The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1889. LAND SALE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1892, 16 May 1889, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1889. LAND SALE.

Ok last Tuesday, in Timaru, Mr J. T. Matson, the great Christchurch auctioneer, offered for sale the Eskbank Estate, the property of the Bank of New Zealand. Tt was offered as a whole, but there was not a single bid for it, and next it was put up in sections. Eor the first section put up there was not a single bid j the second went as high as £6 10s per acre, and lot 3 was passed in without an offer. Mr Matson then stopped the sale, as he said it was no use going on with it any further. We are not surprised at the failure of the sale, because the bank does not want to sell except at fancy prices, and the day for them is now past. Previously to offering the land for sale Mr Matson made a speech, in the course of which he said there were no moneyed buyers of farming land in the colony. If this is correct, then the colony is in a worse condition than anyone has hitherto suspected, and in such a case progress must necessarily be next to impossible. If there are not people ready to buy up large estates when they are offered to them, then indeed the position of the colony is next to hopeless. Wo want to extend settlement and dig wealth out of the land, and this we cannot do if we have not the desirable class of setters to go on the land when it is offered to them. Mr Matson is a gentleman of vast experience ; he is one of the leading auctioneers of the colony, and certainly he has a right to claim to be an authority on the subject, but at the same time we think that there is evidence to show that things are not altogether so bad as he stated. The fact that Crown lands are being disposed of so readily shows that there is still money in the colony ; but then we must not forget that most of the Crown lands are taken up under the leasehold system, where very little capital is required. Now, could not the banks and loan companies take a lesson from this ? They cannot sell — that is evident, unless they lower their prices—but they could let the land at a reasonable rental. Let us take, for ; the Eskbank Estate. SectioM 2 ana S K<,uld - we believe, hare been allowed to go St an acre ; and. supposing the bans: ~ ase calculations on that, and offer it at a , rental of 7£ per cent., would they find tenants for it ? We believe they ( would readily, and, if so, it would be j the best thing the bank could do,J

while at the same time it would be good for the country. It would be better for the bank to let it at a rental of 5 per cent, than, with Micawber-like hopefulness, hold on to it until something turns up. Eor the last ten years those who have land on their hands for sale hare been holding on in the same way, but really we believe land is cheaper now than at any previous period, and the reason is that thousands upon thousands of small capitalists hare left the country. It is, therefore, very little good to hold on to land in the hope that it will rise in value, if Mr Matson’s contention, that there are no buyers in the colony, is correct. Mr Matson held that by means of legislation all this would be altered, and very shortly we would have population flowing into this colony, including men of money, who would buy up land. We should like to know what hope there is of it, Not the slightest, so far as we can see, because the tendency is the other way. The honorarium has bean reduced to £l5O a year; the number of members has been reduced to 74, and the whole thing has been beautifully arranged ! so that henceforward none but wealthy men can get into Parliament, Prom the very first hour of New Zealand politics to the present there has not been one wealthy Liberal member, except now and again that one may be so for the sake of office or party purposes. What, then, are we to expect when Parliament is composed almost exclusively of such men ? We are not to expect this Liberal legislation which Mr Matson speaks of as the source from which we may expect an influx of population, including men with money? There seems to be some cloud hanging over this colony. One acre of it is worth two of similar land in any of the other colonies; in point of healthfulness it is unrivalled; it is really one of the most delightful and fruitful spots in the British Empire —and yet, while other colonies are forging ahead, New Zealand is. going backwards! When the much-abused Stout-Vogel Ministry were in power they brought into the colony large numbers of men with capital, and if they had been allowed to carry on their policy land would have been saleable now. The economists—the niggardly,, miserable, hungry retrenchment party—stopped the immigration of men of means, and drove out of the colony thousands of small capitalists. It is, therefore, no wonder we have no one to buy land, < when we burned the candle from both ends. We think if land companies are wise they will cut up their estates into medium-sized farms and let them on reasonable terms. By doing this they will become benefactors in promoting settlement and production, and at some future time their lands will become more valuable than at present.