THE LAND QUESTION. NO 2.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 148, 8 June 1881, Page 3

THE LAND QUESTION. NO 2.

TO THX BPITOK-OF THI MAVAWCTU D 0/.ITH«.TO*J -- A ! AiTT S»,— Tn suggesting, m a-former letter, some discussim en / tbe subject waste lands^ of the 'colony, JT also proposed to myself to copfiqeany remarks I might have to make dn the subject, to the consideration of pagans ,by which r specinc-bloekWf land may be settled ' •m the best interest s of the colony. The subject of colonisation gehetally" ii i so, vast, . that we should pVobabiy only lose ourselves m an ocean, or rather 1Q a f°w B tJ ' or a swamp of theories, if we, perniitted ourselves to wander Jover the wile range of subject juyolyed m the founding! of a new na|ion. This letter, ; therefore* has referencppply tp specific blocks of t and m our ownineighborhood, say the' Kai-A hinu anidOtaki blocks, recently acquired 1 tb*<Mabris. These blocks are as yet untraaaelledby ■'<♦ vested interests "of j private individuals. They are 'purely' the property of Ihe colony, arid may ' be disjßMg^f. m; any. manner the people of jKoionyV?iJ?) .tb^nk best, And here, at --«cc, *»IL 5 "^ < "?P' ar *• eviery uaind the olcrs'ikying " Thkt Which is everybody s business isseldona well done:" Who, it may be asked, is, under the existing system, really responsible for the proper management^>f the, wastelands pfjthe ep-, lony ? I suspect' our ideas on this point are very vague. Is there, m fact, any person or body oLperhbbsv' foi whom^'we, the people of^the cplpny, jcauj,as,y> *', Yjon. have hajf the^isppsai pf such and such a block or land' you dontt seens, to have., made a Ver£ §bod ! job ! of it • or, any rate, more, we think,: might have been made of it." Ido not think thereis any such really respQnsiblepenoa or persons. - : We" bave to be sure, a,Pai;hament,. and General Government, ',' fp4 -' », Waste < JLands Board, but we ate never able get hold of either, or any- of tfcoW three bodies as you would, iptypuTAploufhinan, if his work is not Mtisfactory. I know that, there is a very general idea that we cannot expect great public, duties, to be performed as neatly, eipeaitiously, Vnd effi-,, ciently as^pniate trthsa^ipns, 1. jddh't' know why it should bfe rfo, 1 and I don't think it need necessarily be sb ; but at any rate, Whirls hot -fust now thfakingo'f freat general duties, but limply of the est possihleirinaQagJemeat of simple i specified blocks of |and. of from 5,000 to 45,000 adreseach. And Ido not see why a specific job *>f -'that kind should not be" ' as well dyne. in the interests of the colony, as m the interests. of a. private person. Let us try and. rid our . minds for a moment of great' political 'questions' 'and' theories, jand r simpiy sayhi 1 HereM^hlocfc of land, what.should Be done wi'h it,?" Ist. It may be sold as it stands and the money it bribgrplaeed m" ihe colonial chest, and that^hj»jitd think, would be about the worst' we could *!o: wirh it; / / 2nd. It may, as m the case pfi the Fitzherbert block, mentioned; m my former letter, have some meney spent m surveys,! and be then sold m sections _as buyer* come forward^ , Well, I, don't think that is, by a very long chalk, the best we can do, either in >he interest of the. coloriyvor' m the interests of those buyers whom we are most called upon to" assist, and encourage and; cpnafo^t jn jeyery jwayirij qaHJ power. I mean the bona fide Klt\cxa who plunge singly into a newfbrest,<and; hope with labor and patience to make. for themselves, hqnies, aqd ifqi] the ; polony,/ iu time, a new Tinib.A , J ..,.,'. .. r , 3rd. We may, I think, ; at once, . place, upon all soeh blocks, bodies of men, and' women, and children, who shall; b* '■a- colony m themselves, .who shall „be the makers or marrefs J of their own special fortunes, andAtthejWrhe tirae>entt£as a community into the life ofNew Zealand^ for good or for evil. I"do think this can be done m every case,>Bd I-rthink „it is the best that can i be^bji^ 1 --if^o»T,^ri^ allow me me, I w^ltshew in^another tjjtier? bow it may he-*&^plished— j)*m, AyZ