THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 776, 7 June 1877, Page 2

THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1877.

Scarcely second m, importance to the new native lands measure, ia the policy of the Government m the administration of the Waste Lands of the Colony. The whole matter needs remodelling; both m principle and m detail. ' Some better devised plan for the local administration, of thejand laws' must' be" found' than the Waste Lands, IJoard3,>a9. at present cbnstitufefri Aa they have been at present yrorked^in: .this part of the Colony, We do riot hesitate to Isay thatthey. have not secured that public confidence without which they are worse than useless. '

As regard's the ..Goverument's j land policy^ all that w;e have as yet ; lisfore us is' the meagre sketch of] the Premier, made recently m his speech at New Plymouth — the promise that; the Government is anxious to grapple with the question, and indicating deferred payments and special- settlements as! leading features m whatever system they may endeavour, to introduce. So far, so good ; but, like the native lands bill, we could have wished that the draft of the intended measure had been before the country* some little time previous 1 to 'the slitting of the House. The concentrated wisdom of Parliament is, no doubfc, a very great thing m its way, but, m the case of measures which so vitally affecfc the we.llbeing of the community— and the management of the waste lands of the colony is just one of these— we had .a great deal rather that the bill underwent the ordeal of -public criticism as well as that of the concentrated essence of wisdom; we -have above. alluded to. When once the session sits, and a measure is Before ifc, there is little room, or opportunity for the criticism of the press, or of the general publio who use its columns as a means' of propagating their views apd opinions. What is needed is, a comprehensive and carefully devised scheme calculated to meet the present wants of the • community, ' and not less the determination of the Government, once-, having f brought such a measure down to the House, to see it fairly through all its stages, and not leave it, as is done with too many other important Bocial measures, to fight its way through as best ifc can,- so that, if even ib comes alive out of the conest, its mutilated form is neither use nor ornament to the statute book. There never was a time when a sound and comprehensive land policy was more needed than now. The South needs it specially, for the "run" -question is one which i§ beginning to stare them boldly m the iace. Passing tliis by, however, as only of secondary interest to our readers m this par b. of the Colony, the necessities of the times demand a full and immediate reconsideration of the question. There is no doubt of two things, one that a considerable falling off m the Revenue probably to the extent of between fifty thousand . and < sixty thousand pounds m the financial year will be experienced. The retrirns for the three first quarters, o*. the year, indeed, . show as much, and without increased population and settlement we cannot bring tip our revenue m the future, and meat the new in-, terest of freshly borrowed money. Secondly, we cannot utilise to the: fullest the advantages of the great colonisation scheme of 18T0 without increased population, and that which : will alone attract, maintain, and keep here increased, population, sis the land. Then, again^ and it is no Unimportant feature m th^case, the time is ripe for making a step torward with agricultural settlement. The ring is formed m Europe, and, while the two principals are hitting away, a little preliminary handshaking is going on at the present moment - between the seconds and the backers, open and disguised, of either combatants which may, and most likely will, break ont into a melee of the nations. Here is at once what pur agriculturists have alone needed to make their occupation, however much they may extend it, a safe and profitable one. The price of wheat has risen largely, and this alone will give an impetus to cultivation m the Colony. .Nor need .we suppose that wheat alone will be raised m price ; other cereals must, and meat even, perhaps, may experience a rise m prices from the same cause. At the same time, we learn that California, instead of being able, as some here supposed she would be, to flood Europe with grain, has, m the present season, a wheat harvest inferior m both quantity and quality. Over talf a million acres of wheat m that State, we are told, are badly affected with mildew, On land so affected, this

means a half-crop, aad tli&fc- half scarce fit for the miller. But putting*.. America quite, out of the questidrij:' the turning of large masses of mejiin. Eurppe.iufco desbroyers and consumers of grain, instead of producers^, will make such a difference as* liiusfc sensibly afecb the mai'ket. This will- give increased impetus to •■farming m New Zealand, and create a demand for land iv both settled and unsettled districts, aiid under its protectiye: ; cegis- settlement- will prosper, and the over-crowded towns of the Colony, ~if Government' 1 ou'ly by liberal land laws will foster the "movement, may send forth their surplus capital and labour to reclaim tind cultivate its million's of idle acres, instead of- remaining m the centres of population tinder the delusive hope of ' trading, but really to elbow the passives and on^ another into the bankruptcy courts.