Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 194, 15 May 1891 — GOVERNMENT LANPS. [ARTICLE]

GOVERNMENT LANPS.

While the polioy should be to encourage the settlement and divisioa of large tracts of lands for small holdings, and thus induce immigratS 4 to become permanent setfclere in the country, we see the government adopting a course the very opoosite. Large tracts are ofiored at auction for sale aud foe lease eßpecially at a time when property values are on the decline, and when there are onlv a few purchasers with ready meane to" compete for them. By this means an opp®rtumty is given, seeminglv understood, whereby all government property will soon be disposed of to iindesirable purchasers,—those who Tvill simply hold them for speculatse purposeiv or for other equally as selfish. In a small kingdom where the area of cultivatable lund is liraited, it is unwise for the government to disposj of all of its l;mds so as to becanae abaorbed by a handfulofcapitalists. It isacourse'

that will proveruinousftn(i a. soiirce of future trouble, The vextd qu«stion betweenland lord and tienant is attraeting the stady of the most sagacions minds throughout the world. The matter is not as prominent in newly and sparsely settled countries; but in such countriHB as England and īreland t and nearly all the old and thickly populated states of Europe. th« question is a vital one. Tne disproportion in whieh tbe soil is hekl —contrary to what m justice it should be—is a source of unmitigated frouble to ail the populoue centers of the earth. It is a burning question in Ireland to-day. The misery and sqnalor of the poor people of that unfortunate country is due to no other cause as prominent as the absorbtion in whieh tbe lands were permittedto take plaee. The most thrifty and wealthy people in the world, derived within its own l«orders, is unquestionably the republic of France. Before this condition of prosperity was reached by that country the ianded property of Frao ee was owned by a few landlords in imowuee estates-as we naw see itia Ireland. England, and other conntries, and in Hawaii. These large estates were protected by law and could riot be divided, so that no heirB or creditors oould even partition them, a feeling whieh is general among the wealthy of all countries and in every age, a*d for whieh the rich here are aiming to obtian tho powerand to make just such laws as would of thi country to themselveg and to their heirs forever, and if possible eome would even like to make provisions totake it along with them when they die. But such a condition is not natu ral, and is bou nd to bring discord and eventually ruin to the urnrper. The uneven destribution is sure to bring anarchy in the end, and it is with this fear in view that we leall the attention of the governraent against the evident thi» wholesale and mdiscrimiate disposal of govenments lands will lead to. It would be far better for some of our miniBters to devote a little more time to the study of history and political economy, and less to foraging for their own self gratification and drop poker playing. Taking France as a type, we quote from Alis®n, vol. iv. p. 151. for the enlightenment of our ministry, whose devotion to sugar and cattle culture t excludes the possibili%y of a general knowledge in other matters, with the hope that the history and experience of other countries may enlarge their views and secure good to the peoble of this country. •'The confiscation of two-thirds ©f the landed property of the Kingdom. whieh arose from the decrees of the Convention against the emigrants, clergy, and persons eonvicted at the revolutionary tribunals,.... placed funds Worth above $700,000,000 sterling at the disposal of the goYernment."