EDUCATION.—THIS LAND.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3955, 1 September 1881, Page 2

EDUCATION.—THIS LAND.

(To the Editor of the Evening bTAB.)

Sib, —The real' problem of righteous government and the true art-of politics is, how to keep the population of the country, whether it be hundreds of thousands or hundreds of millions of human . beings, in such a state that speaking in a mass they' thair^have sufficient physical comforts, a fair share of political rights, and a proper degree of secular unsectariari education. All these are the just portion of free men, and if we do not think-it possible to provide these for our people, then let us cease to revile the Greeks and ' Romans, :the Chinese and Indians, and confess that we have slavery amongst us, and that it is aa inevitable evil. The actual problem of government and the false , system of politics as at present practised is how to make the property of- the ; wealth* producing classes pass imperceptibly to them into the possession of the rich,, the titled, the non-producers, the idle, the drones, and the profit mongers, causing the rich to become richer, and the poor poorer. The first step ■to provide- good righteous government must be to educate (he .people generally and particularly upon the land laws, demonstrating that the land of New Zealand not being the product of any man's industry, cannot belong to any individual. It has already been amply proved that' sacred and profane history show the land to be common property ; ; that neither- 'first possession, cultivation, or discovery constitute a title to exclusive right. Some, however, maintain that conquest affords a good and' valid, title', to land. That the exercise of superior strength, the power of. greater numbers, the acts of imprisonment, violent possession, and the seizing of houses, furniture, farms,..and cattle, with the utterance of declarations that the lands- are the property of, the conquerors, really make them so. They have fought and conquered certainly, but what proof is afforded that- this gives them a right to thoir neighbor's property P or rather, what right have they to con* quer their neighbors? What right'has any man to fight, kill, enslave, or banish his neighbor? He has none. The Law of Nations is appealed to, but where is that law ? Who made it ? : How. was it worded ? Had those who made it a right to make it ? Has any. Man—has any set of men a right to make a law: giving the people of one country power to abuse, kill, enslave, or banish the people of another country P The conqueror does wrong, and doing wrong cannot give him', a title to his brother's land., The conqueror's right, therefore, is a wrong. The accident of birth cannot be,relied upon, for a title, for it can in all cases be traced back to conquest, which is,, in fact, robbery, murder and wrong. It was stolen,.and could not legally be given to others. Their title is bad: a mere record of bad men's wickedness isno proof of a living one's title. In this country the .title mostly relied upon is: purchase, and O! what a sink of cupidity and villainy would most of these supposed titles reveal. , But the, Maoris trace their possession to conqueat'that is cruelty, murder, and cannibalism. The possession of the land was really their shame, and would, if the present holders had any virtue, be their shame too. It may be truly said of all conquests, whether by kings, individuals, or governments, that they hav<^#j>t their lands by villainy and wrong, and that, in truth, instead of gaining a right to the soil, they forfeited their right to liberty arid life. The title by purchase, trace, able to conquests, or by thefts and murder, is worthless both to parent and offspring.' ' If strength constitutes' an. exclusive right to ownership in the soil, - the present land owners only hold it until some more powerful than they take' it from them. If strength gives title, the lctnd clearly' belongs to the people at j large, for they are the strongest. Jf 1 landholders maintain that their title is i their strength, they admit the right of the people to take it from them if they can overpower them. No one can show & really valid title to lend upon philosophical reasoning. The land is no. one's property. One has as much right to it as another; and thus we prove it to be that . which it really is in truth and justicecommon property. That to, which noman has a better title than his neighbour is common property. The sun, moon, and stars are as much mine as any other ' man's, for no one can show a better title to them than I; " Bou Ami." - They, like the land, air, and water, are common property ; neither can any one obtain a right to them. Let our children, then, as part of their education cbmmeucing at their mother's knee, learn, as they learnt to pray, that the soil of New Zealand, and the land of the whole earth, is the pro* perty of all mankind.-—I aiu, &c, Boy Ait;,