Waste Lands Board and its Accusers at the late Public Meeting.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2863, 18 April 1878, Page 2

Waste Lands Board and its Accusers at the late Public Meeting.

The Herald furnishes the following report of the remarks made by members of the Waste Lands Board at their last meeting on the accusations levelled at them bj speakers at the late public meeting re lands for the people, <fcc. :—

Mr Firth said that this application brought to his mind that it was hit duty to tbo public and the Board to make a statement with regard to certain accusations which had been made against the Board. It was stated at the meetings at the Thames that certain members of the Board were interested in tbe Broomh'all settlement, that speculators on the Board were interested in keeping the Thames land closed. To both those statements he gave an unqualified denial. No one member of the Board held a single acre or had applied for a single acre of land which came under the Board's administration. He had* noticed that a disposition had become prevalent to make charges against civil servants, and although the Board did not come under the eivil service, they had not escaped. When he stated that every man on that Board had endeavoured to do his duty without fear or favor, he was sure they would all agree with him. The system upon which the business was conducted was this: No application from a poor settler was made in vain. In fact, they often stretched their powers to comply with their requirements, and he had no doubt if the Board took measures to se« cure approval of their procetdings, thousands of poor settlers would say that they had received every consideration at their hands. Then, while poor settlers received every consideration, applicants from the wealthy classes were invariably made to toe the mark and fulfil the law, so that if favor was shown* it <-■ ;wmi shown 'to the poorer classes. He felt it due to himself and the Board to make tiiose remarks, and show that those were not mistaken who reposed that confidence in the Board without which the waste lands could not be properly administered. Th«re was no. other point to which he would refer.. It.was said that the operations of the Board prevented the Thames people from getting land. The fact was, the only blooks available were those small ones just applied for; and if tbe negotiations for the Broomhall settlement had hot taken place, not a single acre of it would have been available ; so that the Board bad not by those negotiations in any way prevented settle- . ment. The Chairman concurred in Mr Firth's remarks. The statements made at the Thames were unwarranted; and in what; they had done regarding the Broomhall settlement they had been actuated by a desire to benefit the province generally and the Thames especially*