The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1890

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3663, 21 November 1890, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1890

(ait local contemporary in his issue f Wednesday last, bolds that the rcat issue at the present juncture 3 tbo question of a property tax or a ind tax, The properly taxis endorsed iy those people in the Colony who lesire to retain tbo freehold title, so ear to themselves, and so precious to heir forefathers; the land tax is lacked by an invading army of land la'tipnahsprs who, bdievyhat socja] alyation will came" by' the appro; iriation of other men's property. The trugglo is one between freemen and londsmen, and even the present lection will help to determine ehether the New 'Wander of the. «t!p is (g. hj n freeholder or'a ejiant,: The land taxers Invfe h|ni o follow that dismal road whicl: eads to that unknown and treacher ms region called'' Land Natioiialisa ion," Thoy do not ask him to g( II the way afconoe, but the diroctior n which they urge liim is plair nough, Who, for example, are M: logg's political ohiofs and leaders i Joes he not do his conjuring by tin ,id of Henry George, Sir Eober itout and John Ballanco, men win :re avowed land nationalises. The' lannot as yet brmg land nationalist) ion forward in this Oolony as: iractical question with any chance o raccess, but it is their goal, thoi jope and their dream. Mr Hog ,vould not at present disturb th 'reehold rights of any person liko! ;o give him a vote', but he is only th lamp follower of a party which ha its head quarters in the hearts of ou large cities, and which is sworn t jollnscate all freehold title in land md to turn its foxes into the couutr rajiltry yaitfs. Mr Hogg has beei selected as our fox, and'is obliginj jnough to say that if allowjd iut< the hen roost ho won't disturb tbi little chickens, but will only carry oi Hie big fowl with fat crops win sonsume all the food, But it wil perhaps be safer even for the smal chickens to keep the fox outside tli hen ropst, lest' when the big bird are picked off the little ones'shojili follow. Mr Hogg is. prepared'ti make a meal of the freeholders, bu n fancy if hi? voracity be encour ">ed, it will be found that the njcea md bwZ H mm]i Bte a 'i ffil lomelasthithesn^^^jal reeholds, and that these "tit yl. vill-go into the land natipnalifatio) iot in their turn. Ask tliSj". tyion nill hand, whether the forty; a'cr nan is to be allowed tofeiaihi reehold, or whether the State is no o take a rental for it?' Those ques ions are settled amongst the labo ooieties in Wellington, and.we fano; idion Mr Hogg consults with thon nd arranges a single tax or otbe irOgramme for this district, there i 1 /ery little said about a. saving claus [or..small; freeholds. If the bi| freeholders • aro caught the omol ones will be hooked also, Mr Hog in casting his fly for the big trou

promißoa to throw the small ones back ,mto the s'ream, but from the 1 tat point of view it is unwise on the prrtof the liitlo fish to give Mr Hogg permission to catch thebig ones. The forty acre man is told that the big landholder iB his natural enemy, but 11113 18 rank nonsense. Has not the big !andholder,bydeveloping the frozen meat enterprise, doubled the price of bis sueep and raised the value of his cattle? Has he not; by securing a permanent market for stock, made it possible for the forty acre man to live off his land. Even; the laborer speaks welt of the large landowner. We' lrnyo beard ■ Mm "say that on a certain station which is occasionally' pointed out as a sort of territorial Moloch, he has been well fed and well paid. Can Mr Hogg'point a finger of Bcorn at such' a station and say the laborer has been ■sweated in that quarter.? There has been labour sweating nearer homo, but Mr Hogg issilentaboutthis, though heKnowsall abolit it and could toll about it if he chose. Everything that can- be sai d againstlarge landholders is being said by Mr Hogg, but there is something to be said in their favor, and we venture ■ to assert that their relations with their fellow men will better stand investigation than than those of some who are audacious enough to become thoir critics. But let the freeholders fight shoulder to shoulder, big and little, when freeholds, are in danger. In a well equipped army there will ' be found a few big guns, under cover of which, the small arms men can fight-to advantage, but if the small arms men allow these big guns 'to be spiked their position is critical. That tile small arms men should spike the big guns themselves because the metal of which thoy are composed can be forged into a great number of small arms is a policy which should commend itself to the invading army of land nationalises rather than to the small freeholders. That there is an invading army, of land nationalises no one can doubt I Ten years ago there were ■ not ten avowed land nationalism's in the colony, now they can be counted by the thousands and their sympathisers by the ten thousand. Wo do not object to their cause having a fair hearing and their advocates receiving fair play, but wo do object to the wolfinsheep's clothing who endeavors to persuade the small freeholder that ho is his best friend and that he will preserve his freehold rights if he will let him destroy the freehold rights of others... The freehold title in this Colony will stand or fall as a whole I It is a treewhich will wither and perish if once the ax.e cleaves either its root or stem or bough. To maintain that the big boughs can be lopped off without any injury to the littloppos is the mission of Mr Fogg, but we think he will find a dillicalty in converting ',he public to bis view. When, at the last general election, Mr Ballanco came to Masterton to assist. Mr Hogg's candidature, ho struck the key note of the party when he said Ik time may come when nationalisation might be demanded, Mtin the meantime they must consult (/!« populqi' wishes, Mr Hogg is faithfully following his leader, and when the time is deemed to have arrived for land- nationalisation he will doubtless help to orunoh up every small freohold'in the colony,