Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1881.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 63, 8 April 1881, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1881.

THE GOVERNMENT AND LAND ; SETTLE MEMr. 4 Can any of our contemporaries explain why the Government systematically refuse to grant the people the opportunity of taking up land under the " special settlement " clauses? We say "the people," because we see no reason why speculators of the Vesey Stewart stamp should receive more generous treatmeut than is accorded to colonists of many years' standing. Under •• The Land Amendment Act, 1879 " there are two classes of settlements — village settlements and special settlements. The former are to be " contiguous to any line of railway or main line of road," and the allotments are limited to village sections, one acre ; small farm allotments, fifty acres. The law with regard to special settlements is as follows : — 24. The Governor^-by Proclamation in the Gazette, may from time to time Bet •part rut < f , any rural lands such blocks of land fts tßTahall think fit, and declare the same open for special settlement ; and he may from to time alter, amend, or revoke any such Proclamation: Provided that the total amount of land set apart as special settlements ia the colony shall not exceed one hundred thousand acres ia any one year. 25. The Governor in Connoil may fix the terms and conditions npon which the lands w any special settlement ih«U be dispMtd

of, and the mode of payment for the same, but subject in every case to the following rules, that is to say, — (1. ) Land in a special settlement shall be sold at a price to be fixed by competent, valuation not being less than one pouud per acre. (2 ) Not less than one-tenth of the price of the whole block of land selected for a special settlement shall be paid by the person or persona selecting the same within '.'area months after the deposit of the survey }«!an of the external boundaries of th*» block with the Chief Surveyor of the districb wherein the block is situate. (3 ) Occupation and permanent improvement of the land to a certain proportion of its area, to be defined by regulations, shall be a condition necessary to be performed before the issue of a Crown grant for any such land. (4.) Neither the whole nor any part of any block of land set aside as a special settlement shall continue so set aside for a period of more than five years from th>date of the Proclamation whereby the same shall be set aside ; but every contract made with respect to any such block or any par! thereof, whilst the same remains so set aside, shall be performed notwithstanding that the block has ceased to be so set aside. (5. ) All lands within any special settlement block which, at the expiration of five years from the same being set aside, shall not be taken up on the conditions of sucb settlement, may b; declared by the G>ivttrner in Council to be open to all purchasers as ordinary Crown lands, from and .ifcer a day to be fixed in such order The above shows that the machiaery exists under which the Go- • vernrnout could, if they chose, establish special settlements throughout the country. Have they done so ? They have, where English capitalists desired it ; they have not, where, colonists desired it. Two iustauces recur to us a-< we write. A Welliu^ton Small Farm Association was started in that city a year ago, in connection with the Working Men's Club, buc Mr Rollestou point blank refused to giv» them facilities for a special set tleineut. The other instance is later and nearer home. The Otaki people have never had a chance of buying Government land in their district. They therefore met together, and asked the Government to aliow them to take up five thousand acred on the Small Farm Association principle, but they also met with a rebuff, aud were toid the Government would not set a block aside as a special settlement, but would offer one for sale, ou the ordinary cash aud deferred p tyment mathods. It is easy to foresee the result. Speculators, couutiug on the railway enhancing the value of the land, will buy up the land offered for cash ; whilst the laud offered on deferred payment wi'l be rushed for by Wellington people. Thus the Otaki settlers will.except in a few cases, be no nearer getting lidji33 of their own after the sale than they were before. But what -loes that matter to the Minister of Linds? So long as tlie land is sold, ho cares not who gets it ; yet who will deny that the country derives more benefit from a man settling on land than from one merely buyiug it? Th«j action of Mr Ko leston in counectiou with the special settlement question is the more remarkable because when he introduced the Bill in 1879, he expressed himsef strongly in favour of assisting special settlements, as witness the following quotation from his speech in moving the second reading : — There were one or two points which the Government wished to add to those they found already suggested. One of those was to give a power of association to work* inn- men's clubs and others to avail themselves of facilities for settlement together. There was no doubt that there w*s a rery 4reat advantage in people settling together, and being able to help each othe** in their various avocations. For the purposes of schools, police, and all other purposes that affected the well-bein<» of the people as a community, it was very desirable that they should be brought together, and have facilities for living together in comfort, and with the power of taking advantage of those institutions which the State provided for the people as a whole. That, to his mind, was the advautage'of bringing people together in village settlements. It is evident the " village settlemeuts" mentioned by Mr Eolleston iv the last sentence do not mean those referred to in the Act, as under tlie latter land proclaimed as village settlements must be thrown open for general application, and therefore would not enable working-men's clubs to settle together. In his reply at the close of th« debute, Mr Rolleston said, 14 Power was waited to establish, under the defewed-payment system, other land-occupying associations, such as working- m^n's clubs, so as to give the advantage of the deferred payment system to bodies of people who were bound together in the manner these associations were." Clearly enough, therefore, the announced policy of the Government was to assist such bodies as the Wellington Association and the Ofcaki people to acquire special blocks. How their practice has differed from their policy will be gathered from the facts already given. But another grievous feature of the action of the Government is that while they refuse to sanction special settlements organised by the people, they afford every facility to English capitalists and companies desirous of carrying out the same thing. In fact, in Mr Rolleston's speech on the occasion referred to, he said, " They (special settlements) broughtiu people, and, in order to enable them to settle, they gave them special privileges for settlement." This is no doubt true, I but is it right that the needs of men already in the country should be sacrificed so that " special privileges for settlement " should be given to outsiders ? Better fat that the population we already have should be I prosperously §§ttl«d on the land than

that they should be kept in a servile state while new comers are received with open arms and enjoy " special privileges !" We find our opinions on this question were fully expressed by Sir George Grey whoa the Land Bill of 1879 was in Committee. lie then s lid — There were a considerable number of persona in the colony who had paid for their own paasage* here, and who were desirous >f forming special settlements. It di I seem hard that they would not be placed ia the same position as nuw arrivals from other countries would be placed in. They should not do an injustice to those resideut iv the colony by giving such advantages to strangers Hi felt they were commencing a system that would iufliot great injustice upon persons in the colony. They were considering what inlucements could be given to brin<r people into the country, an<l were unmindful of he interests of those who were already in the country. He believed the best thin/ Dhey could do would be tn enact that from this time no land should be sold excep 1 u|Kmtht>Byßtemof deferred payments, whh ■,he right of selection. It would be better r .han to unable persons to pour numbers >f people iuso tho country with the view •f giving value to their properties, and to ■itterly neglect the interest of those who vvere inhabitants of the country at the pre4enc time. The words of Sir George Grey are full of weight, and though from many of '.lis public actions and statemants we entirely dissent, we heartily agree >vith him in the sentences quoted, for without doubt the first duty of the State is towards its present subjects, quite apart from inducements that aright be held out to others to settle iv the colony. Some time ago the Minister )f Lands (Mr Rollesi.on) was iv this district, and shortly ifterwards the County Chairman related iv the Council the substance of a conversation he had .vith the Minister. Mr Rolleston said that, the deferred payment sysern was not successful, but that it lid not matter, as the land passed from one man to another and was improved by each until at last a man of it who was able to hold it, and thus it came right in the end. The County Chairman at blie time dissented from the view of the Miuist >r, aud so, we imagine, would every man who sincerely desired the settlement of the couutry. We feel veiy strongly upon the action of the Government in this matter of land settlement. We are anxious to see the country applied for by the Otaki Small Farm Association purchased .by bona fide settlers. Hie refusal of the Government to lay off a special settle nent there will tend to retard the genuine settlement of the country in that district. Had the Government assisted the Otaki people, it is certain a similar association would have beeu started at Foxfcon, and probably two or three at Wellington, composed of persons who knew each other, and were desirous of residing together. The Sandon Small Farm Association (upon the lines of which it was proposed to start the Otaki and Foxton ones) has proved a grand success. If three or four such associations were settled between Foxtou and Waikauae, they would vastly enhance the value of the remainder of the land the Government would have to seH for cash and on the ordinary deferred payoieut system.