THE Manawatu Times. THE KALRANGA BLOCK.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 109, 19 January 1881, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

THE KALRANGA BLOCK.

" Words are things, and a drap" of ink falling like dew upon a thought, produces t'ant -which makes thousands^ perbr»p« millions think." ( ■-■■'-■

The long-looked for sale of the Kairanga Block has at last been resolved upon, and upon the 24th of next month those expectant settlers who have watched and waited for the past eighteen months will have a chance of haviug their hopes realised 1 , : and obtaining some of the Kairanga . Bl ock u p on-ad vautageous -termss-=3ro those who know the difficulty of obtahing land at all comm&hsurate with the means of small capitalists, | the sale of land at a low rate on the deferred payment principle, but subject to stringent residential and improvement clausei, must -neartily command itself as a sound and, wlblesome policy. We have always,' both here and -elsewhere, stongly urged upon the G-ovßrnment the necessity, of.- providing for small farmers on this ■ 'principle, and the more we see of its . workings the more we are convinced at once of its necessity and soundness. Land [hitherto has proved such a safe and lucrative investment, Hiat, at every sale of Crown Lands, it is greedily snapped up by the large capitalists at prices quite beyond the reach of their less favored fellow eolouists. And , what is the result ? Simply that ..tbia_landJn.Jiinety-niue cases out of a hundred— :lies idle, unimproved, and non-productive for years, but is left m its natural' sfate until the extension of our railway system and the^construction of county and district; roads, shall have given it an enhanced, value, m some-instances almost verging on tlie fabulous. We do- not quarrel with these worthy gentlemen, nor deny them the right to invest their capital as seemeth best to them. Every man has a right to do this, and it is all "bunkum." Tai ling at them as land sharks, or other ill-favored beasts oi.prey ; for those who launch the heaviest objurgations against them- would act '"-precisely siitnilarly if iv equally fortunate positions, But 1 - awhile with those " speculators " we. must protest against the land, or at any rate the greater portions of it, being locked up for years, domg no good for the district, the. cpiinty, or the colony, without due arid sufficient provision beingj made for small farjmers m th« "manner we have indicated. It is the small farmers — the producers— who,, are . the backbone, of the colony! Takitig a broad view of the subject, and -looking further into the subject than, we. are sorry •to say, our shoddy statesmen are ftc-. customed to J 'd6-^-i6r,- uiider the plea of .the exigencies of the times, they had 'invariably J 7 aapped a , shofk sighted hand-to-mouth kind of policy—looking further, we .- say . injso. the future, *when a net. work of "railways shall coyer, the^colony from one end to the other, what class of the community will contribute more to the railway receipts than; the ; farmers— the producers, .who! make theiltnd, disgorge its hiclden wealth ; whilst on the other hand, the : ■peculators, whose -lands have been so greatly enhanced In value by the yailway CQUBtrupted.iwith borrowed. miJltons, .oontribute.not a Btiver toward paying oftthe 1 interest thereon.. r' • The, policy we are^ advocating has ■beea"tried with signal success m oilier districts, where large tracts of land were sold on deferred payment, with seven years to pay it m. There were, it is true, stringent conditions as to residence,; !and th c ' amo vat of !improv i e.mentß:-.to' beueffeeted year ; but |th|>re.,,, : is opq gr^at 4. drawback which pth^^settlers' upon r the deferred payment . .have had to encounter, which will not be m the way of the purchaser in' the Kairanga Block., TlTe'mean with regard to broads, ff the land has been a long i'timlß >from safest; is a coji-; eolatioii IdkiJAW that those who bay ' sections wjll, beaab.l&f tb'Kobtaitt in-; gres«| and egress , t.p,.-t]ieni,.ia, : benefit 'whfcH ri» incalouUblev to. ' the new settle'r^ - The 1 wisdom ■ the ' donstruciing* of 'roads' right, through' blocks before ; tff&rin'gHb'em for sale) if} prOjductiv,e of cSp ; muph ; |g ; po'd,' bpth "to thd G'bvernment'as v'ena'qr, ahdito,, the settler as vendeej^batjw.e cannot finagipe for a nibment how any other could be ado,p.ted. The Goverment get;thfi amount d£\fcheir 6ut'i ; .l^y hy putting on an addition to the : upset jprice, sum; extends ov^rai number of years the settler is «»&Die;4 tfe« ea4mfc, .o^p.a?tuwty

to briug his produce to market, and make the land remunerative. The wants of roads, and the loss to the country and the unfortunate owners has been sadly exemplified by Pitzhei'bert, where aUbonqh there are hundreds of thousand" of splendid agricultural land, and a large portion parted with by tho Crown, it is as worthless to the'pureliascrs as the day it was bought .some dozen years ago.