Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1874

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 339, 18 March 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1874

We cannot bub actmice tlie truly protean ah;vpe3 ktely assumed by Captain Francis Wallace' Ma.ck6Daie> N'oft h.e figures *jsthe martyr of th« enviou3 at his prosperity , and, by way of increasing their stomach, gives a detail of/iill that he has done and acfj_'m'<?d" since he settled at Glenlseuioh, from the thousands of Ifruad acres lately pucoliased, down to th% sausage, .machine lie was thu> nistT to introduce into his di&f-.riot, and the canine lie built, j and with which he has ferried .Ijimself and others across thePoiia-haka.' Trvily, Francis Wallace Mackeri&ie has befen a prosperous man ! And the little mindejd' envious tribe in the -environs of Tapanni, ought) as in, duty bound,, to " accept of luu) and Vise him.lL as lie invites them to do. And-if tliey don't, they must incleed be Blind to Ms metits ; so, at least, thinks that worthy individual. But Captahi F. W. Mackenzie has scarcely done enacting the role of martyr vrh.es. i.c assume?! .

*fc somewhat militant character and ap'pe^ars before the Waste Lands Board to ag|ert his rights. He comes to ask what the Waste Land* Board is going to allow him for forcing them to Bell him (our recollection of the transaction warrants us in using this language) 1800 acres at the upset ..prioe of £1 pcr v acre. Truly, the modesty of the demand is refreshing. In these days of assumption, it deserves to be held forth as a pattern ! Look at it, ye who have long ago qeased to blush ; here is the true color of virtue ! Study it ; no doubt it will bring hack those blushes r to the cheek that are so interesting in uncontaminated youth J But softly, what is it the gallant Captain desires to be compensated for ? Is it for being allowed to* fatten 1 on the richest land of the province at a rental not exceeding 2|d, the acre, until his money bags had become literally plethoric, and he has been able to huy up all before l\im that has been exposed for sale on his run ? Ta it because Captain Mackenzie used his influence in the Provincial Council to retain covenants glaringly one-sided in the interests of, his own class, and therefore unjust 1 Is it because he has done his' very utmost to thwart the designs of the Government in the allotting of land for settlement ? la it because he is more bent on his own personal aggrandisement than on the good of his adopted country ? Is it because ho has done what he could to prevent Tapanui from becoming a rising township by purchasing all those sections set aside for settlement in the neighborhood, with that money which his. advantages as received from the country has enabled him to acquire — sections which would one day have been the homes of plenty. If for these claims he deserves compensation, lethimhave.it. But F, W.Mackenzie does vflt place his claims on these grounds. Hia merits in this direction he very modestly ' couceals. ' No ; he can be righteous after all. It is the covenants he shakes in the face of tho w«,oto Lunas Board- He lield the land he constrained them to sell' nnder covenants, that will allow him 2s. 6d. an acre of compensation. Truly, one does not need to go far to find a genuine relic of the lost ten tribes. No Israelite, we venture bo ao-y^-onulcl be more cunning over a bargain. Nay, there is something Shylock like in tlie way in which he urges the " bond, the bond and nothing but the bond." Uut softly, what of the bond I Is it just 1 With that, of of course,"' F. W. Mackenzie has nothing ti> do. It is the " bowl " he claims. But what of the understanding the Government had ,v?ith him ? It is not reduced to writing like his instrument, and he re* turns to his cry the bond. Well, but we want to say something about the justice of this, bond. Bad as the Ordinance is whicli allows such excessive compensation to the squatters, surely that Ordinance never contemplated a case like this. If so, we have no hesitation in pronouncing it iniquitous. The ordinance was intended to ge"t lands from runholder3 for settlement, and not to allow those lands to pass into the hands of the runholder. There is a great cry about setting , class against class. Who is to blame, with such specimens of squatter action before us? If we ivaTit a 'people to be cordial with each other, there must be no favoritism like this. If we want them to be law abiding, the laws must be just 4>4 > and we have no hesitatiori-'in saying this law, if 1 it admits of such an "application, is unjust. What is the compensation for^ It ia professedly to- reimburse the, runholder for supposed disadvantages in having possibly improved the property which ia about to pass from his hands, and in having, to remove or dispose of his stock ; but here there is nothing of the sort. Tho improvements, if any, go to Captain Maokenzie. There is no disposal or- seiru>val of, stock, and so nothing to compensate. And now will not this and similar things rouse the people of Lawrence to do something in their own interests. Wo should like to see some public action taken in the matter of Bellamy Run. We fear precious ""'■"* •"■ ■*» -being allowed to.' pass, and the opportunity te j^, ns in the Bellamy Hundred may be irretrievably lost We shall uot stop urging on the people of Lawrence until they rouse themselves to some action to get the Government to put off the saje of laud ' in' blocks in this neighborhood, at leaa.t. Thq energy 'of the people of Lawrence in having the town improved- into, the best of inland towns, desftrv.es some consideration at the hands of th&. Government ; but they require to be' reminded Wf their duty. Will.vmt the Mayor take a l,eaq in tVis matter ?,