WHAT WILL HE DO WITH IT?

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2237, 9 November 1886, Page 2

WHAT WILL HE DO WITH IT?

In .ill nges .iiid among .dl peoples land a*id its tumuc has been an all-absorbing quostion. Win tin >r it l,e the lust for teiitory of some mighty eonqueior who has caused fire ami swoid and slaughter to pass tlwough gro it piovmees in order that he might add to his ton itoiial importance, or whtther it be the aspiration of a humble citizen to make himself master, if it be only an acre of Homo portion of the eaith's surface, the .sentiment i.s the same— an all powerful hankering after the possession of the hoil. The most terrible epoch of modern history — the French Revolution was undoubtedly caused by the gross inequality of the division of the land among the inhabitants of "Fiance. Many millions of the peasants now till their own holdings, and Fiance is ttanquil^ The chamres of foiins of Government in t h it country, which sometimes astonish th" vvoild by their lapidity, ato now effected aluto.st bloodlesslv, and pas-, unhe»ded in the provinces. Tne muicunal Parisians, assisted in some miasine by the inhabitants of such towns n.s Lyons and Maisedles are generally entiiely responsible for these revolution*. The hmrors of the 17S{)-17'.>2 can never be repeated, for the. land belongs to the people and they aie satisfied. Again, we may differ widely upon many phases of what is known as the "lush question," but what all thinking persons will agree upon is, that the tenure of the soil is at the very root of the evils th.it h.ive befallen that unhappy country Take the Maoris as repie-enting what we are pleased to call "uncivilised" races. " We will never surrender! never, never; we will die on our laud," has been their cry through all the terrible struggles they have heroically .sustain mI against an irresistible foe. Instances illnstiativ e of the opening sentence of this article might be multiplied indefinitely, but we think the proposition meets with too general acceptance to demand fuither aigument. Now this being the case it is very interesting to observe the vigoioiis l.ut intermittent, — almost spasmodic effort-, th.it have been m ide, and aie being made to anive at a solution of the diih'culty which has pn//led tht' wisest men of .ill ages. It is not our |iu|)ihC to examine heie the v.uiou- titles that have been proposed from time to tine .iMiong-t different n ition- as a settlement of this great difficulty— that would be outside the legitimate .sphere of a new-piper. Fiom the title by .simple occupation of the ni'Test savage to the guarantee by the slate of a fieehold for ever under our Lind Transfer Act the modifications and vanations of title are so numerous and so varied that to attempt to discuss them herj would be worse than iwless. But tins rem lins to us tor discusson. In these colonies founded ..t a time when there was a gieat question of land tenure beginning to attract attention among the nations of Europe, when the feudal system was gradually breaking up, a race ot people were planted who well knew the evils which had been wrought by the denial to the people of the means of legitimately sitisfying their longing for occupation of land. The land passed under tl.en contiol, no lestrictioiis of em ion-, and ancient titles and cu^tom.s inteifetvd with the free e\erci-e of tin ii judgment as to the best method of dealing with the millions of acre- given them by a geneious Mother Countiy for their p.itilinony. We will not now discu-s the nniiy ve\ed questions c mnected with the earlier vi ttlement of these colonies ; suthci it to say that the tendency of legislation has inv.uubly boon in the direction of settling the land in whatever manner fiom ti.ue to time seemed best to meet the varying circumstances of young eountneOne after the other of ourLind Ministers his ventured a little fuither than hi-, predeces.sors, until the climax has been leached in the Lmd Act, ISS.~), and the Native Land Adininistiatum Act, 18813. All the questions of landlord and tenant, of Walhce's, of Henry George's theoiies, of the right of resumption of land, and of the relations of the State to the citizen in re spectof the public estate are touched in these two statutes. The power is given to the Government, that is the Minister of Lvnds, to try every method of satisfying the people, which can be consideied to ernie within the scope of reas >mble possibility. The Land Act of lciS") gives power to grant leasos tor a term, or m perpetuity, licenses to occupy, to dispose of these by auction or by tender, to giant land on defened p.iyme its. Pastotal 1 inds maybe had on defened pay Families or neighb >r.rs do-irous of forming spool il settlements cm do so, and village set'leineiiLs aie amply provided for, and a s-.n ill gr.uing r.m ine^tstho wants of another class. Aid I ist, but not least, a fieehold title m iy be outlined by tho-e who (iesiie to invest in that iiin»t poimlar title amongst Angl )-Stvpii>. Theso various djvices to promote vttl'Miunt and satisfy the ci iv ing for land before lefeiredto, include in p:mciple neatly a very scheme ever put forw.ud by wiitei-s jij any givilised countiy. What will Mr Ballance make of this wonderful opportunity. It is one of the few chances left in the temperate /.ones, for testing these theories without veiy seriously disturbing existing institutions. But the Native Land Administration Act, ISBO, passed during last session places him in a still more remarkable position. He appears in leference to the tenitories of the nitives, not only in the capacity of aland administrator, but as the representative of the dominant race in its relations to a subordinate people. And truly a more re•naik.iblo and bold step was never taken than the passage of that Act, which comes into force on the fitst day of the swiftly appro idling New Year. It is doubtful if such another statute or one even appro aching it is piint-'d in the PJnglish l.uigu tge. The preemptive light of tli 1 ) Crov. n is known, and ivcogni-ed in many parts of the eaith,— onr latest acquisition —New Urinea — is subject to that law, In New Zealand itelt, after tlie hig-ning of tho Treaty of Waitangi, pie emptive light was insisted j 'in. Cut when years later that light was abandoned, when war after war ensued on account of the desire for fiee trade in land, ami when the leading minds of the day devised a scheme by which a Crown title could beclaimed, which any nativ e could dis pose of at his will so s,>on as his tit'e should bj ascert lined, pre-emptive right c:sa-ed to exi^t. We aie among those who believe that that right ought never to have been relinquished, but it was so lelinqm shed. Now later on, convne icing in ltt/H, the oidinaiy 1 iws vgulating tiaiwictions in land between mm Mid man began to alter in fa vuur of lestricti lg dealings in the tins commodity between Mioiies. and their vyhitefollow-countiymen. Pit . Mi)| tioji \vi, not inoiitionod sjiecific illy, the '• Pioloction of the Nativ ;-'" was tie o tensible reason for the legislation. Gad i.i'ly year by ve«r n rr.nving of the p/iviUy of alien iti'in by the M.ioiie- went n'l. Kollestoii tued it, Biyce tiied it, IJillaice tiied it until the lystem reached its consummation in the Act of this year piev 'ously refeired to. Bryce provided a fine fora delinquent, m his Act. Ballance |>ro\ ided pc/.ssibli 1 inipnsonment. Now we in, 1 ;n; n jio way objecting to this action. It his b'fii, it niiisp have been the clearly un lei stood will ot the people that thisshould ii i|)pen, pr it could nevcL have liu]>pened in a I'einociatic c »untrv. Hut it i* as we h ive said, without parallel in any colony with which we aie acquainted, It is not pie emptive light— i light acquired by treaty -it is a distinct and dnect limitation of th- 1 lights incident to the possession of a freehold, one of the most important of which is the light of alien ition lit the will of the owner. A man may bo the actual (i;"iier of a prant from the Crown without restrictions, and yut bo prevented by law from dealing with the land oontalned in such grant by sale or lease. It is anomalous, but very likely expedient. Such being the case, it will now devolve on Mr Ballanco to deal with this great tract of native land which must shortly by purchase become Crown lands. Four million of acres will be about its extent. We have, ;tln.\»dy dealt with the Crown I. aids proper and the Ufethods authorised by P.nhanirnt for their alienation. This four millions of the King Country or a gieat p.utofit will soon be subj "t to the same laws. The future of New Zealand (at all events of the Noitli Kl.iwd) is. in the Ii uiujs of Mr Ballanco and iiis officer-, W ill ho Lg giudud bv matfayine and leview ai tides, by the dogmatic decision of doetiinares to which his j>io decessor, Mi Rolleston, fell a victim ? Will lie accept uniesei vedly the already half exnlnded theories of Heniy Geoige, jnose 'Mite tho middest of all mid plans, the ftationalisatinn of the l.u'ds of the i'ol<»ny under his contiol / Or will ho ieoi»^nis|iig that while the eaith hunger is common to all men the likes and dislikes of people to the vai ions tenuies are as wide apart as the poles'' Will he see cleaily that his intltienco must not be directed to compelling men to walk in his own lines, but while guiding and du-^'l'iig, to permit at the same time eidi and ovciy in in to fre< ly chuosc for himself, even if a man's choice" should gia\ itato in a

conti tii y duoction to nationalisation. Hi-, ire* r. I so far is good. Tin: l.iw li.i>£i\cn the widi'it di-cretioii to him a^ Mun-tt-i m the aduiiiiisti.itioii of the land. His ojipntnnity has .'iiiived — Wh<.t \mll lio do with it?