The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 12, 1883. LAND ENDOWMENTS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1325, 12 March 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 12, 1883. LAND ENDOWMENTS.

The Premier in addressing a Wellington Deputation last'week on the subject of endowments, pointed out that they must necessarily be either in land or money. For several years he had i opposed on all occasions the granting of any land to ariv corporations. These sentiments show that the Hon Mr Wiiitaker possesses wisdom as well as age. An almost unlimited amount of j evil and corruption has in New Zealand's brief history, arisen out of i endowments, By them, political support has been bought by both General and' Provincial Governments, and the favors distributed have been so partially allotted that while certain sections of the community have been enriched, other sections with anequal claim have simply been left out in the cold, We have always had in this colony bold sturdy beggars worrying the General G'overhirfent, and'the' Provincial Governments for landed endowments,! There' have been borough, beggars,: county beggars, harbor board beggars, college beggars, boy school beggars, girl school beggars, and religious beggars, always hungry, always willing to take everything, they could get even though it were not of the slightest use to them. One of the very eyes of the Forty-Mile Bnslt for example is a girl's high school reserve which was once begged and bagged. Instead of heinit divided between industrious settlers and cleared and grassed, this magnificent block is simply ti"d up in a napkin as an endowment. Tf it had not .been so allocated it woul I possibly be now adding two or three thousand pounds a year to the wealth of the country. As it is it does not produce a single penny piece. The map of v mv Zealand is dotted over with thousands of such reserves to the great detriment of legitimate settlement, It is a comfort to find the Premierof New Zealand setting his face against a practice which has prevailed to so nrojudical an extent in the past, and which still finds many advocates, We see no great harm 'in endowments provided that in the first place they were made on some equitable principle and were not political bargains at the expense of the community, and secondly,' if they were not tied up in such a way as to impede settlement. It would be a- great thing for v t)ie colony if the Government would bring in a bill to enable corporations to sell the endowments they have from time; to time acquired. Corporations want money, they don't want land, and it would be for their benefit and for the advantage of the community that their estates should pass into the hands of genuine settlers who would clear and. grass them, ' Of course endowments may be a fine thing for- posterity, but the country is not as yet in a position to save up for future generations, .If settlement is checked and hindered now by locking up land it is very questionable whether our posterity will not inherit a.burthen as well as a benefit,