"COLONUS" IN THE HERALD

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2439, 28 February 1888, Page 2

"COLONUS" IN THE HERALD

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln last week's Herald " Colonus " deplores the present evils of society, all men will be as one with him in lamenting the great extent of poverty and misery, which exists, but it is with great regret that I say that I have little hope that what he proposes to cure the evil would have any effect, for this reason as man is so constituted thathis plan would be impracticable. His cure for the great evil of poverty is for men to form themselves into co-operative companies and go on to land and be small farmers and what one would grow barter with another for what he would grow, and work one with another so as to assist and benefit one another. He thinks by some such scheme as this, men would have plenty to eat and also have all the comforts that man requires. He pictures as what would follow would be a sort of happy Arcadian life which, no doubt, would be a blessed change from the misery which now exists, but as man is now, this co-operative helping one another would not be, without a strong controlling and mastering power ; envy, malice, spleen, patty spite, greed would soon turn tins innocent Arcadia into a pandemonium of devilment, a cage of wolves, lions, tigers, and bears would bo nothing to it. If " Colonus 1 were as old as I ain, he would, perhaps, be aware that 40 years ago Air Eergus O'Connor tried this plan, and although Mr O'Connor was earnest, true and enthusiastic, and spent his money and time in what to him was a good cause —and good it would have been if practicable, after one or two years' trial he and all his small farmers came to grief, and the whole estate had to be abandoned his and their loss. In the village of Prestwick, two miles from Ayr, there are 30, 40 or 50 of what are termed freedoms. These freedoms are acre freeholds, l'ive hundred years ago, when King Robert Bruce was fighting a battle against the English, which he won, he was so helped with the men of Prestwick that in return he gave each and all oi them a freehold and an acre. For hundreds of years theso acres were cultivated, but as the world got older they were abandoned, and when I was last there, nearly thirty years ago, all you could see of them was the remains of their enclosures, and bits of hedges and ditches. They had run wild. Here in Harapipi there were in the first, instance sixty which, by additions, were made up to 100 of Von Tempsky s men placed on 50 acres of land. Each man had 50 acres as a freehold given to him. These men had many things in their favour. They had one out of every two .saved some money; they were young and strong, but where are they now, only three or four remaining. Mr' Editor, for that happy life, that lifo of peace and plenty, that lifo which small farming such as "Colonus" advocates for it to exist, the world would need to retrograde back one or two hundred years. It is incompatible, and therefore impracticable with the present advancement of the world's progress, for that life of small farmers to exist. We would need to become primitive; all luxuries would need to be done away with. Tea, sugar, riding horses, tine clothes, education, newspapers, art, science, steam engines, reapers and binders, magazines, novels, bazaars, high heeled boots, side saddles, buggies, putting silver in the plate on Sundays, honorariums, liinemoas, cushioned seats, paper collars, all these would have to cease, we would need tocome back to nailed boots, hodden gray, and shank's naigy. Will the world submit to this ? No. It may be said lam a poor man who can only find fault, and cw no remedy for the overwhelming evils of poverty. I say that there are great and good men, men who are a thousand times greater than I or "Colonus" who are appalled and stand aghast with horror at the misery of mankind. These men are confronted with the stern fact that any sudden change would end in chaotic confusion, an up-turn-ing and up-heaving, which would bring consequences which would be fearful. But black and dismal as this look-out is, I firmly and strongly believe that man will yet arrive to such a state of perfection that crime, poverty and unhappiness will cease to exist. This will not be brought about by poor, pigmy man, but will be by the controlling events of the Creator's natural laws. Evolution which has made man from a very low state to what he now is; evolution which hns turned vegetable matter into a mineral, evolution which through course of time has given water birds long bills, evolution through the course of time will also bring mans happiness and goodness and wisdom to perfection. It is not to be inferred that I advocate calmly sitting down and leaving everything to fate, this would be a subversion of the laws of evolution —evolution as far as man is concerned will work its laws through the agency of man.—Yours truly, Harapipi. Harapipi, February 20.