Supplement to " Ashburton Guardian."

To the Electors of the Ashburton District.

GujTLntt!?,— ln the year 1874 I published a pamphlet on the Land Question, tntitled " An Agrarian Law for New Zealand," and, at the request of numerous friends I now reprint it. The pamphlet waß intended to be j the first of a series : hence, I did sot m this pamphlet, enter into any details of mj *eb»m» lot »n Agrarian Law, which I reserved for future discussion, but confined myitlf to laying down general principles. In reading the pamphlet the circumstances of the Colony at the time of its fhfet publication must be tome m mind. The Government owned many millions of aorea of land which have since become private property, and it would, consequently, have befn far more easy tooarty the proposed law into effect at that time than it wonld be now. A strong party of land monopolists; supported by powerful fioaniial institutions, were bitterly opposing the extension of settlement, and «t up rights of private ownership inland, which would logically result m ♦he i "eoneltfsion that if one man were rich enongh to purchase the whole of New Zealand he would bo entitled to exclude everybody else from Betting tool there. To meet these extravagant claims, I wrote and published a pamphlet entitled "Our Lead Laws," m whioh I analysed the English taad tenures from the earliest times, and also the Continental tenures, and proved that fee rights In land olaimed by the New Zealand land monopolists were «oi recognised by the laws of any civilized nation. The Fox-Yogel Ministry was m office, and the Colony was m the first flush of a heavy load expenditure. Speculators were panting with the expectation of making. speedy fortunes: the cry was raised on all aides that the more money we borrowed the rioher we should be, and everybody who counselled ordinary prudence m the management of the eoloniai finances was railed at as "a j troaker." The Colony has since tasted a little of. the bitter fruit of repent ance, aad now that it is threatened with enormous additional taxation, it is wisely beginning to consider whetner,tsfter|all, it oan afford to depart from the principles of sober finance, and whether exoeaeive borrowing and reckless spending os the part of a community, as well as on the part of a private in iividual, must not m the long run, lead to disaster. X have the honor to be, gentlemen, Your obedient servant, CHAS. W. PUBNELL.

AN AGRARIAN LAW FOR NEW ZEALAND

BY OHABLES W. PURNELL. j i I

I A&PIXMID 10 TBI YOTJHQ MEH 07 188 Coi/ONT.

" Thus man pnriaei his weary calling. And wrings the hard life from the eky, While happiness ansoen i« falling Down from God* boiom silently."

* { «*N London, daring the winter months, from 180,000 to 150,000 & persons are dependent upon public charity for the means of supporting life. In summer the numbers are smaller, but evon on the 30th June last, there were 100,8X7 m receipt of relief either in-door or out-door, and this, too, m a year of unusual prosperity for the humbler classes of society. On the 80th June, 1871, the Poor Law Board reported that 123,898 people were Uring upon public charity. In the whole of Great Britain, on an average, nearly one million of our fellow-countrymen are habitual paupers, with all self-respect crushed out of them, useless to the State, useless to the world; nay, worse than useless, for they hang like a millstone round the necks of their more fortunate compatriots. There are, perhaps, two millions more staggering on the verge of pauperism, whose minds are constantly racked with the dread of falling into that horrible pit, where— " Jjaoioi et altrices posaere eubilia curie ; PaUentesqae habitant Morbi, tristirque Senectas, Et Metus, et m»lesnad» Fames," and vice and sin of every description; and from which, when once the victim has fallen into it, there is little hope of escape. These people, amongst whom are to be found the bulk of the labouring class and of the lower middle class, are compelled to devote the whole of their time and thoughts to obtaining the means of satisfying their animal wantß, with the painful conscious ness ever present m their minds that some trifling chance may render their exertions unavailing and plunge them into all the miseries of destitution. It is impossible for them ; under such circumstances, to enjoy the pleasures to be derived from the intellectual gifts which God has bestowed upon them, life to them is but a brute existence, whose pains are rendered keener by their possession of higher faculties than dwell m brutes of the field ; and when death comes they can only look back upon a series of years spent m bitter struggles to obtain bread, This is the Civilisation of Manufactures. This is the goal to which the inhabitants of New Zealand are told by those who have seated themselves m high places, the Colony must haste with all speed, To rear up great cities, to get twenty per cent interest on money instead of six or eight, to cover the land with machinery, to -nako a few men gods m wealth, and the rest mean drudges toiling for the smallest possible pittance, m order that it may " pay " to invest capital m large commercial undertakings — such is the -winning post to which we are exhorted to look as the ultimate aim of our political existence. But the ghastly being which stand! there waiting to receive ut» is veiled, and the veil is

ehblazoned with the word " Progress," than which there was never a word more misused, or which has more deceived those who use itv "No word," remarks a recent writer m the Quarterly Rtvieio, commonly said to be Lord Salisbury, " has ever achieved so brilliant a success m bamboozling mankind. But surely its career of deception is nearly run." Every man who has reflected upon the state of his country and desires its weal, must echo that wish ; for let it not be supposed that I impute a deliberate design to any body of men to reproduce m this Colony a repetition of the social evils that exist at home. My object is to point out that the golden word " Progress " is leading us on to such a destiny. A short time ago, I read of a colliery-owner and ironmaster m England being the employer of no less than 20,000 persons. The writer spokr* of the fact as though it were one of which Eng'and had a right to be proud ; but to me it seems a dreadful thing that 20,000 human creatures should depend for their daily bread upon the will of one man. It is related by historians that Mohammed Alee, wishing to construct a canal between Alex andria and the river Nile, forced a multitude of Egyptians to labor at the work. Out of the whole number 12,000 died m the course of ten months from the severity of the task imposed upon them. This incident is often quoted as an example of ruth less tyranny, and of the evils of autocratic government ; but how much freer, so far as regards their compulsion to serve, are these 20,000 Englishmenthan the Egyptians who obeyed the commands of Mohammed ? True, the law permits them to leave their present master for another, but circumstances do not ; and the majority have really as little choice m the matter as they would if the slaves of a despot. They are indeed slaves of a despot — the worst of all despots, accumulated money, supported by a form of society artificially constructed for its own purposes. To revolt is impossible ; it would be the contest of a pigmy with a Cyclops. The old system, under which the industrial arts were followed by individuals on their own account, or by masters with half-a-dozen journeymen m their service, who looked forward, as a matter of course, to ultimately becoming masters themselves, has long since vanished, and m place thereof we have en the one hand Brasseys employing their 70,000 men at once on works m all parts of the globe, and on the other large bodies of artisans and labourers, who can aspire to nothing higher than occupying a well-paid position under the firms whom they serve, and from whoso control they can never hope to escape. They may, if fortu nate, reach a position where they will enjoy a certain amount of comfort, but it will be a comfort that is liable to be snatched from j them at any moment, and their minds will be dwarfed by a lack of independence, and the want of that spring to exertion which is given to a man when he knows that he will reap the whole fruit of his labour.

Vast masses of capital, when accumulated m the hands of one man, are terrible enough ; but still the human element' is left intact. The workman is not a mere cogwheel m a machine. He can m case of need appeal to the heart of his master ; and some of the largest employers of labour have gained a happy reputa tion for the wisdom and benevolence of their dealings with the multitude of people dependent upon them j so that, vicious as the principle may be at the core, there is always this redeeming feature about it. When, however,, capitalists combine together, and make financial associations for mercantile purposes, the rela tion between employer and employed is wholly changed. A com pany is simply a money-making machine, and its servants are portions of its framework, Human feelings are not taken into account, save m so far as it is necessary to do so m order to en- i sure the payment of handsome dividends. The company is formed for a specific purpose, viz., — to make money, — and its whole efforts are concentrated upon that object. Of course, m practice, the company is swayed in^its operations by human feelings, and its raison d' Hre does not supply the whole of its vital force, more especially when it is a small undertaking, com mercially speaking ; but such is its theory, and that theory is carried out very closely m large associations. The evil is a growing one. The power of associated is bo much greater than that of in dividual capital, that year by year the latter is less and less employed ; and it seemp only a question of time when all com mercial undertakings of any magnitude will be carried on by means of companies, before which the independence of all persons who rely upon their own labours for a livelihood will hopelessly vanish. But, however undesirable such associations may be for the good of the State, abstractedly speaking, it would be absurd to expect that capitalists should refrain from joining them. A rich spring of amorpatrice may exist m the hearts of Englishmen, and may pour forth a copious flood of patriotism when struck by the rod of peril, but m ordinary times we all run after our self-interest, withoat troubling ourselves much whether our actionß will injure or benefit the mass of our fellow-countrymen. The capitalist clears fifty per cent from a speculation, and rejoices thereat, without caring a rush for the circumstance that bis gain has been effected by grinding down the faces of the poor to famished want ; and the workman gets as high wages as he can (nnd frequently doeß aB little ac possible for them), nor recks how his demands will affect the fortunes of his master. Therefore, although large monetary combinations present an appalling danger to the social liberty of the bulk of the community, we are not to charge thoße who engage m them with being worse than other people. But as the surgeon must probe the wound with a firm and searching hand before he closes it, so we must strive to thoroughly comprehend what evils are produced by the association of capital m the usual manner, before we attempt to deviße a preventive of their occurrence m New Zealand. To appreciate the extent of these evils, let anyone review the effects which large monetary combinations have* produced m countries where they abound. Let him look at England, where the moneyed classes now rule, and until quite lately held the reins of Government, and see whether this virulent disease of modern civilisation has not corrupted the entire nation. Honour is now made subservient to pecuniary gain m her Govern ment. What could be more contemptible than the discussion os to whether the Colonies should not be separated from the Empire, because a direct money gain would thereby be effected ; or, than the settlement of the Alabama claims by England submitting to a retrospective law being enacted against herself, under which she would have to pay damages ? Next let him turn to the United States, where gigantic railroad combinations control not only the legislation of some States, but even the Courts of Justice, and shamelessly perpetrate the most disgraceful frauds. France, Belgium — all countries where the eternal fall of the steam hammer is heard, and capitalists join bands together, exhibit the same mournful spectacle — degraded man toiling for the priests of Mammon, and crying for help to a God who appears to have forsaken him. It is not alone mechanics and labourers who have been injuriously •fleeted by the undue accumulation of capital ; a vast number of head-workers likewise have been stripped of their independence ; but' it is the former who have most loudly rebelled - against it. The latter, better educated, bare a keener pence of their immediate)

self-interest, and the yoke presses less heavily upon them perhaps, althuugh it is none the less real. The former have endeavoured to meet combination by combination ; they have formed Trades' Unions, and co-operative associations ; they have devised socialist schemes ; and their laßt great effort was the " International ;" but none of their schemes has effected the desired object. Trades' ' Unions have frequently compelled a rise of wages at an earlier period than when it would otherwise have occurred, but it is questionable whether such triumphs have ever been of permanent benefit to the workmen ; and, on the other hand, it is obvious that TradeB 1 Unions have failed m their main object ; while the fact of their giving rise to such atrocities as have been committed at j Sheffield and elsewhere, proves that a vicious principle lies at their ; root.^ In no way do they increase the liberty of the workman, who by joining a Trades' Union, merely becomes subject to his fellow servants as well as to his employer. Henceforth he must sail between the Symplegades. The Trades' Unions of Europe brought forth the " International," a great project, but rotten and evil m its design, now happily vanishing from the face of the earth, leaving the blood and smoke of the Commune behind as its memorial. To an outsider it would seem that the members of an association which sought to improve the condition of tho workmen, by burning the Tuilleries and wantonly destroying life and property m the fashion of a horde of Goths and Huns, altogether failed to comprehend the problem whioh they had to solve. It is not by tho demolition of property, of whatever kind, nor by the slaughter of human beings, that modern society can be renovated, but by a re-arrangement of its elements, which shall enable all classes to live with a fair share of happiness, and the means ot cultivating the moral and intellectual faculties. Nevertheless, while we condemn the excesses of Trades' Unions and tho " International," let us also reflect how horrible must be that mass of human woo which finds a vent m these dread actions.

Surely we ought not to make this noble country the abode of a few millionaires and a miserable herd of paupers and semi-paupers. Those are not the principles which guided the heroes of antiquity when founding new States. Tall chimneys, clanging machinery, and thousands of bales of wool, did not then form the standard of glory. Fancy iEneas m a counting-house 1 Yet I wot his name, mythical or real, will live when that of the largest exporter of wool from New Zealand is forgotten. Ido not affect to despise large manufactories, or say that we can or ought to keep them out of the country. lam not so foolish. They form an essential ingredient of modern civilization ; they are bone of its bone, flesh of its flesh. But these largo trading schemes, while excellent servants, are very bad masters. We must not let ourselves become their serfs, as the people m England are doing. We must^ not let them be made the ladder by which all the ignoble spirits of the community can ascend to political power and grasp the sceptre. Yet an examination of the past history and present circumstances of .New Zealand will show that the fear of such a result coming to pass is no idle one. What is the test applied by our rulers when they seek to ascertain the pro gress of the Colony ? The amount of imports and exports simply. Happy, thrice happy people 1 You exported between five and six millions' worth of goods last year ; and imported a still larger amount. What more do you want ? Could there be a greater Colony, or grander statesmanship displayed m its governance ? But what index do such figures afford as to the happiness of the mass of its people, their advancement m tho scale of intelligence, the greatness of the Colony amongst thecountriesoftheearth? (Supposing New Zealand were blotted out of existence to-morrow, would the world be one whit the worse, or would it have done anything to make its name remembered among men ? That is the test. Of course commercial statistics have their value, but they must be taken quantum valeant, and not used, as is now done, as the sole gauge of the prosperity aid happiness of the Colony. A country may show an enormous import and export sheet, but the mass of its inhabitants may be plunged m misery and vice, and it may be drifting to destiuctkn. The trade of France was never so extensive aB it was just before the late w.ar with Germany,

The fact that a commercial standard is raised for our political guidance is, m my humble opinion, an omen of serious danger to the Colony. It will simply result m the whole political power of tho country falling into the hands of an unscrupulous and, for the most part half-educated body of men such as rule the United States and its destinies will be guided accordingly. This is a matter upon which the young men of the Colony should ponder, for it is they who will be the chief sufferers. The immoral cry of " posterity " which is habitually raised when it is desired to incur loans for which there is no reasonable excuse, actually means that [ the young men of New Zealand, when they attain middle age, will have to pay for the enjoyment of the present colonists. We aro now having a financial " spree;" we are selling our public lands as fast as we can ; borrowing all the money possible, charging interest upon loans ; making railways to improve our property, and such of us as are lucky enough to be m the way of the good things going i aro realising small fortunes. All this, however, will have to be paid for by our successors — that is, by the young men of New Zealand. The waste lands will then havo been sold ; a good many t miles of railway will be m existence, some paying their working expenses and others not ; and there will be an unpleasant debt and Btill more unpleasant taxes. Poverty, however, it is notorious, is an incentive to virtue, and we should probably be doing an excel lent action m depriving our colonist successors of the means of indulging m luxury. It is doubtful, however, whether we have a right to leave them a heritage of pauperism ; but it looks very much as though we intended to do so. 'ihe whole system of immigration pursued bytho Government tends m this direction. People are im ported into the country as though they were cattle. Let a member of Parliament ask a Minister of the Crown how many immigrants are likely to arrive at Wellington or Lyttelton during «, certain period, and he is told that so many have been " ordered " — just as a pig-dealer orders so many pigs from his factor. Ido not quarrel with the phraso, — none could be more appropriate to the pi'oceoding. Men, women, and children are collected m ■ Europe, from England, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, or anywhere else they can be got, and shipped off to ! the Colony, without the least regard to their rxce or religion, or to any other qualification for good colonists. As long as they can wield an axe, or use a spade, or milk a cow — that is sufficient ; they may differ from ourselves m language and customs ; they may have no part or lot m our past national glories, or care for our future fame ; they may settle m villages by themselves, where their own language is spoken, and where a British colonist is an alien — but what of that ? They can perform manual labour, and that is all which our rulers now ask. The grand and only aim is to settle the country, that is to stock it with people. But when it is stocked — when the solemn foi-ests have vanished, and solitude is unknown m the land/ — what then 1 That is a question which seems never to trouble our present rulers, who look upon the country as ab g shop, and conduct its affairs as though it were one. Make a Jot of railways — bring a lot o£ people into the i

country — the more railways that are made, the more people im- • ported, the greater the Minister. But what policy — what statesmanship is there m this? Neither the one nor the other. We are wandering through Chaos and may reach either Heaven * or Hell. • When millions of borrowed money are m course o£ expenditure, '. and a glow of prosperity has thus been created, it is difficult to ; persuade people that the country is not being wisely governed, The cry of " prophets of evil " is so easily raised ; and when the ' merchant finds his business increasing aad the artisan and : labourer can readily obtain employment at good wages, no ex hortation sounds as sweiet as quidquid futurum cras,fuge qwerere, v i It may be proved to demonstration that the short period of rioft will be followed by a general depression of trade and industry of » all kinds, accompanied by heavy taxes — it may be evident that a * reckless finance m the Government is demoralizing the community, v and causing it to regard the" acquisition of wealth as the be-all •' and end-all of ita existence — but every man hugs the hope thafV by some lucky chance, he will share the gain and escape the loss. 1 ' It is not, however, my purpose to dilate upon the finance of the • Colony ; I wish to touch a deeper spring of policy, «nd to urge ' the reader to reflect whither New Zealand is tending as ! ite ( ultimate destination, The laboring population, for instance, is-a'i* present tolerably well off; but how long will it continue to be bo' ? '■•'■ Is its condition improving, or is it deteriorating! Has it been .' hitherto m a comfortable condition because of the favourable! ' circumstances presented by an entirely new Colony, and which will disappear as the ,Colony grows older, or because of the wise policy upon which the Colony was founded? Not the latter certainly ; for, although the various settlements of New Zealand owed their origin to different schemes, the permanent happinetfl • of the labourer was never considered. Mr Gibbon WakefieW, who perhaps, m early days, did more to influence the system of colonization m New Zealand than any other man, disregarded th« mechanic or laborer altogether m his calculations. His idea was • to establish m Australia and New Zealand a counterpart of home society, where the middle classes should have fuller scope for their exertions than they had m Great Britain; and the whole object of his land laws was to keep the labouring class from becoming independent landowners as long as possible. He possessed too much foresight to imagine that he could reduce them to the state of dependence which they occupy at home ; but he was dtter mined to bring them as nigh to it as he could. Let us examine Melbourne and Sydney and see what is going on there. Many of my readers here visited both cities \ Melbourne at any rate is well-known. Does it not possess filthy back streets and vice, and misery, and people desirous to obtain employment, and starving for want of it, just the same as some huge city of England? The Melbourne journals publish graphic sketches en* tit'ed " Night fcenes m Melbourne," "The Shadows of Mel* bourne Life," and so forth, and the police reports bristle with the same horrors, though to a smaller extent, as do the police report* of London, or Liverpool, or Manchester, or Glasgow. It is the old/> old civilization, not having yet quite crushed the virgin glories of the land, but half-revealing its hideous face, and soon to disclose its whole features and body. Great manufactories are all that is needed to complete its triumph, and the Protectionists are working hard to effect their establishment. Are not the great cities of the United States simply following m the track of the chief marts of commerce m the Old World ? In New York are " there not squalid lanes where three or four families exist huddled together m one room, clothed with wretchedness, and not knowing whether the dawn will usher m a day that shall bring them a miserable pittance of food or a period of absolute famine ? Is tht lingering death from hunger, or the suicide's grave, so uncommon there as to excite attention 7 Alas, it is not. Yet Melbourne and New York are alike prosperous. Piles of riches are made there, just as m London. Palaces arise, and, at they ascend, the hut of the labourer gets smaller, and filthier, and less fit for human habitation. Under the system of Manufac turing Civilization, day by day the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Industry becomes of less and less avail to preserve the workman from sinking into the lowest deep of poverty ; moral feeling and chivalrous thought are extinguished ; and the short hours of the labourer's life are consumed m a mortal struggle for bread. Th c system m New Zealand has not yet fuH sdope for development, because it is checked by the natural circumstances of the country ; but still it is here — it furnishes the principle of our government, and will, m time, produce its inevitable results. In Melbourne and New York these results are making themselves plainly visible. What we must do, and at once, is to erect a barrier which shall preserve the lower class from, at any rate, de teriorating m happiness, while the path will bo left olear for future improvement ; for I cannot admit that we must regard the working-class of New Zealand as having attained the highest pitch of happiness. Ru skin says "We live to contemplate, en joy, act, adore," and I agree with him to a great extent ; but it m obviously impossible to prevent the life of a man who has to gain the means of subsistence by manual labour from being otherwise than a period of painful restrictions and hard cares. Yet we can do much to ameliorate his condition by rendering him as indepen dent as possible, so that his fate shall not be involved m that of any individual, whose actions he cannot control, as is the case with the bulk of working-men at home, And such independence will not, as many fear, bring about a stoppage of the necessary works of life, or place the employer at the mercy of the employed. Improved circumstances will bring a higher morality m their train, which will lead the labourer to give an honest amount of toil for the wage he receives — his intelligence will expand, and he will act m this respect m the same manner as is now generally done by persons who are engaged m occupations requiring mental skill for their discharge. Not, however, that the working-class are the only sufferers, al though they are the most numerous. There are classes of people occupying a social station just above them, upon whom the yoke rests quite as heavily — perhaps more so from their superior mental cultivation — whose independence is quite as much restricted, and who live m just as much danger of falling into utter poverty from the present social economy of Great Britain. The evil m fact is admitted, and engages the attention of statesmen and writers. Tho whole community suffers from it, and all classes are interested m its removal. Equally m New Zealand is every section of society concerned m averting the mischief from the Colony.

lAM not theorizing but writing hard, practical politics, A man •who brings forward a scheme for the construction of * few roajfo or railways, or proposes a new law upon some subject wnich strikes bis fancy, prides himself (and others accept him at hie owa VAluation