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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3714, 19 January 1891, Page 2

" What Mr. Ballance may succeed ] in doing," writes the Lyttelton Times, "should he form a stable ministry (Augean stable we presume) may be left for time to 3how." Perhaps it may be possible to forecaste a little what he is likely to attempt, though it is no doubt, as our Lyttelton contemporary suggests, extremely desirable to wait and see . what he will succeed in accomplishing. When Mr Ballance rejected Mr McCardle for the Masterton seat we understood the reason given for casting out this time honoured liberal was because the Pahia tua candidate was unwilling to pledge himself to Land Nationalisation. We may fairly assume that the measure which Mr Ballance has at heart and to which he desires to pledge his followers is the abolition of the freehold title. Yery little was said about Land Nationalisation during the election because an open advocacy of it would have lost many votes, but it is clearly the policy to which Mr Ballance is educating his party. It is possible that even now Mr Ballance may shrink from bringing it forward directly, but he is pretty certain to prepare some alterations in the existing land laws which will lead up to it. Should Mr Ballance at any time secure a working majority in the House and in the country, then Land Nationalisation will come within the scope of practical politics and country settlers may consider the surrender of their free- | holds as only a question of time.