SMALL FARMS AND DEFERRED PAYMENTS.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 140, 11 May 1881, Page 2

SMALL FARMS AND DEFERRED PAYMENTS.

In the followin"*; remar!?;-- on the above subject, we intend briefly setting forth some of the advantageous which would be secured to our peasant proprietors, the future owners, and to the country at large, by the sub-division of large estates, aiul by the more general adoption of the small farm system. By this latter term we mean that system under which a man owns the iand he cultivates, and he himself cultivates the land he owns. Such a definition of the small farm system indicates that it is not m harmony with the growth of a large yeomanry class on the one side, aud the deferred payment system on the other. We must confess we have no desire to see a large yeomanry class located iv the Manawatu ; and by that term we mean a class below that of a landed gentry ou one hand, and above that of small farmers on the other. Our strongest objection to the growth of a yeoman class m this district is based on the theory that it would necessitate the maintenance of a still more numerous class of laborers for hire, who would be compelled to live feom hand, to

mouth, aud be entirely dependant on the good will of these yeoman for an existence. We also object to the yeoman as a class for the reason that there is too much of the " beggar on horseback" about ..them* they have uot'the culture, the feelings, or manners of gentlemen ; because they are too frequently constrained by the necessities of their positions, to drive tlie very hardest bargains with those beneath them. The birth, social position, and undisputed eminence of landed gentry places them above such expedients as the \ eoman has recourse to for the purpose of augmenting his income, and impressing those beneath him with a dne sense of his importance and power. There are doubtless many individual exceptions ; but speaking from experience, we have found them most grinding and narrow-minded of any class m the count'-y. This, we are perfectly aware, is not the fancy picture of the model yeoman, which is so frequently held up to admiration, but nevertheless it is true to ancl painted from life. Our only objection to the purchase of land on deferred^ pay ment is based on the fact that not only the interest but the principal has to be paid within a certain period, when the purchaser, who has probably to fell his bush, clear, fence, drain, and cultivate his land, before he can obtain from it any return m crops or otherwise, is m the worst possible position to meet the heavy drain upon his very limited resources. Certainly this would not apply to a purchase where the greater portion of the purchase money is allowed to remain on mortgage for a long term at a light rate of interest. The buyer m that case may be able to meet his interest, when if he were called upon to pay part of the principal as well he would find it quite an impossibility to meet his payments. The great temptation, it must be admitted, m this new country, is that of buying more land than one can pay for or properly manage, and this temptation the sale of land m long credit has a direct tendency to render irresistible, and is too often grasped at. The farmer ■would find it the better plan to buy no more land than he can pay for, or than he can profitably manage. This would prevent his running into debt, or of employing hired labor to any extent. It were better, m our opinion, if the Government, instead of selling any more land m such large blocks, were to greatly reduce the size of rural sections, and reserve a good proportion m each block for sale at a future period, which would then realise enhanced prices, and give the right of pasturage on conditions to the occupiers of the land adjacjnt. Then, instead of staying tlie sale of lands until such time as roads, &c, had been made through it, the pioneers of these new settlements, such as the Kairanga ancl jNorsewood Blocks should be allowed the opportunity of making their own roads under Government contract. By some such arrangement as this, the evils arising from the present system would be averted, and at the same time facilities would be afforded for the settlement of many of our outlying districts by men of small means. Under the existing circumstances, the latter are totally unable to earn a living off their holdings, for the one reason that they have no facilities for getting their produce into market, which, to our mind, is one of the most blighting effects of maladministration.