The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 798, 28 July 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political - # * # * #

Here shall the Presi the People's right maintain, Unawed by inHuence and unbribed by ga:n

SATURDAY, JULY 28. 1877.

We have never had any sympathy with the large special settlement schemes of the Broomhall type, and -have not hesitated to denounce them as prejudical to the'interests of both colony and immigrants, but we must not be misunderstood as condemning.the special settlement system under all circumstances. The Auckland "Waste Lands Board has acted wisely for once, we think, in extending the area hv selection by some ten thousand acres to Mr Vesey Stewart on the conditions agreed to, and the result will be attended with profit both to the Kaki Kati settlement as a whole and to the Colony. The land granted is, it is true, of a very valuable character but then, in the Katikati settlement as already existing we have a guarantee of the bona fides of the projectors of the undertaking. The class of immigrants introduced by Mr Stewart, both as regards capital character and, suitability was unexceptionable, and this is a point on which of all others the success or otherwise of a special settlement must stand or fall. When it is assured, the Government may rest content with a comparatively low price for the land, receiving full value in the indirect benefit conferred upon the colony by the extension of settlement. J

Mr Vesey Stewart, it is reported, goes home to Ireland by the next mail steamer to gather tegether from among the friends and neighbours of the members of the Katikati special settlement, now in New Zealand, a party of immigrants to bake r.p and occupy the newly acquired block of ten thousand acres adjoining that settlement. Nor can there be any doubt as to the success of his object. The land is of the same quality as that occupied by the first party which came out two years ago, and the accounts which must, from time to time, have been received at home of their success will greatly *- assist Mr SiowarUJeapite the opposition of the local Irish Press— in his getting his party together, nay, more, ifc should enable him to pick and chose, and to secure only the most, eligible applicants. We do not, of course, know what cerms will be Arranged betwean these parties and the projector, but considering the low rate at which ,he land is granted by the Waste Lands Board, and the present and increasing va lue of land on the East

Coastj there is room for liberal dealings with- profit and advantage to both parties. Land there, Jike everywhere else in the North of New Zealand, has been advanced by the high price ruling in the Middle Island, and unimproved lands in the district of Tauranga • have recently changed hands at from three pounds to three pounds .ten shillings per acre. The3e are' high prices, but the fertility ot the soil and the direct sea communication by steamer with Auckland, have tended to push the prosperity of the district rapidly ahead.

As we have said before, against special settlement we have not a word to say, provided only it be undertaken for bonafide purposes of settlement, and not as a mere joint stock speculation. Mr Pritchavd it will be seen abandoned his application for the block of land in lower Waikato, which was no more than we expected, and which we learn without regret, But, between two such schemes as that of Mr Stewart and that of Mr Pritqhard there is a wide difference, and if the Waste Land Board were as stringently cautious with theonekincl as they were liberal to the other, we should be only too glad to hear of the more frequent organisation of special settlement schemes, provided that they did not, as ic the case of Broomhall's projected scheme at the Thames, monopolise blocks on which, as in the case of the Thames miners waiting for land to settle upon, those already in the country had a previous claim to occupy.

The benefits of Life insurance are so great • and universally admitted that it seems j strange that men well able to avail themselves of them should need to be canvassed and urged into their acceptance. Yet how frequently do we not see whole families left helplessly dependent upon or to struggle on with narrow means, through the sudden andjunlooked for death of the bread winner; and espei oially is this the case amongst the working ; classes. During the last year or two in ' Waikato there have been several such. True, public Bympathy has been aroused and much has been done to alleviate the , distress of the widow and orphan, but after all such help will aeldom be sufficient or more, than temporary, and it indeed, it were, self help, after all, is 'the best kind of help, the aost manly, the , most independent, and the most satisfactory. There cm be no faeling mora . pleasing to the husband and -lather than to know that, let sickness and death overtake him, his family will neither be subjected to privation, nor left to the charity of the world. And why should not the working inaa re i Use this equally > with the belter off classes, Ihe means 1 are open to him uhe will only use , them. The poorest labourer can afford to put by two pence halfpenny per day out of his earnings, and a man of thirty years of age by simply doing this may secure to his wife and family the payment of £150 at his deatheven though he died within one week after making payment of the first shilling ; or to himself vif he be alive at 65 years of age. By increasing the sum to three pence half. . penny per day his family will have the same advantage at his death, or if he survive, he will himself receive the sum of £150, when 55 years of age. ; The oolony of .New Zealand owes much to the statesmanship of Sir Julius Vogel , and not tus least useful of the measures which he introduced was that for the establishment of a Life Assurance Department, in connection with, and having the guarantee of the New Zealand Government. At first si^ht it might appear that it was neither advisable nor right that the Government should, step into what till then had been a field for private enterprise alone, but when we tell our readers, that a committeee of the House of Commons a few years since brought to Jight the astounding fact, that out of 258 such Life Insurance Companies started 'iu Great Britain, only 4<t wpre then iu existauce, ihe rest having either been absorbed by stronger companies, failed, or being theu in process of being wound up, the necessity for Government interference becomes apoarent. Tba«, was effected by requiring ail companies trading in the colony to give a certain security asguaruutee of stability, and one alone did it, namely the Australian Mutual. That the New Zealaud Government Insurance Department affords the btst possible security coupled with the lowest premiums— to, say nothing of other contingent advantages— need not be argued here. What we desire to do is to urge upon every father of a family the desirability of making the easy provision for his widow and children which the opportunities the Department affords him adm t, Many may say that though t .ey could spare twopence halfpenny p t r day they could not so readily find ,the amount of premium quarterly, or half-yearly ; but v here the Government steps in with a kindred auxiliary institution, the savings bank. They may open an account by depositing only a shilling, and they may , make additions to their account by deposits as low as a shilling at a time afterwards. Insuring his life for £100, the working man can provide for his quarterly" payment by a series of small deposits to his saving bank aocount, and when the quarter becomes duo- he has simply to authorise the Postmaster to effect the necessary transfer of the amount from .his savings bank acoouno to the insurance agencyaecjiint: and tho matter is done without further trouble. , We have addressed these remarks to working men. Moro properly, perhaps, we should have addressed them to their wives. It ia they who are the most deeply interested in this matter. It is they who may' best induce the husband to make this provision, or, failiug to do so take the matter in hand and themselves do it. There are few auch women who do not or cannot contribute in some part to the weekly earuiugs of the family. Can they not spare a single peuny, a few pence, a slrilliug a week, to render the loss of the husband that my happen at any moment, leas bitter to them in its consequences. If he neglects, they at least can keep up tha premium and save themselves from a position, than which oothiug oau be more terrible to a womau with helpless little ones depending upon her.