The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1888. LAND SHARKING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1717, 29 March 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1888. LAND SHARKING.

A case which came before the R.MCourt at Christchurch, last Tuesday, throws some light on the way the Crown lands of the colony are being disposed of just now. A section of 17£ acres in the Pareora district was offered for sale recently by the Land Board, and there were two candidates f or it—Mr A. Dunbar, produce merchant, Christchurch, and Mr Thomas Brydone, the manager of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. Both were speculators, and the way they wont about securing the land has led to a prosecution, which lets some light upon the way these things are managed. Mr Dunbar offered Mr Brydone not to bid against him provided he (Mr Brydone) would pay Mr Dunbar £SO. Mr Brydone instead of coming to terms, gave information to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, with the result that Mr Dunbar has been brought up charged with bribery and committed for trial Mr Holmes said the defendant had acted in ignorance of the law; that it was » common practice; that members of Parliament did it, and that he knew one- member of Parliament to offer another £SOO if he abstained from bidding against him. With regard to the merits of the DunbarBrydone case we do not desire to say anything, i he case is yet before the Court, and we are not allowed to comment upon it, nor do we desire to do so. Our objection is to the system instituted by the present Qovernment, which admits of such corruption. Dnoer the late Q-overnment this piece of land, which is evidently of firstclass quality, would have been utilised to extend the village settlement system. Two or three laborers could have been placed on this piece of land } it would to them have been a great boon, and there pan be no doubt but that they would work it in a manner more profitable to the colony than , the Xand (Company or Mr Dun-

bar would. It was just such a place as where Mr Rhodes told us he would establish a village settlements, viz., on good laud near where there was work. The land was good; there was any amount of work in the Pareora district, but neither Mr Rhodes nor the Government he supports have settled working men on it. The system has been changed, and village settlement has been abolished, and now speculators compete with eaeii other to secure the land, so as to keep it until they can sell it at a fictitious price. This is the chief cause of our distressed condition. The land is too dear, and it will remain so as long as Q-overnment offer facilities for speculation. There is no prospect of extending settlement while the present Government remains in office; the lands Lark and speculator alone can secure the land, and the real settlers must buy it second hand by-and-by. We have, however, ourselves to blame; we did not know when we were well off; we did not recognise that in the late Government we had wise and just administrators, and consequently as we have made a hard bed for ourselves there is nothing for it but to lay on it.

QUESTION FOK FARMERS. To us it is inexplicable how blind farmers are to their own And thoir children’s interests. If they look around them they can see nothing but what points to a gloomy future, and yet they, as a whole, appear not only willing, but determined, to persevere in the very policy which has wrought the ruin of the colony. If they were people without a future we would not be so surprised, but when we consider that almost all of them have families, and that these families will soon be grown up to be men and women, we cannot fully realise how any father of a family can be satisfied with the present outlook. Where will all the young people get employment? Farming is an unprofitable industry, and as it is not likely that grain will rise in price, we can see nothing to improve its prospects. Sheep farming is not much better, gold digging is on the decline, and thus the field of labor is narrowing. Where then will the sons and daughters of farmers find employment when they grow up ? Are they to go to swell the ranks of the mnemployed? Cannot farmers think over this ? Cannot they ask themselves what will happen to their own children, and inquire seriously what their prospects are ? If they do and think the matter over, we feel convinced they will come to the conclusion that a change is needed. As we have said, farming is not a paying industry, but even if it were, where are their sons to get the land? The little of good Crown lands that remains unsold is. being disposed of to speculators by the present Government, and in a few years there will not be an inch left for bona fide settlers. Doubtless the speculators will be ready to sell, but they will want a price for it which will render it impossible for men with moderate means to secure it. If the speculator cannot sell, he can run sheep on it, and as he wants only interest, that will, suit him just as well. What then is the rising generation to do ? Nothing, absolutely nothing, unless a change is effected in the matter of disposing of Crown lands and developing our industrial resources. This can only be done in the way the late Government proposed, that is by preventing speculation in land and by protecting our industries. Farmers as well as other people ought to think over this seriously, and if they do they will find that we have always told them the truth.

THE PREMIER’S TRICKS. Thebe is trouble on the West Coast at present. In 1884 Acts of Parliament were passed under which Harbor Boards were constituted on the West Coast to improve the harbors there. The Government are now bringing pressure to bear on these Boards to resign, with the view of taking over the works and constituting them Colonial Works. Mr Beeves, member for Inangahua, in a letter to the Evening Post, explains the object the Premier has in viSw .as follows: — “ I think it will Ke found in a short time that the object of the Premier in insisting on the abolition of the Grey and Westport Harbor Boards, and making them Colonial Works, is simply a dodge in order that the abolition may be taken as a precedent so that the Taranaki Harbor Board may also be taken over as a colonial work I contend that there is no valid cause of complaint against either of the first-named Boards to justify such an extreme measure as the abolition of those bodies. They have done this, work far better than it would have been done under the Public Works Department, and I again say the only object to be attained is as first suggested, namely, to enable the New Plymouth works to be taken over,” Let it not be forgotten that Sir H. A. Atkinson is a member for a Taranaki constituency; that the reason why he was so very unpopular there last election was because of this harbor, and that Mr Maguire, who opposed him, advocated that the Government should take over the harbor. Mr Beeves, therefore, has good reasons for coming to the conclusion above quoted, and, if that is a fact, what a fearful piece of log-rolling it will be ! We in this district have borrowed money and made our harbor, and we,

must pay interest on our loans out of local rates. The West Coast and Taranaki Harbors are to be Colonial Works, and we must pay our share ot the money which will go to make these works also. It has often been said that eventually all harbors would be taken over by the Government. If the harbors referred to are constituted Colonial Works we see nothing else for it. It would not be fair or just that we should be paying local rates for our own harbor and taxes for other harbors, Atkinson Administrations have been proverbial for their corruption, and the present Government appear determined to work in harmony with the traditions of the party.

RETRENCHMENT. The Evening Post is very sever* on the retrenchment policy of the Government. Just as we have frequently done, it points out that the result of getting rid of men who are entitled to a retiring allowance will be to increase public expenditure, Of course it will. Some of those retiring will be entitled to retiring allowances equal to what would pay thoir salaries for the next two or three years, yet they will get this money for doing nothing, while others will have to be paid for the work they ought to be doing. This is consistent with the Atkinsonian style of doing business. He is the greatest financial “ messer ” that ever held the pursestrings of New Zealand.

There is another beautiful piece of management come to light. While the pay of non-commissioned officers of the defence force has been reduced one sixpence, the pay of the third class or lowest grade in the service has been reduced one shilling. This is really astonishing. Men who have been getting from 8s to 12s a day have had one sixpence per day taken off them, men who were getting 6s a day will get one shilling per day less. The object of this is plain. They want to bring down the price of labor to the lowest possible level, because they know that as soon as the wages of laborers in the public service are reduced, the price of labor throughout the colony will be reduced in sympathy with it. T his is the Government the working man has placed in power, and if he has to suffer he has himself to blame.