Wanganui Chronicle and TURAKINA & RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. SATURDAY, 8th FEBRUARY, 1868.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 828, 8 February 1868, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle and TURAKINA & RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. SATURDAY, Bth FEBRUARY, 1868.

“ The King is dead. Long live the King.” Bn- George Grey is no longer Governor of L ..w Zealand, and Sir George Bowen reigns iu liis stead. The former still tarries at Kawau ; the latter arrived at Wellington l y s.s. Kaikoura and was duly sworn into uriice on Wednesday last. He has been heartily welcomed as the representative of her Majesty deserves to be. We hope that

New Zealand may flourish under his Governorship.

The time of buying land, remarked a friend lately, has ceased for a while ; the time of selling has come. But this will not be for long. The hunger for land may be paitially satiated, or circumstances may prevent its indulgence, but it is sure to break ou t again as rapaciously as ever. What is the secret of the strong and pervasive desire for possessing land ? Modern economists tell us that money or chattels are as good as land, because they may be converted into it at any time. But this is not so certain. They may take to themselves wings and flee away. Land, in contradistinction to other kinds of property, is called real. The possession of land embodies the idea of security and independence, and every man likes both these things. The British merchant, we are told, whose money employed in commerce will yield him 10 and 15 |per cent., limits Lis operations that he may buy an estate, which will 1 not return more than 4 per cent, at the utmost. Relatively the statement holds good in these colonies. Men cease trading in order to buy land, not that it will make as much money for them, but because they like it and because it affords a security almost perfect and sustenance almost certain. Land, however, is a limited quantity, hence arises a struggle for its possession. It has been the case in almost every country having a history that legislation has been invoked to prevent the rich from obtaining large tracts of land, and to afford facilities for its acquirement by the poor. History repeats itself. The policy of ancient Rome was very distinct and decided on this subject, and is well deserving of study. The patricians strove to aggrandise themselves, but the safety of the State depended on the plebeians ; and not only was it necessary to concede their demands for peace sake, but also to preserve their efficiency and status. After along struggle, the public lands were wrested from the patricians and divided amongst the plebeians. A Roman historian says ; “ The patrician burgesses had occupied the greater part, if not all, of this public land. Now, as this land consisted chiefly of pasturage, it was manifest that if the plebeians could add to their small farms, which were mostly in tillage, the right of feeding cattle upon it, their means would be much increased, and they were likely to become much less dependent on the patricians.” After a long conflict—probably stretching over a century and a-lialf—a law was passed limiting the possession of public lands to five hundred jugera. By no means an exorbitant amount.

But self-operating self-restricting legislation seems very much better than fixing any number of Roman jugera or English acres. Too small a limit might be hit upon. It is a great mistake to think that if any man had any kind of land to labour on he would prosper. 111-doing men would make nothing of it, if you gave them the richest of earth’s soil ; but well-doing men could not prosper on sand or rock. In many parts of New Zealand the quantity of land for each individual, as arranged, for example, by the Small Farm Associations, is too small. Where the soil is good, a living may be made ; but if it turns out barren, the prospect is very hopeless. This is a question which should occupy more attention in New Zealand than it has yet received. Perhaps the best plan to prevent the inordinate acquisition of land in this country would be, not to limit the quantity by act of parliament, but by stipulating that the land shall be used beneficially to the public. Occupation should be insisted on ; improvement could be enjoined. Public land, moreover, should be rendered accessible to the poor by cheapness and made less made to capitalists by the imposition of a tax, which would have the further good effect of increasing its productiveness in order to pay the tax.