"OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1874.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 350, 11 August 1874, Page 2

"OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1874.

% It is not to wondered at, that a,s the whole land system of the colony is unsound in principle that Miosp who have the honesty to make an effort to rectify abuses should ajeze upon the first case which pa the face of it appears a little more glaring than ijuual. For this purpose allusions have lately been made to the purchase from the Government, by the fiako Swamp Company of the large block of land (about 70,000 acres) situated where the name of tlOt 10 company indicates. It appears that this land w vt allowed by the Government to alienate at less tiroi the upset price. We are not for one moment prepared to, defend the principle indicated by the (.i'.uiHueljon, though in this particular case we believe Jmt benefit to the colony is likely to result, for the -tas^n that it is infinitely better that the land -.JiouJil be occupied and improved, than that it should ivmain'in a state of nature for a term of years; which it in all probability would have done had it not fallen into the hands of the present owners, who :u-e huge capitalists. This consideration, no doubt, led t-o theyftefcion of the Government in the matter] and it must be remembered that although the land was sold at a nominally low price, the purchasers entered into an undertaking to drain, and run a tramway through it at their own cost, and to commence work immediately after the purchase was effected. The Government exercised discretionary power in the matter, whether justifiably or not we are not prepared to say, but as we wrote above, we believe that good will result from its exercise. The increase lo the revenue by the purchase money of land is, compared with the benefit conferred by occupation and improvement, of comparatively little moment; w,e would sooner to-morrow see the whole Qf the waste lands of the province pass into the hands of legitimate occupiers at a nominal rate per acre tl an into those of land speculators at a, good round price. Our opinions previously expressed on tbe land question, judging from a letter we have received on the subject, are not' clearly understood. Tho writer of the letter appears to hojd the opinion that we object to large blocks of land being held by jingle individuals ; &uch is not our opinion. There is no objection, so far as wo can see, to one man pwning half the land in the Waifcato, provided Le the capita], and uses it to extract from x's

:>uil tho utmost (.'Kit, it v, '!; i, . _■•< c. to u Uhntly :i[>p;^'>nt; to r-voi-y 01-v v, r in ILis Ji,t/ .• t x.hit tho Waikato i,s bun*' ivLu\!jd bj the In non-ressidenc land-jobber:,, iuki vho walk aboui tiw strccKJ of oiu- to»vn r i :md live on IV labor of oth"*- 1 , for wliich tiioy neither pay directly nor indirectly. The workers improve the laud which borders on theirs, and when it has snflicientJy advanced in price the jobbers sell. In tho meantime the land remain* unproductive, and consequently, with tho exception of the almost nominal tax under tho Highwnys Act, non-tax-paying. The remedy, as we have before pointed out, is partially in the hands of the people ; they must insist upou the Government only selling land on terms'of occupation and improvement. " We are introducing labor in large quantities, and the population is i.ipidly increa&ing naturally ; it is to the soil the people must look principally for a .livelihood, consequently landjobbing should stink in the nostrils of every true colonist. The system we suggest is not new; it prevails in all the sister colonies. The next general election we trust will so change the personnel of the House that we •shall follow in the footsteps of those who have guided our sister colonies to positions of material greatness, which without their -wi^e forethought, could never have been attained.

Tho San Francisco Mail is title in Auckland on Friday next, the 14th instant. Wo hove received from a wife, resident, in the Waitnfco the following, with a .cguesb ihat wo will publish ifc in our | columns .— " Any publican giving credit, to 13 liable to be at the loss of it as he has no projiri-tv of his omi, and I will not bo nnswernblo for any of his debt--" We re»ret that the law of libel prevents our Riving the niunea The communication tells its own tnle, an unfortunate woman who is possessed of a lit tlo property h enisetl with a drunken, dissolute husband. Il 1a quite tune th.it u lunatic asylum wns provided for the liLp. The correspondent of the Herald has t<>]e»iMphed from Wellington to the effect that Mr Yon dcr Iloyde is satisfied that his election is void. Mr Maefnrluno will probably tako tho seat. Wo have known of many a seat being obtained 111 a representative assembly in aanore satisfactory manner. We understand that tho Circus company »vluch has been perfoiming lately in Auckland will "show" at the great native meeting about to be held at the Miranda. Wo wish them every success, and that their consciences will not bo troubled on account of the number of joung Maori necks likely to 1 bo broken in attempts to imitate their horsemanship., Maoris are very much given to imitation— so are monkeys. Tho Provincial Council of Tarnnali has determined to do away with the publication of a Provincial Government Gazelle, using, the ordinery Press a* tho medium for miking its official announcements. Tho HokiSika Evening Star commenting thereon, says : " This is about tho most .-ensible tiling wo htixe heurd for some time, as Gazettes har"o little or no circulation, and in nine cases out of ten the notices contained therein are not seen -by those they most concern." > Mr McLean, in his paper on the native race in the New Zealand Hand-book, estimates that tho natives have decreased from about 400,000 souls in 1820, to 40.000 now, of w Inch 37,000 are on tho North Island. An unfortunante man belonging to tho Armed ConstabuInry, named Elijah Mcc, wax found dead on tho rood to Waikaremoann, on Saturday last. Tho deceased had left To Kapu the day before, intending to reach his stafon, Okukc, got benighted on the loail, or Josfc his hoi sc, and snuk in the scrub by the roadside, whore he was found dead. His body was brought back to Te Kiipu, and nn ii quest held on it, verdict being—" Death from exhaustion and exposure in very wet inclement wenther. ' Deceased was buried on Monday, a firing party ofA.C attending. The event cast quite a gloom over the neighbourhood, ?is Mcc was very much respected. The night the poor man was out was bitterly cold. — Poverty Hag Standard. Tho school-room at West Hamilton is in a most disgraceful state; there are no less than elei en panes of "lass broken. The discomfiture under which, in this weather, information is imparted and received in that air} beat of learning]?, we should imagine, much more easy to conceive than to beur. ' Surely the local authorities can do something. Some time since a report of a case in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Cambridge, appeared in our columns; it «ns nil her fogily worded, Mr Albert Potter only held l,'io cheque in question till proper proof of ownership was established, and did not in any way convert it to hjsoun use. A correspondent suggests that tho EWUieny bush is -very suitable for fencing purposes in thp Wnikato. lie instances two or three farms on which it has been used with success. Mr T. B. Gillies said a »mmt thing in the I[ou>e t.ho other day, whon having referred bn»«Jly to tho interference of tho Government with life assurance, &.>'., ho 'aid they werenow about to become " timber mci chants," Mr Vogel being of com so tho " top-sawyer." A report of the judges on the amending of the Nat ho Lands Act has been laid on the tablo of the House. Ncurlv every clauso u condemned as unwoikajloand impracticable.