Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELD REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 397, 7 October 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELD REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

WnEN one looks back upon the demand for land for the purposes of settlement that lias been made in vain from the Tuapeka district for so many years, we accept of the near prospect of the desired boon with feelings of anxiety. We fear lest by any ill-advised arrangements it should after all provs abortive, and that instead of satisfying the hunger fur land for settlement that has been demanded for years it should mainly fall into the hands of speculators and capitalists. That it will not do so altogether we are in circumstances to aver. Nothing but an illegal resort to dummyism can divert so much of the land from the above ptirpose as is about to be thrown open. On the 3rd of next month, 3,400 acres on Bellamy ran are advertised to be open for application under the Agricultural Leasing Regulations, and then not in adjacent, but as nearly as possible in alternate, sections. In addition to this block, the Tnapeka Hundred, consisting of 15,000 acres, mostly on Mr. Smith's run, ai'e to be thrown open on the 20th of the present month. How much of the hundred is to be leased, and how much to be aold, wo aro not yet informed. We I have only the assurance from the Government that a sufficient portion will be reserved for leasing. Eagerly as we havo desired land, wo could wish that not cpnite so large a quantity had been thrown | open all at once for sale, lest in the ' meantimß it should bs in excess of the | immediate demand, and fall into the hands of large holders, and thus prove a bar to settlement. Afc the same time we have advocated, and still advocate, that regard should be had to men of moderate capital. Our objection is not that they should be included ih the arrangement made for tho opening of this hundred, bnt | that they should have the predominance. I We trust that this will be carefully guarded against. We aro aware that it is scarcely possible to make any provisions in the throwing open of the land which shall not -be liable to be turned aside by the fraudulent and designing.

Laboring as we feei ourselves to do in the interests of the general public, it is always a satisfaction to us to see the direction which our advocacy of public interests has been noticed by others. In company with oui* contemporaries on the goldfields, we have been striving to make our voice heard on the partiality shown by the Provincial Council to the interests of Dunedin and the Taieri, and to the neglect of the goldfields. Large blocks of land are leased on the goldfields ; and year after year large sums flow into the Treasury from goldfields districts for lands sold within these ; and yot they allow us little more than mere driblets back a<rain to support a few surfacemen to patch up our roads in such a way that the first rainfall renders them, if anything, worse than before. It is only in a very tedious way that onr road to Lawrence haa been constructed, and by a slower process still are upcountry roads progressing. Wo have gone in lately for Provincial changes, because, we believe, the Provincial Council does not mete out justice in the matter of roads, according to the standard of our contributions, and we have been joined by nearly the entire Press of the goldfields. ■ Referring to this fact, ouil contemporary the " Otago Guardian expresses itself a3 follows :—": — " In this, aain other things, Provincialism is on its trial. It is worse 1 than useless to attempt to ignore ihe fact that a feeling of dissatisfaction exists throughout the goldfields and countzy districts, which are imbued with the impression that the revenues locally raised are diverted to aid in the embellishment and aggrandisement of Dunedin. We will not pause here to "discu33 whothur 'this impression is wellfounded or otherwise. We will oven admit that, if every petty township were made the centre of a shire to-morrow, similar complaints would still be made by the residents in the back gullies and remote corners of the district. But this does not alter tho fact that dissatisfaction prevails ; and unless we greatly err, the duration of Provincial institutions in Otago will very much depend on the spirit and mode in which its functions aro administered." In saying that Provincialism is on its trial, the " Guardian" is right. If tlio Provincial Council is to retain the confidence of outlying districts, they must act not with greater generosity but with more justice to them. £70,000 was taken a few years ago from the country above this by two laud sales, torelievethe Provincial overdraft, andone would havo thought the Government would have taken an early opportunity, when prosperity returned, of advancing a liberal sum to render these up-country roads passable. But it is not bo. There is indeed one contract going' forward at Crookston ; but we hope it will not be the only one this season. In all justice, they ought to deal towards our up-country friends with a liberal hand. Our indefatigable friend, J. C. Brown, Esq., is now among us, and wo have no doubt he will do his best for us in this matter.