SPECIAL SETTLEMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1932, 6 March 1885, Page 3

SPECIAL SETTLEMENT.

Reputation to the minister. IT ■•''"(From theN.Z. Times.) l: . .. • A deputation, consisting of Messrs H ■ is.- . . ; Buiiny„ \V. W. 'McCardle, and W. A. f-,-. - Fitzherbert, members' of the Waste ' . Lands Hoard, waited on the Minister of .Landsyesterday, in reference to the pre- ■. ■ sent system of special settlement of the ... ' . . land.. Mr. Buririy explained at some length the object cif the; Reputation, pointing out .- that at present the system of special ■ settlement was entirely under the control of the Government, while the Waste Lands Board was ignored, although the ntention of the Act was clearly to leavo ■ the administration of the waste lands of tho Crown in the hands of the board. Soiling, letting, and disposal were, in the ■ words of the Act, left to the board, and ' the Commissioner was to carry them out, ' . The board had those powers, and he .maintained that the expenditure of money ' Upon roads, etc,, ought also to be within tliojr province, " What I mean to say," ..-gaii Mr Bunny, "is that because A.B; happens to be Minister of Lands, it ■ doesn't follow that he's got an' Almighty ' God knowledge of the country." They : . . • ought to have, iii fact, in their : ••• hands the administration of the money voted by Parliament, to open ■ ing up roads and the country, His objection to the system was that it en- , soled professional gentlemen, antl others to prfteoliirgoblegksrr-piclf tjio eyosout the country so to speak, and did not pe the right class pf settlement, All the board asked, that this matter should not . . tw tarried until they saw what Government and Parliament would do in tho matter, If tho Government then elected to back the system up, he would then himself go in for getting large blocks under the special settlement system. | Mr McCardle wished the Minister to understand that he and Mr Bunny did not t agree in the matter. He looked upon the 1 system as a good one, and considered that i the sooner effect could be given to it tho i better it would be for the country. Mr Fitzherbert was rather in favor of special settlement, and looked upon it as the only way to open up the country. Hon Mr Ballance; I ai|i glad to hear you Buy at); Mrßunnyobjectedt.fi this iystent, on the ground that it was obnoxious, mid partly because they found fathers putting down the name of their sons for tho land under it. He (the Minister) r took it that they could not got a better i mode of settling the country than one which induced farmers pr Bettlers.to take up land, with the object of placing their sons upon it. For these young men would be brought up in the country r and would go upon the land with experi- \ . ence, With regard to professional gentlemen taking up land, he pointecj out that WfW'™ 3 would prevent anything like dummyism, and professional peoplo Would bring capital into the colonising . affairs, A sum of money being put down in the first instance was a sufficient guarantee that the people who went on the . land wera.men of capital. Looklng at the names of people who were'connected■ ■ . . ah association that had been con- ■ sldered by the board that morning, lie n was of opinion that they could not have > better people to settle the country. In - regard .to ■ the suggestion that the board should have the management of these special settlements, -he ■ '. thought tho deputation had given the • Very to®' Won w!iy that should not be f , jo f ffjr the board appeared to hiiii to"bo S hostile to the system. He had been' of . . opjnion that it was better 'for him to re- ,■■■ ttini the administration of a system which , 'ho' had largely worked out himself;' al- - ' though ho was'glad to avail himself of .. ; advice from the boards. The House ( had last year, voted £700,000 to fife rpada; and it was quite clear that Ms ■ where such large sums were voted, the' Government should retain administration and the ultimate responsibility. Yillags 1 lottlem'ent, he thought, had been a total failure; riot a single instance of its succese . could be cited, With regard to "picking the eyes of the country out," he said that 3 exactly what he wanted, he' wanted' p|ifi bedlam! to be settled by 1 these [ MBPoiatjoni first, and by that. means the othor parts of the country 'would Do 'opened up. That was', tho very J ' best introduction to inferior -lands.' Tho Government hyped to have suffl- ( cient land to supply all persons who were able to comply with the condi- - tions, and they gave to.the residents ~r ,in a district the 'first chance of buying "'" land'in that district; That was only fair. Mr McCardle said he could guarantee •, . ) tho genuineness of ono or two of these associations, ■ 1 : .■■■.< At 'tjiis Juncture Mr Ballance, who had ( fvetji! times been ■'pbnt 'for to attend a 1 jiiepting'bf' the Executive, said lie was 1 - I compelled to be absent for 10 minutes, 1 Mr Bunny suggestfjd. that they should \ let the matter stand over. Mr Ballance: So far as the system is concerned not one hour, . . ; ' i Tho deputation then withdrew.