The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Tuesday, January 22, 1889. AN ADVANTAGE NOT TO BE LOST.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 250, 22 January 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, January 22, 1889. AN ADVANTAGE NOT TO BE LOST.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country's, Thy God's, and truth’s.-

It would be well if some notice were taken of the suggestion which was thrown out the other day by one of our Napier contemporaries, which denounced the Waste Lands Board as a body with a high-sonnding title but with no aptitude whatever for the work that is required to be performed. The settlers of this district thought they had done a great deal towards getting a wiser administration by, after years of agitating, succeeding in having the Poverty Bay district included in the jurisdiction of the Hawke’s Bay Board, instead of as formerly being under the control of the Auckland Board, But we have not yet gone far enough in the matter, and the present is an opportune time for furthering our object. If the Land Board is looked upon as a farce in Napier, it certainly cannot be regarded as satisfactory by a district which is so far removed from the supervision of the members of the Board, and which has no voice in the election of those members. In this overgoverned country, there is such a roundabout way of doing anything that requires to be done that many things are left undone, when under a more rational system they might be performed with ease. So far as we are concerned, the removal of the Land Board would be a welcomed reform, and, with certain restrictions, the County Council might well perform the duties. The matter is one which we hope will not escape Mr Graham’s attention, and if he were to immediately bring the subject under the notice of Government, there is a probability that he would secure the desired reform before many months had passed. The Ministers always seem to be away from the seat of Government, travelling backwards and forwards for no earthly purpose that anyone can see, except to hanker after political support, but dq we ever hear of one paying this district a visit? The Minister of Lands has lately travelled to the north of Auckland, and he now gives it as his opinion that some of the land he saw there is perhaps the finest in New Zealand. We do not wish in any way to decry the quality of the land referred to, ana we congratulate the settlers on the good opinion which has been expressed as to the quality of their land ; but does it not savor very much of hypocrisy for one holding the responsible position which the Hon. Mr Richardson does to prime people’s vanity by telling them that

theirs is the best land in New Zealand, when he himself is in almost complete ignorance? We have a faint recollection of Mr Richardson having on some chance occasion made a flying visit to Poverty Bay, but he has not, to our knowledge, ever paid the least attention to the capabilities of the district, and vet he speaks about “ the best land in New Zealand” as if he really knew what he was talking about. If the Ministers choose to altogether ignore the settlers of this place, that is the best of reasons why we should not ignore the Ministers. A short time back the Borough and County Councils passed resolutions, pointing out the injustice the district labors under owing to there being no sitting of the Land Court in Gisborne as gazetted, and-as an example of what can be obtained by asking in proper form we are pleased to hear the request has been granted and a permanent Land Court Judge is to be appointed. But referring back to the subject of the Land Board, there could not be a better opportunity to make an effort to secure control of the waste lands of the district, the Government of course retaining such powers as are required to ensure wise administration. We have nothing in common to keep us bound so closely to those who are almost in complete ignorance of the Poverty Bay district. There is no necessity for an addition to the number of governing bodies—that indeed is one of the strongest arguments in our favor, for we advocate a reduction of the expenditure which is entailed by the continuance of this superfluous body, the Land-Board. If the matter is immediately brought ■ under the notice of Government —Mr Graham, we assume, being the proper person to make the representation—there is every prospect that it will be duly attended to.