The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBERS 18, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 820, 18 September 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBERS 18, 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, reir»i>uso political # # # #' -# •. - Here shall the Presi the Pboplu's rigl.t maintain, (Jnaweilbv influence and unbribod by Ran

Our Northern contemporaries have more or less entered on a criticism of the Lands Bill now before the House, bat have left One portion of it unnoticed as of little interest to settlers in the North, that part referring to " Lands held for Pastoral purposes."' And herein we hold they have made a mistake. The qaesbion of the runs is as much a Northern as, a Middle Island question, and so' both the Press and the North. Island Members should treat it. The colonisation of the land fund is merely a matter of time The squatter inflaence may postpone its settlement for this session, but it will not succeed in doing so in the session of 1878. The House and the country will then be brought face to face with two great questions — the imposition o£ a property tax, and the colortisatien of the Land Revenue. It may b j that both measures will be carried, or it may be that a compromise will be effected, aad that the Southern landed interest may be strong enough iD the House to save themselves from a direct tax on property by sacrificing 1 the Land Fund. In any case, tjie disposal of she runs is one which affects the North equally with the South, and therefore that portion of the Land Bill which refers to it is specially worthy of notice as regulating the disposal of land, in the revenue arising from which the North must before long participate. Separate special clauses are contained in the Bill for Canterbury and Otago. With the details, the method of assessing tho rental of runs — the mode of appeal therefrom and similar matters we do not propose to busy ourselves, but with principles alone. There are then two objectionable matters, the one bearing hardly on the interests of the public, the other on that of the squatters. In the case of Canterbury-runs, the 108th clause of Ihe Bill seeks to give an inalienable right for, ten yeurd to come of the public estate,

f wh&tever pabJjG requirements may 'OTiUe, ." Eyej^liolder of a depasturrent has been dfflroj^^li.as hereinbefore pvovidod, wno^pcll^on or before the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, pay the first year's rent in advance, and in other respects comply with the provisions of this Act, shall be entitled from henceforth to hold his run as from the first day of Mav, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, until the first day of May, ono thousand eight hundred and ninety^ subject to the provisions of this Act, and thereafter the depasturing license and all righ ts (if any) created' thereunder shall absolutely cease and determinl. Now, this, we hold to be prejudicial to the public interests. So long only as the runs are not required for purposes of settlement mid no longer should the monopoly o£ them be enjoyed by the squatter. This rule is made applicable in the case Of Otago runs where clause 117 pro^ vides that the land, though leased for ten years, . may be resumed, by the Government after twelve mouths noti ce, if required for purposes of settlement. A gain 'in. the case of the Otago run-holder, . he cannot, as his Canterbury brother can, having had his rent calculated and fixed elect to take on his lease or license for another term, but must submit to enter the market with the outside public and bid for the lease or, license at public auction ■ Even though the purchaser must pay. him for improvements, , this system v cannot but act, .injuriously and unfairly! It is one thing to summarily determiue the runholder's interest in a run when it clashes with the progress of settlement and to make th,e... tenure of runs conditional on their being required or not for purposes' of colonisation, and it is another thing to place the runholder's tenure in jeopardy -simply to afford another and a richer speculator the op])ortunity of "outbidding hini *in the use of the lan'dfor a similar personal monopoly. The squattiag. interest is a very important one, not only to the individuals concerned in it. but to the colony, and it should be for no light reason that the tenure of the public estate should be made less certain than a fixed term would make it. In *he case of the Otago runholders they may be throwa open to a money combination, which individually they must snecumb to, and squatting companies might be formed for tho establishment of a monopoly in runs against which they could not contend, and which would in the end be prejudical to the public welfare. With other portions of the Bill there is every reason to be satisfied. The introduction .of a scheme for the sale of land on deferred payments—which was eliminated by the Upper House from the Bill of last year— is made a special feature, though even here we think the House might go a step further and adopt the homestead system which has worked well in this province, and which is specially suited to advance settlement in many of our northern country districts) but these are details in the, measure the consideration of which we. must defer to a future occasion.