THE PREMIER AT WOODVILLE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1561, 29 March 1887, Page 4

THE PREMIER AT WOODVILLE.

The Premier addressed a meeting at Woodville on Friday night. There was a crowded audience. Mr W, C. Smith, M.H.R.i was in the chair. The Premier first dealt with the land question, advocating State ownership, and folly explaining the nature of land nationalisation. He claimed to hare held the same views ever since he first entered political life. In 1878 he urged that if land vas sold to private owners, at all events it was right to place restriction on the quantity to be held. Critic’sincr rim Merton speech, the papers had said tb <*■ »ura land was sold in the speaker’s administration than any other. Well, when he first came into office in 1878 he issued a proclamation preventing the further disposal of lands as grants to aid railway construction, thus withdrawing hundreds and thousands of acres from sale. The result of that policy, together with the general depression and panic following the failure of the Glasgow Bank, was that the Grey Ministry met the House with a deficit in 1879, but the colony had since been independent of the sale of land. The Government had introduced a bill for perpetual leases in 1885, and Mr Rolleston had previously introduced a similar measure; only that of 1885 had a clause prohibiting the Crown from selling the freehold, and since that period there had been more leasehold settlement than previously. The speaker contended that the English land laws recognised a difference in landed and other property, tenants having certain distinct rights and privileges, The Irish Land Act also contained evidence of the same principle, tenants being protected in spite of the land being private property, and it was the same in Prussia. He declared that those who maintained that the ownership of land was similar to the ownership of other property ware laying the foundation for a system of communism. The perpetual leasing system was fully explained, also the proposed measure to enable the State to resume possession of certain lands where it was considered necessary for settlement. Ha then referred to the criticism of the papers'oc his Merton speech, in which they twitted him with having parted with the freehold of Crown 'anris to the East and West Coast Railway Company while advocating a reverse policy. He asked who had first proposed giving grants to companies to encourage construction of the railway! The Act which his Government passed giving land to the above company was simply an amendment of another similar measure already existing. In 1879 the colony was unable, to undertake new works owing to the wave of depression. However, the Grey Government had begun the construction of works on the Wellington-Manawatu Railway, and part of the line was m ido when the Hall Government came into power and raised the cry about the bad position of the colony and its inability to complete the railway, and also promised grants of land to any private company willing to complete the work. The quarter of a million acres given to the Wellington-Manawatu Railway Company, was of ten times more value than the two million acres proposed to be. given to the East and West Coast Railway Company. He maintained that the system of Government giving away freeholds under those conditions must be abolished. Ho remarked the absence of population along the route of the railway line through Hawke’s Bay, and combated the statement that freeholders did more with land than tenants, instancing Sootland, and holding up Ireland as »n example of bad administration of land laws. He claimed that Sir Edward Stafford, a decided Conservative, had in 1886 first enunciated the proposal for giving Government power to resume the ownership of land when it was considered beneficial to the State. Sir Edward Stafford said that land alongside a railway should be available when wanted for settlement. As for the alleged inconsistency between his utterances nt Invercargill and Marten, it was quite true that; he had said at the former place that Crown lands should be settled on before private estates were resumed. But he had always considered that, where it was specially desirable, it should be possible to enforce settlement on private land, even when plenty of Crown lands remained. He had not been inconsistent, and the principle of the proposed bill was distinctly discernable in the measure already passed enabling Government to purchase private estates for village settlements. In speaking of the Native question he eulogised Mr FitzGerald’s policy in 1862, and regretted it. had not been adopted. Sir Robert Stout considered that Native lands should be on the same footing as land belonging to the Europeans, and if it was wanted power should be given to Government to compel the Natives to sell. The Representation Bill was also referred to, the Premier stating that representation must go with population. Retrenchment must he faced, and the Civil Service reformed, The speaker received a unanimous vote of thanks.