Our Wellington Watchman.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2636, 30 June 1887, Page 2

Our Wellington Watchman.

Wellington, June 28. at the present moment when so much is heard regarding land Nationalization, perpetual leasing, and the like, and when the cry of New Zealand is for more capital, it may not be without profit to lake a lirisi' glance at the system by which Crown Larids may be held or acquired and to observe the policy of the Stout-Vogcl combination with regard thereto. I take as my authority the Crown lands Department report for year ended 31st March 1887. : r

There aro eleven, different methods by which Crown Lands may be held, but each of these are complicated by variations. I will enumerate and roughly describe each method.' I, Defend Payments—RoMem, with certain oxception, is compulsory for first six years on rural,, and first five years on suburban lauds, Freeholds of either class are ordinarily obtained in ten and five years respee-. lively. In the last 14 years 8,000 persons have selected more than 1,000,00 acres under this system.' Qhe third of theso acres have been made freehold by fulfilment of conditions: £66,000 have been paid, £676,000 are still due and on the 31st March 87 selectors were in arrears to the tune of £22, 450. The variations in the system are (1) Residence not in every case a .sine qua non, (2) Capitalization, under which a settler, any timo after the first year, has option of postponing tho payment of principal till 14 years from com-

mencement of his term on payment of 5 per cent interest per annum. A number of settlers have done this. (3) The settlers uudcr the scheme have the option of exchanging the deferred payment leases for a'perpetnal lease at half rent, half of the back'payments to go to credit of future: rents.For tho information of the perpetual leases faddists, I may remark that one settler has availed himself of this variation. ■ • • 2. ■ Spml MlmMtirrYomW

on lines of defeued payment and perpejual lease, -but a settler tnay.only holchmder this system *l5O or 2QO acres, instead of 320 or 040 acres, as in parts 111 and IV of Land Act, 1885. Peisonal lesidence is not a "condition, a legisteicd substitute being pei mitted. Here again the perpetual lease theorists will observe, I quote from the report, " The Special Settlement Absolutions have all taken the land"o"ri defend payments 3. Nelson System of Defend Payment. -No residence or improvement conditions. Land Board fixes the price per acre, and the selector pays ten per cent per annum for fourteen years, when the land becomes freehold. ■■> ■,;.■■ •.:■.;.■..' i

. 4. Perpetua}[.Lease.—UQ acres'on •lease for evei*, at rent of five per .cent on valuations. At end of 'first thirty years an appraisement of rent by arbitration and similar subsequent appraisements every, twenty one years. But leaseholders may, between the 6th and 11th years, be converted into freeholds. 5. Small Areas,— Perpetual ' lease without right of purchnso of areas .not exceeding fifty acres. 6, Agricultural lease ofgoll-jklds.'-. .7. Village and Small-farm Settlement. ■ '

, Peals with small areas, Tillage lots of one area aud small-farm lots, 50 acres, but usually these do not oxceed 10 or 20 acros. Cash or deferred-pay-uionts,. '•.■■''....

8. Village Eomtsiml Seiilement.— ThisisMessrslundohand Balance's scheme.' It' may be called the " Peiv potual Pauperization Scheme." Each settler gets £2O towards the erection of a house, and M 10s per acre in bush land for felling, ■'■ clearing ' &e., up to 20 acres, such advances to be at interest at 5 per cent. In the nine months ended 31st March, 1887, 896 persons have taken up 28,780 acres; 9. Homestead,

Land free, survny costs only payable. Conditions, personal residence and improvements. Are limited to 3000 acres % year for each district Any adult can obtain 50 acres, and the members of one household can obtain 200 acres in one lot.

10. Small Grazing Suns. Leaseholds, rent' averaging U per acre. ■■:■•.•;.•'■■' •' •;■ *.-:' •'• 11. Grown Lauds held on pastoral Lease, : ;--;-r' ';.'H . ■■•_ ■•..,•.■ Sandhills let at from Jd to 3d per acre. I omitted to mention that the rent.received'for small grazing runs 'during the past year was £3~Bosand the arrears LB2O, or nearly ono-lourth.

Such, then, are'the systems, the outcome of numerous fads and theories but all apparently aimed to barricade the country from any influx of capital. •Indeed,:tho, report admits that much, for on page 2.we read' "with" the exception of, town lands, . \y|iich are always sold- for cash, tlioro little opportunity given 'for acquiring: lands on immediate, p&ymen'l"

.• 'While freely admitting that some of these devices are steps in: the rjoht direction- notably the deferred .'payment system, and Mr Balance's "Village Homestead Settlements.",if other employment is accessible, to the settier, : yet T think-every candid person'"most admit with equal freedom that under our present system of land'tenure all the talk of attracting to New Zealand ■a class of moneyed, farmers is bunkum pure and simplo, .. Land,'.'arid goo.d land can be obtained in America on far belter terms, the journey there being far shorter, and the expenso trifling in comparison, What.we .require is practical men at tli'e head of affaii's, not lawyers, theorists and faddists, but settlers who Jiavq' been along the road themselves'. This, at least is &■ lesson .1 learn from'the: Crown Lands Department report for 1887.

Iliad written thus far when two alleged newspapers'—the Waimmpa Star and Wuirarapa Observer—wm put into my hands, in which I a.n ; accused of'having, written the: article; which appeared in' last • Thursday's Daily, with reference to Sir Robert Stout'sandMrßallance'scliangeofviews on the subject of freotrade, and'am also accused of being Mr J. Evison, the Freetheught Lecturer. Now, with regard to the first allegation, it is in plain words a No I My office is to give the Daily wws, and if I here give' the Editor of the' Star his true character, I ahou,d.write; what every decent man in the Wairar-1 apa knows. As regards my person-, ality, that is my busiriesij.—l raafeo no admission and no denial, and no journalist would ask me.so to do—but no one ever accused tho Editor'of the Star of being a journalist, or anything else, save an ignorant bullying boor. As for Mr Evison, he is well able to take care of himself, and if the man Hogg has forgotten the caseation he ■oncegave hinvMrEvison will at th proper time and place repeat it. -One thing as the question is raised, I may say on "Ivo's" behalf, that is, he never, pretended to believe in Sir' Robert Stout as a leader or politician, and he has consistently opposed that gentleman.

I suppose we have all been shouting our loudest during Jubilee -week, and 1 do not suppose we have dono liiuch harm thereby, but in the midst of our exuberant loyalty, perhaps none of jus paused to remember that Queon Victoria's fifty years of reign have not been years of uninterrupted prosperity, During those years 1,225,000 people have died of starvation, pure and simple, in her dominions. In Ireland, 3,660,000 persons have been evicted, and upwards of 4,000,000 people have emigrated therefrom—a forced emigration. In 1886 upwards of 2,000 poor, creatures died in Eng. land alone of, hunger. '

Dr Cole is announced as a candidate for the fourth Wellington seat, bun I do not aiiticipato that his chances are very rosy, or that he will cut much of a figure as a. politician, Everyone knows his own business best, but had lasgooda practiceasthe little medico named.l do not think.;l would expose myself to tho wild whooping contumely of any ill-tempered jackass who fancied himself at) and with ,a divine

[ cpidniißßion. to : >be vindictive andt dirty;;/;.;':/ . ;//"•"/' j.';//;■/ - ;Pillmoi'Bloa North' has shocked (ke whole of New Zealand by declining to giisli ovbi'-the Juiiileo. She. erected, no triiimpbjjl grebes, flew noJhigH, roasted neither bullocks nor hogs, read no addresses/ and even g0;.6. pound': of composites on the 'occasion. No, ■ I|almers'ton; went steadily'- : arid serenely;along,, severely' ; •own business, and 'it"'is just possible' ll that at the'ebd of,the;yearhliherßton : will be as'well offas'if she had ired : off £SO wifftK'of petre, I "s«pp6ae no one "up there, hankers after a K.Q.MiCIf bollar. Nevertheless, Palmeraton, in one, way, made Jubilee;she economised and reduced, her; rates farbelbw the amount anticipated. There is a loyalty, and patriotism in this that 1 can under.' stand.