The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1888. THE THREE-ACRES-AND-A-COW BILL PASSED.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1713, 20 March 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1888. THE THREE-ACRES-AND-A-COW BILL PASSED.

lir 1883 there waa originated in the columns of this paper a scheme which we called "The Laborers' Home* Scheme." It proposed that in thickly populated places like this district the Government should buy from the present owners allotments of land, of about six acres, for the purpose of settling thereon agricultural laborers. The scheme was worked out pretty well and submitted to the Government, and Sir Julius Vogel included it in a Government Bill, but the great friends of the people—the Atkinson party—threw it out and it did not pass. This occurred in 1884, and in 1885 a motion having a similar object in view was brought before the House of Commons by Mr Jesse Oollings. It was called in England the *' Three-Acres-and-a-Cow Scheme," and it was on this motion that the Conservative Government was turned out of office. The Conservatives appealed to the country, with the result that they were completely defeated, and amongst the unsuccessful candidates was Mr Jesse Collings himself. This was greatly wondered at, and it was freely remarked that it was no use for any one to take up anything in the interests of the working men. Here waa the man who had brought forward this motion, which had for its object the securing of homes on the land on which they toiled to working men, but the first moment he came before them as a candidate they voted agaigst him and he was defeated. The Conservatives made great capital out of this, especially Lord Randolph Churchill, who argued that the working men did not want it, just exactly as the Atkinson party in this colony used to say that the people could not be got to settle on the land. It was thought, therefore, that the scheme had miscarried, and that no morej

would be heard of it, but that has not been the case. Mr Gladstone held office for some time after this, and eitended the franchise to working men, but the first use they made of it was to turn him out of office, and reinstate in power a Conservative Government. It is evident that the Conservatives have thought seriously over the " Three-Acres and-a-Cow " proposal since then, for an Act embodying the same principle was passed last year. It is called the "Allotments Act, 1887," and gives local bodies power to purchase land for the purpose of cutting it up into allotments and leasing them to working men. It will be remembered that the scheme which was formulated in these columns suggested that the carrying out of it should be given to County Counoila. This idea has been adopted in the English Act. . Power is given to the Sanitary Authority—that is, what we call here the Local Board of Health—to purchase land for the purposes of the Act on receiving a request to do bo signed by six electors or ratepayers. If the Sanitary Authority is unable to get the land it wants to purchase it refers the matter to the County Authority which is the same as our County Council—-and the County Authority may then make an order authorising the Sanitary Authority to exercise compulsion in acquiring the necessary land. Now here is the great principle of compulsory sales of land affirmed by the i Imperial Parliament. When the Stout-Vogel Government last year announced their intention of introducing the Land Acquisition Bill, which embodied exactly the same principle as that which we new find adopted by the Imperial Parliament, a cry arose from end to end of the land, and it was denounced as confiscation and socialism, and it was said that it would have the effect of driving capital away. Now here we find a similar measure passed by the Imperial Parliament, and no one has thought of running away out of England with his bags of gold on account of it. Thus it is evident that even the Conservatives of England are far more liberal than the Conservatives of this colony, for they have passed a measure the mere mention of which is enough to send their New Zealand cousins into a fit of hysterics. In this measure are affirmed the principles of compulsory saleß of land, the State leasing system, and the acknowledgment of the right of a working man to a home on the land on which he works. These are most important innovations. Twenty years ago the man who would have suggested such a scheme as has been embodied in the Allotments Act, 1887, would have been considered a fit subject for the lunatic asylum, but without a doubt during the next 20 years much more rapid strides will be made than in the past. The people are becoming educated, they are beginning to open their eyes to the unfairness of many existing institutions, and in course of time they will insist on having changes effected. It is not right that one man should starve while another has ten thousand times more than he wants, and it will be the work of the future to render the opportunities of the people more equal and put them on a more even footing. This first great step has been taken in England, and the example is bound to be followed in other countries in the course of time.