THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1891. THE LAND.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2275, 3 November 1891, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1891. THE LAND.

The cry raised against the present Government is that they want to destroy the freehold tenure of land and establish the perpetual leasing system in its stead. Efforts are really made to make fanners believe that the Government want to take away their freeholds and convert them into leaseholds. Such a thought has not entered a man’s head in New Zealand yet. The day may come when such a thing may be done, but the present generation need not trouble itself about that, as such a thing will not be done in its time or in the time of its children. What the Government is dealing with is the land which has not yet been sold—the Crown lands of the colony. They say that it is better not to sell them; that the proper thing is to lease them, so that the rents from them shall go to lessen taxation. If all the lands of the colony had been leased from the beginning, aud the rents from them were now going into the coffers of the Colonial Treasury, we should not have ona-peim* taxation to pay. But the lands were sold, and the mortgagees are now receiving 1 the rents instead of the Government. However, the Honorable John Ballance and the Honorable John McKenzie deny that they attempted to prevent people from buying Crown lands. From Mr Rolleston’s speech one would be led to believe that the bill which the Government introduced and was thrown out by the Council did not provide lor giving any freehold tenure at all. This is not true. The Bill which the Lower House passed, and which the Legislative Council rejected, provided for giving a freehold to anyone who desired to pay cash for it. but it also provided that no one should get a full title to th'e land until he had made certain improvements on it. Now this is the point that has given all the offence. This practically shut out the speculators and dummies, and reserved the land for the bona fide settler. A speculator would not buy land to improve it; he would buy it to hold until he made 50 per cent, on his bargain, and the bona fide settler could not get the land except through the speculator. This is what the Government are , aiming at. They want the bona fide settlers to get the land first hand, instead of through a speculator. Is it not easy to see that the Government have been working in the interest of the bona fide settler '( They want to secure to him the unearned increment which the speculator usually pockets, yet it is for this that Mr Rollestou and his followers are denouncing the Government. Now is it just to denounce the Government for this '! What has driven the Government to do it i Simply the dumniyism promoted by the past Government. Dummyism was dead during the three years Mr Ballance was Minister of Lands, but it sprang into life and action the moment Mr Richardson took the reins into his hands. It was to put a stop to this, and also to speculation in land that the Government proposed to make cash purchasers improve their lands before receiving a full title. They knew this would do it but the Legislative Council hnew it also and threw out the measure, and now the Conservatives wish us to bow down and worship the Council for doing it, We can’t do it. We believe the council has done what is very wrong, aud very mischevious, because its action is calculated to embitter party feeling and widen the breach between the classes and the masses. That cannot have a good effect on the country; whatever way it may be looked upon, it is bound to do harm, aud the real sufferers by it in the long run will be men of wealth. THE TIMARU SHOW. The Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s show this year is over, and of course it must be pronounced a great success. It would not do to say anything else. Still we are not at all satisfied with it. It was good as far as it went, but it did not go far enough. In most classes there were only two or three exhibitors, while in many only one exhibitor appeared. All honor to the one exhibitor. He deserved the prize he received, but is it not absurd to award prizes when there is no competition. We think it is, aud we think also that it is not very creditable to the farmers of the district that their exhibits are conspicuous by their absence. Mr C. G. Tripp lives nearly at the top of the mountain ranges, but he is so public spirited that he always exhibits, and wins prizes. Mr Henry Hoare, or rather Mr R. Mackay, also occupies very high land, and his sheep invariably take a foremost place. Now, why should not a farmer with a few hundred acres of first class land be able to get up a sheep for the show as well as either of the two gentlemen above named. There is no reason in the world that they should not if they only wished it, and it is certainly their fault that the show is not more interesting. Some of them, we believe, give a subscription towards it, but that is only money misspent if farmers themselves do not make use of it. They are only subscribing for Hie benefit of large landowners. In the horse department farmers were represented pretty fairly, and the horses were undoubtedly the leading feature of the show. There is no reason why they should not make other depart- | ments equally interesting if they desired | to do so, aud it is not to their credit that they do not. In cattle and sheep and agricultural produce they ought to be able to hold their own with any part of the world, and it would be greatly to their advantage if they tried to do so. The show has another drawback. The grounds are out of the way and consequently inconvenient for people to reach. Where the show ought to be held is at the Washbyke on the racecourse. There is any amount of room there, the train goes up to the gate, and persons from a distance could exhibit there at less expense than where it is held now. It was really absurd to select the present site, while a place so favorably situated was obtainable, for no doubt it would have been easy to come to terms with the Jockey Club for the use of the ground. But we suppose that it is too late now, we do not anticipate that the society could be induced to change at the present time. Still we firmly believe that it is the best thing they could do, if they wish to ftssure the future success of the show.

THE SIN OF THE PREMIER. The Honorable Mr Ballancb came to the South Island to confer with the Agent-General before his departure for the Old Country; also to confer with His Excellency the Governor (who u living in Christchurch), on matters o( State, and to attend the banquet given to his colleague, the Hon. John McKenzie. When in Otago he was requisitioned by the people of Dunedin to deliver an adaddress, and he did so. When he returnedto Christchurch he found preparations, made for him to speak, and he also spoke there. A deputation asked him to speak in A-hburton, but he declined it; he was asked to speak in Tiraaru, but he declined that too. A requisition came to him to speak in Invercargill, but we believe he has declined that too. He was asked to unveil the monument raised by public subscription to the memory of the late Mr Turnbull, and he did that, and as the show was on at the same time he attended it. Now a howl is raised by his opponents for doing this. They want to know what right he has to go strutting about the colony, and making speeches? If the Premier of the colony has no right to go about amongst the people and explain the policy of the Government whenever asked to do so, certainly the rights of New Zealand citizens must be very circumscribed. Sir George Grey did it, Si ’ John Hall lid it, Sir Harry Atkinson did it, and why should not Mr Ballauce do it. Who has a better right than the Premier of the colony to go about and inform himself as co the wants and wishes of the people ? Mr Rolleston finds fault with him for trying to get information out of a deputation. What did the deputation interview aim for if not to give him information ? Now is it not really sad to see men who have better to pass for sensible men, making fools of themselves in this way. ft is quite plain that all must not be right when they do not like to see the Premier of the colony giving information concerning public matters. It is absolutely certain that they are afraid of him, and of hisexposure of their falsehoods and misrepresentations, for surely they could not object to him for any other reason.

PROTECTION. The Timaru Borough Council has behaved very badly to the expressmen of L’emuka and Geraldine. In Timaru expressmen pay a license fee of £1 5s a year tor penuission to ply for hire and carry passengers. In consideration of paying this fee, they have a right to carry passengers or anything else they may choose anywhere within the borough for twelve months. It has been usual for Temuka expressmen to go into Timaru on gala days, and run passengers to the showground or wherever they may desire to go. There were only two days in the year—that is New Year’s Day, and the Show day—on which they used to do this, and for the privilege of running on these two occasions, they paid their annual fee of £1 5s to the Borough Council, as well as if they lived in the town. The Timaru expressmen, however, looked with jealous eye on the two or three expressmen from this district, and they asked the Council to give them protection from such a competition. The Council rose •to the occasion, and made the fee for the Temuka expressmen £2 5s a year. Thus a Timaru expressman can run on the streets of Timaru 365 days for £1 ss, but for the privilege of running two days the Temuka and Geraldine expressmen must pay £2 ss. All we desire to say is that the members of the Timaru Borough Council ought to be ashamed of themselves in thus yielding to the jealoue entreaties of Timaru expressmen. It is really absurd that because these people live twelve miles distant they must pay twice as much as the local men. We are surprised at a number of men in their proper senses doing such a thing, and, our advice to them is to change back to the old system as soon as possible, if they do not wish to be held in contempt by every sensible man.