The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 166, 13 April 1871, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

Of all the subjects which we as colonists, and as the pioneers of what will in years to come be a great nation, the one which should most engross our attention and command our whole study, is the settlement of the land. In order to make New Zealand a great and powerful state — in order to effect this within something like a reasonable time — population is indispensably necessary. So long as wo cs\n reckon by units only (which is practically the case at present), we shall not possess the means of becoming either great or powerful. In dealing with such a subject as this, we naturally refer to precedents in the world's history, the most notable of which is the rapid and successful settlement of a considerable portion of the North American continent — chiefly so that

portion known as the United States, although the Canadas also offer a first-rate example. Compared with the advance made in the countries we have named, that of New Zealand is a very pigmy — making ample allowance, be it understood, for the difference in the respective ages of this colony and the United States, between which we are now drawing a comparison. In America, within but a very short space of time, a mighty nation has been manufactured (if we may so use the word) out of materials of which we can certainly boast the equal. In America an enormous population has been settled, enjoying a freedom unknown in any other country under heaven, and blessed with a prosperity which is the direct result of the admirable institutions which her statesmen have bpen wise enough to give to the people whom the}' have the privilege to govern. In America, by virtue of the insti-. tutions to which we have referred, population has been, and still is, attracted to settle ; and this attraction is the main reason of the giant success which has attended all American colonization, and which has, as effect following cause, placed the United States in the proud and enviable position which she now occupies. When we contemplate the vast strides in trade, commerce, and civilisation, which have been made by the people inhabiting the United States, and when we put in comparison (making all due allowance for the aforenamed difference in age) our own very small position and our great advantages, the reflection constrains us to seek for the the cause of our different position ; and in looking for this we are not I'ipjf in a v vi"JMC;' at thu soiuUwn.

i'oablless, various causes have been at work, to which, in some degree, are attributable our non-advancement. We have had hostile aborigines to contend against (so had America), and we have to thank ourselves for conducting their subjugation in a most unworkmanlike manner. We have had various minor difficulties to contend with, all of which have doubtless contributed to retard our progress. But we are of opinion that the greatest obstacle which has stood in our way, is one of our own making — our owu pet difficulty — and one which we have never had the hardihood to destroy. We will go back nine years in our New Zealand history — or in the history of Otago only, if that will suit any quibbling reader better — and see what our prospects were then. We had a sudden rush of population — a population exactly fitted for the successful settlement of the country. They came for gold ; many of them found it ; and most of the latter left as soon aa they had made " a rise ; " and why ? simply because they had no inducement to remain. They found the territory which, iv their fond imagination they had vainly conceived to have been created for their benefit, locked vp — unattainable by them — and every horrible discouragement held out to them. They found their very presence the subject of a direct and galling taxation, and the produce oi' their labour subjected to a levy as unjust and iniquitous as it was, and is, unnecessary. The result of this policy we have seen and experienced. Those of us who have been compelled to remain, through inability to do otherwise, can tell how bitter that experience has been. Since the time to which we refer, numberless attempts have been made by the handful of people remaining in the country to undo this state of things; but these attempts have usually been made in such a flash-in-the-pan sort of fashion, as to prove abortive. Still, on the whole, some small measure of success has attended them, but nothing at all like the result which is sternly demanded bj 7 dire necessity has been achieved. What New Zealand wants is a direct and thorough revision of her land laws — a new enactment for the entire colony — a statute providing for the immediate settlement of any land which bonajide settlers desire to take up, and that upon the most advantageous terms to the settler. The amount to be paid down should not be the inducement to sell, but the prospective advantages of population, and of consequent produce, and the adding thereby to the national wealth. These considerations should form the groundwork of the new scheme which we hope to see shortly inaugurated. The various legislative bodies (of which, by the way, there are far too many) are soon to meet, and we have written these lines in the hope that those who really, truly, and honestly desire to see our beautiful colony flourish and prosper, will take the matter up, study it with diligence, and use their influence towards bringing about a new era,