, the assessment shall be at the rate of £6 per acre, and the lessee charged by the State on that valuation at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum.

Mr Park further provides fop freeholders selling their land to the. Government, and then leasing them back •gain at 5 per cent on the purchase money ; but this ia altogether beside the question mentioned in the title of his pamphlet. Taking only that part of bis pamphlet which deals with the unemployed, we must say that the scheme is a very good one, and if adopted, andthe unemployed refused to accept the terms offered them, they would deserve to be allowed to starve. Tba way the scheme would work is this A man would tnke up a block of bush land, for instance, and as fast as he would clear the bush off the Government would pay him far bis work, till the land was sufficiently improved to enable him to make a living on it. As soon as this stage had been reached be would have to pay five shillings an acre rent for the beet land, if the improvements had cost £4 per acre. He would get the land at a rental of one shilling per acre, and one shilling for every pound per acre spent on reclaiming and improving. The terms aie certainly more than advantageous to the tenant; and if this did not empty some of the towns of the surplus population nothing would. It is said by those who have studied the unemployed, that they would rather starve in the town than go out into the country, and though this may be a little exaggerated, there is no doubt but that there is some truth in it. The immigrants imported into this country were not agricultural laborers ; they were all, with few exceptions; persons accustomed to town life. When they arrived in this eolony railway making and employment in towns were very easy to be got, and to these they settled down. In this way a great many of them have never been accustomed to country life; and they do not care about it, bat at the same lime it is not true that all those who .have been ranked with ’ the unemployed -belong to this class. In the Dunedin papers not long ago there appeared an advertisement warning swaggers that they would receive no accommodation at certain stations. Now swaggers must be very numerous when a number ef squatters agree together to advertise jointly that they would not give either food or accommodation to any who might visit them, and with such a prospect staring a man in the facs we do not see Why he ought to be blamed for not being in a hurry to seek his fortune..with his swag on his back. The scheme under review, however, offers certain work and payment for it, while at the same time a man is given the chance of building a home for himself. The terms are too favorable, and the price put upon the land is not enough, But at the same time it would pay the Slate far belter to spend the money on improving the public estate than to squander it on unproductive works bo , as to give the unemployed something to do, However, it is useless to hope that Mr Park's scheme or any other person’s scheme will be adopted if it contains one grain of common sense. Our politicians would no more think of leaving the beaten track than they would of committing suicide ; “fancy legislation” they call it, and that to them is what the proverbial red rag is to the bull. Bnt let us hope that the unemployed question is a thing of the past. The numerous railways to he carried on will absorb a largo number of working men ; our farmers are going in very extensively for grain growing, and- there will be a good deal of work connected with that. We do not anticipate that there will be any great want of employment in this colony next year, and of courie that must lessen any chance of Mr Park's scheme being kdoptad. The unemployed are noisy enough, bnt once they get plenty to eat they will neither think of the morrow, ,nor bother about who becomes their representative in Parliament.