SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 51, 18 April 1874, Page 5

SETTLEMENT.

A great deal has been said lately in reference to the settlement of bona fide cultivators on the land of this province. Some — the Roxburgh people, for example — vehemently denounce the action of the Government, and charge the present Executive with playing into the hands of large proprietors. Whether this is really the case or not, few, if any, can say for a certainty. The charge cannot be easily ptoved tv demonstration. There are indications, however, that are gravely suspicious as to the intentions of the Government. The partisans of the' Government cannot deny, and, in point of fact, do not deny, that things are not in a satisfactory state as to the seltlemcnt of the land. They say that the intentions of the Government are everything that can be desired, and that the slow progress of settlsment arises from the defects of the law. It may be so. But, on the other hand, many politicians, and no mean authorities either, say that the laws are good, but that it is their administration that is deserving of blame. This may be true. We cannot say positively where lies the blame. Perhaps it would be near the truth to affirm that both, the law and the administration of the laws are at fault. The laws as to hundreds leaves it in the power of a capitalist to become the proprietor of an entire hundred ; whilst the deferred payment system is in many points far from satisfactory. Indeed, it appears to us that a more satisfactory system could have been easily devised. At all events, this one thing is clearly apparent : that as yet there has been no means devised by which honest and industrious men can obtain land precisely in those localities that would suit them best. An example will best explain oik meaning. Then is in the neighborhood ot Roxburgh a jvt.s of land on which many mcv are desirous of settlii ', cither as unall proprietors or tenants of the Crown. ."■•. u.e of these men are aheady cultivating a few patches oi i;s>i I >nd, and they know from experience, which is aftci nil tiio Lest test of the qualities of land, that it would pay them well to cultivate each a few hundred acres of it. But they cannot obtain (he land ; it is in the hands of a runholder, and the Government wiii licillier proclaim a hundred heie, nor give out the land

on the deferred payment system. The Chief Surveyor, it is aaid, was sent up expressly to report on this land, and he reported that it was not fit for cultivation. Now it strikes us that the men who are residing on the spot, and have had years of experience in the locality, ought to be better qualified than a racing official from Dunedin to decide as to its capabilities. Be this as it may, these men are satisfied to settle on this land ; and it certainly is strange that in a country such as this, where millions of acres are lying uncultivated, and in which our politicians unanimously declare their earnest desire for settlement, these men are not permitted to purchase or rent a few hundred acres of the waste lands on which they happen to be residing. But stranger still is this fact : that on the same run the Government sets apart 2,500 acres of shingle under the deferred payment system, an acre of which, we believe, no man can be found to take up. Why is it that land not fit for the plough is offered for settlement, and that the land the people want is refused them ? As we said before, we cannot say for a certainty ; but there are those who think that the Government is more the friend of the large proprietor or runholder than of the small proprietor, and that it consequently so administers the law as to gire the capitalist an undue advantage. Nor are these latter without grounds for their opinion. What has been said above as to the Shingle Block, coupled with the impossibility of men securing the freeholds and leaseholds they want, and that would just suit them, renders the opinion very probable. But there is another reason, and not a bad one. Our Superintendent has now an Executive of his own choice, one that thinks and feels with him, one that acts harmoniously with him. He aud they, it must be supposed, share each other's opinions. If, then, the Superintendent is in favor of a few large lauded proprietors, as in the home country, it must naturally be supposed that the members of the present Executive are of the same mind. Again, if the Superintendent thinks that a small number of large landed proprietors is really necessary for the good of the country, we must, of course, suppose his own chosen Executive is of the same opinion ; and consequently, both he and they cannot be very •salous in administering the laws so as to raise »p a numerous *mall proprietary. We do not affirm that they may not hold such an opinion conscientiously, or that they may not be able to advance strong reasons in support of it ; but what we say is this, that if they do hold this doctrine as to large proprietors, they are very unfit men to be entrusted with the administration of our land laws. .Now, we have lately come across a volume containing the Votes and Proceedings of the 2 1st Session of the Provincial Council of Otago, 1865-6, and have found in the Appendix, p. xvi., a number of resolutions on the land question, as given notice of by Mr Macaxdrbw, November CO. The preamhjf fto these resolutions is very remarkable, and is deserving 01 special notice at this time. Mr Macutorew, then a member of t!>e Council, says :— " Whereas the great object of our land regulations ouyht to be the speedy and beneficial occupation of tlw country by men and women ; and lohercas a molerute number of individual n &r families occupying extensive Itndel estate*, would tend to inornate the futwe greatness and safety of the body politic ; and whereas the existing land regulations oj this province are not conducive to thes? objects, it is expedient to amend the same as follows, 1 ' tl-c. /■That hi ing Mr Macandkew's matured and deliberate ©pinion, it cannot be expected that he would very heartily, when Superintendent, execute luvs maJe tor the express purpose of preventing "a number of individuals or families occupying extensive landed estates." With these words of ilr Macjand >ew before them, men shouid not be surprised at Ue action ot tho Roxburgh people, nor ot the general dissatisfaction on account of the administration of the land law s. We totally disagree with Mr Mac Andrew's opinion. To act on it would caiu-c the ruin of the colony, and prevent it from becoming .1 prosperous and peaceful countrw To adopt r would be to begin at the wrong end. Experience proves that the tendency of land in all civilized couutiics is to accumulate in the luud-i of individuals. ThJ.s inevitably arises iroin v. r.ou- cs»u-e#, amongst winch may l,e stated tho power and nifln jnco of capita!, and the pride of family. Start with a large landed pioprietary containing a snial 1 number of persons, a- id before many generations there will be found fewer proprietors aud enormous land estates. Even in France, where vUg subdivision of land is compulsory, this tei-dcucy o( land

to accumulate in the hands of individualshiTb^eTlo^rM operate The force of events and the accumulation will introduce landlordism only too soon. Tho colonist who begin with making their land appanages of great familil are preparing for their descendents, in a not very remote future, both beggary and slavery.