The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, JULY 25, 1881.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 828, 25 July 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, JULY 25, 1881.

It is quite understood that the veal friend of the working man in New Zealand is Sir George Grey, because he has told them that he is so over and over again, till at last they have come to believe in him as their champion. Yet if the working men of the colony were to read one of Sir George Groy's late speeches in Hansard they would be ready to tar and feather liiai. His scheme for local self-government is—lst, to hand over the waste lands of the Crown to local bodies; 2nd, for the local bodies to lease them to the working man; 3rd, for the rents derivable from the leases to become the main revenue of the local bodies, Put plainly, Sir Geokhe's proposition is to abolish all freeholders in New Zealand, so that no man may, in years to come, sit down under his own vine or figtree, plough his own field, or dig his own garden. The utmost ambition of Sir George Grey's model colonist is to possess a 21 years' lease at a fair rental. In theory this is all very well, but are the working classes of the colony prepared to abandon all hope of one day becominglanded proprietors 11s any one of them prepared to take for a term of years fifty acres of standing bush, fell, clear, and fence it—working early and late through wet and dry—with no bettor hope than to be a tenant all the years of his life. In the speech we refer to Sir George Grey says

"Let anyone who chooses come here, Lot him occupy a farm. He will have no monoy to pay for the purchase None of his capital will be sunk in acquiring the land. He shall have a lease for twenty-one years upon a moderate rental, and tho whole of the rental will h spent for tho advantage of the district in which he resides. As the people themselves would ultimately determine the terms on which thess lauds were to be re-leased for a fresh term, tnero coujd be no doubt whatever that perfect justice would be done in that respect, and that all that a man could rationally desire would be done by his fellow men upon the spot. I say, sir, that it is our duty without delay to carry out this system."

These are his words:—"Let any one who chooses come here." Let them come by all means, but will they come to be Sir George Grey's new patent serfs ? ''Let him occupy a farm"—the said farm, say, to consist of fifty acres of standing bush, or perhaps sixty acres of swamp; or it may he the perpendicular side of a mountain, Let jiim occupy such a farm by all means if he be verdant enough to bite the naked hook. Sir George Grey's scheme of local self-government is a scheme to break the hearts of the working classes in New Zealand—a scheme to deprive them of that bit of blue sky in the distance which is the chief consolation so many of them possess, "None of bi# capital will be sunk in acquiring Jim land" for a very good reason—he will have no land to acquire, When » MM fc hungry is it any consolation to him -to fall Hw that he is saving himself the .expense of n dinner. Will the working man. wh,Qi wants land be contented to be assured by Sir George that if he goes with- '' out it, he will save the price of it, and that he wont sink his money. This i proposal of Sir George Grey's is no new one, It is a point, in the charter of the great (jberal perty which they hope some day to /wry, If, at the coining general election, % working classes put the great liberal parity jn office again, and they have sufficient j voting power to do so, the time may not be far distant when it will be impossible for any man in New Zealand to hold a freehold. The alienation of the waste lands from the public market is only jthe thin end of the wedge, the full proposals of those who think with Sir George the State, taking over every- freehold jn the colony and converting it into a! leasehold. It is intended by these regoeuerators of New Zealand that every man from Auckland tolnvercargill who earns his living from the soil by the sweat of his brow, shall pay as long as he lives an annual rental to the State.

It is now tolerably certain that the Government will have a majority on Mr Obmond's motion, but that they will not be strong enough to carry through their measures, and that an early dissolution — probably on the re-distribution of Seats Bill—may be looked forward to. We would have preferred, as an alternative, a re-conßtruction of the Ministry, and the completion of the work of the session, A Masterton Bottler, one who has lived in the neighborhood for the last twenty years, ard who is thoroughly trustworthy, reports a GOLD discovery which maj lead to great results. He was out oattla hunting in some ranges about ten miles from this town, when he came across ah omt-crop of quartz which attracted his notice. Op examining it he found auriferous indications, and brough. a piece into Mastatan for farmer .ex

animation, v The piece of stone has been suhmittedto it'pi'aottcal jowoller who pronounces it gold beariug, The quartz is of a reddish colbiy dud is evidently rich stoiie. Of course the discovery will not bo lost sight of. Proper steps will be at once taken fof ascertaining moro accurately the extent and.,character of tho reel which has as it woro turned up so unexpectedly, ■•'.-.