The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29,1881.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 911, 29 October 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29,1881.

TOWN AND COUNTRY SQMTTERS,

The term "squatter" is bandied about pretty freely at the present time without any regard to its real meaning. We believe that it can only be strictly applied to persons leasing large areas of Government land for pastoral purposes, and shutting out by such leases small. occupiers.. ; There; are plenty :of

many of them in the Middle Islandbut there is not a single one in the whole of tho Wnirnrapa. Our l'un- | holders are not squatters—they are freeholders. They own their land instead of squatting on it. is evertbeless, the somewhat unpopular epithet is thrown at them, especially at election times. If it is to be accepted as characteristic of them, it must be interpreted to mean persons who have large interests in the country districts, As we also possess town residents with large interests, it follows that if the former be deemed to be country squat-' ters, the latter must necessarily be town squatters, ff a country squatter, like Mr Hawkins, is to be gibbeted, why should a town squatter, liko Mr Renal], go free? The slice in the county which Mr Hawkins holds is a very small one compared with the slice Mr Renall enjoys in the Borough. In the town of '"asterton Mr Kcnall's properties can be counted up by the score. He has added house to house and field to field till he has secured a very large section sf the town, and in the course of a few years he may be expected to be landlord to a very considerable proportion of its inhabitants. We venture, however, to assert, that not a single one of Mr Eenall's supporters will ever be able to acquire a freehold from him, They may be his tenants, but they will never stand by his assistance on an equal footing with him as voters—not under the property qualification —by virtue of the possession of a freehold. Has Mr Renall over parted with a single inch of freehold to a working man? And yet be has the means to supply allotments to hundreds! His affection for his fellow-settlers is such that he would like then) to lie one and all, bis tenants. Were Mr Hawkins to break up 10,000 acres of his run into 40acre allotments he could not placi them in the market, but were Mr Renall to break up a proportionate quantity of his town lands into small freehold allotments, he could place every inch of them. It is the tho town squatter, and not the country squatter, that is the dog in the manger, The country squatter likes low wages, The town squatter, liko Mr Renall, does not care how high they are, llow is this I Simply because the country squatter employs a considerable number of laborers, while the town squatter employs none. If Mr Hawkins kept the same number of hands that Mr Renall employs, he could afford to pity .£lO a week to his men. Tf Mr Renall bad in bis pay the same number of hands that Mr Hawkins maintains, does any man that knows him doubt that he would grind wages down to the lowest possible rate, and if he could not get them low enough, substitute Chinamen for Europeans 1 We do not like making these comparisons, but they are forced upon us by the misrepresentat ions made by Mr Renall's friends. It is said by them that country squatters have an undue influence in the Parliament of New Zealand. The same thing may be said, with still greater force, of town squatters. Take the provincial district of Wellington for example. Out of ten members it only returned to the last Parliament two men—Sir William Fox and Mr Beetham—who could by any stretch of the imagination be termed squatters. Against those two we have three tovn squatters-Mr Brandon, Mr Johnston, and Mr Levin. The balance is made up of one journalist (Mr Ballance), two small farm representatives (Mr Bryco and Mr Mason), and one professional politician (Mr Hutchison), It is simply nonsense to assert that the country squatter has the' whip hand of every other interest in the House, or that lie holds the reins of Government. The assertion that has been made that the country squatter stands in the way of settlement is also absolutely untrue. In this district we know no class of men which has done more—and is doing more —to promote genuine settlement than the country squatter,, and we know no class which has done less—and is doing less—to promote it than the town squatter. It may be said that an exception may be made in favor of Mr Renall on the ground that he has settled industrious Chinamen in this community. He is welcome to wear this " penny flower in his coat," but the " Chinese pink" is certainly the only one that he is entitled to pin on his manly bosom. Are the working classes of Masterton so foolish as to allow themselves to be frightened by roars on distant hills, and put their heads for protection into the lion's mouth at their own doors? The country squatter is not, nor ever has been, their enemy. If the town,squatter is their friend, can they show that he has ever done anything for their benefit ? We regi-pt that any squatter question should have been raised, but so long as an effort is made to run down country squatters, we shall continue to draw attention to the idiosyncracies of that still more objectionable biped, the town squatter and town land monopoliser.