THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Ressurexi. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2832, 13 March 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Ressurexi. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1878.

If we may judge from information elicited at the interview of Thames representatives with the Hon. J. Sheohan on Saturday last, the prospect of obtaining lands for the people in this district seems very remote. What with the engagement entered into by the Auckland Waste Lands Board with Mr Brooinball—the legality of which, by the bye, has been questioned —the claims of Europeans who have dealt directiy with the Native land owners, and the reserves to be set; apart for the Natives, there will bo little left of the much coveted Thames Valley for occupation by the class who have for years built up their hopes on some time or other getting enough for a homestead —a freehold on which to bring up their families. As in duty bound, Mr Sheehan favors the carrying out of the engagement entered into with Mr Broomhall. It may be considered by some persons inadvisable to repudiate that bargain, but, however legal the first engagement may have been, the extension of time for payment of the purchase money seems to have been an un called for stretch of generosity on the part of the Waste Lands Board Moreover, from what Jias transpired since Mr Broomhall went home, it looks as if that gentleman had obtained the concessions from the Waste Lands Board under false pretences. It was understood that Mr Broomhall was the pioneer of a band of Nonconformists and temperance people who were anxious to form a special sottlement; that the money and the settlers ! were ready if certain terms could be made. Now it would seem that Mr Broomhall was a private speculator, and seeks substantial emolument' for his trip to New Zealand and the terms he was able to make for a grant of land. The hospitable treatment he received everywhere he went counts for nothing. He was lionised and made much of; he was feasted and feted, and interviewed to his heart's content, as a philanthropist who was about to introduce to the Colony that judicious combination of capital and labor very much needed. It appears, however, that he requires £5000 for his " rights," obtained by a trip to New Zealand, and some letters of "introduction to persons of influence'by whose aid he obtained the promise from the Waste Lands Board of land it was not in their power to give. It is no wonder that the Thames people distrust the powers that be when such a monstrous project can be supported. If Mr Broomhall had been prepared to carry out his scheme as mooted, however much of disappointment might have been felt for atfcne, we believe the people of this district weald have become reconciled to it; but to find that he was a mere speculator/trading upon credentials of a questionable character; and that the land to which longing eyes have been cast for years as an outlet for surplus population has been alienated to a stranger—a sort of pious fraud—so far as the administrative body having control of the same can alienate it, is enough to disgust everybody with the perpetrators of this job. It may not be too late to protest against this scheme, and we would urge that action be taken at once. We believe the Waste Lands Board have exceeded their powers, and that it can be easily shown. Apart from this, however, there are difficulties in the way of the acquirement of the " promised land." Europeans havo acquired equitable titles to portions of it, and other portions were .promised to local men as soon as the power to deal with the land had been legally acquired. Mr Broomhall's grand speculative scheme seems likely to fall to the ground, but he may yet succeed in getting his £50CD remuneration from men glad to take over his bargain. If the Waste Lands Board can be justified in their first agreement, there is surely no precedent for the extension of the time of payment until 1883. The proposal is simply monstrous. Let the Government be urged to reconsider this bargain, and if possible let them repudiate it. The land should be, first the property of the people in the country: after that by all means offer inducements to capital and labor to occupy it; but for the sake of those who are hungering for an outlet for their energies, do not let the Government, profess a desire to give " orery" man his own freehold," when in a district like this there are hundreds of people who are denied an interest in the soil, while the land is pledged to strangers before it is actually acquired. A Minister of the Crown is to visit the district to-day: let tho would-be settlers adopt some means of forcibly protesting against the premeditated injustice involved in the several concessions to Mr Broomhall and his speculative coadjutors.