The Daily Times. THE OLDEST MANAWATU JOURNAL. ESTABLISHED 1875. SATHDAY, JULY 12, 1884.

Manawatu Times, Volume X, Issue 1242, 12 July 1884, Page 2

The Daily Times. THE OLDEST MANAWATU JOURNAL. ESTABLISHED 1875. SATHDAY, JULY 12, 1884.

Though upon most of the main subjects Mr Macarthur's views and Mr Fraser's are much alike — so much so that the election will be decided more upon questions of degree than of kind — they are widely apart on the land question. Mr Fraser claims to be an advocate for settlement, but he hampers his settlement with dear land, because he - assumes that tbe cheapening of land will deteriorate the value of the lands now settled. Mr Macarthur, on the contrary, says, m effect, that he does not care' how cheaply the unsold lands of thb crown are sold, so long as genuine settlement goes on. The difference between tbem seems to be that Mr Macarthur takes a wider grasp of the question than Mr FraserMr Fraser can only discei n the proximate effect of a rapid settlement consequent on land being available at cheap rates ; Mr Macarthur looks beyond that, and recognises its.ulti* mate effect. The one can only see that if a large d,rea of land is avail* able at moderate prices his own holdings would not nud such ready sale at present prices ; the other, sees that with a general settlement of the country such , a season of prosperity must set m as would vastly enhance the value of land. At the first blush it is somewhat strange to find Mr Macarthur— whose position as agent of the Cor* poration has been made use of to his disadvantage — advocating cheap land, and Mr Fraser, as a private individual long resident m the colony contending for the reverse; That Mr Macarthur is an advocate for cheap land proves that he is a thinker able to get at the root of a question ; that Mr Fraser is of the the contrary opinion shows thai he bas not profited m his ideas by his own experience. Acc< rding to Mr Fraser's own statoments he was en,, abled to purchase some of his present land for 10s per acre. What has made that land the value it is now but settlement ? And it would have been of even greater value it settlement had not been retarded by exorbitant prices, for the 1 reason that the colony generally would have been m a more prosperous condition. If settlement had not progressed m New Zr'iilaud, Mr Fraser's per acre la id would have been worth precisely the same now as it. was when he bought it, plus, of course any improvements he has effected. In a colony like this we want more backs to bear the burden. We have the land and the climate.;- all we require are men to cultivate the soil, and settle upon it. Mr' Fraser also seems to be m favor of the aggrega* tion of large estates, as he says that he Relieves the purse of the country will he that tbe land is held m too small blocks; That is aji idea with which we cannot agree, ' This is an entirely different country to Austras lia, where it takes hslf a dozen acres to support a sheep. The soil is prolific, and from a comparatively small holding a livelihood can be gained; and a country of small farmers means a nation of producers. On the land question we certainly cannot agree with Mr Fraser, but are more inclined to approve of the liberal views of his opponent, particularly wheu we remember they are such as, at first sight, he would not be expected to enunciate,