526 Transactions.—Miscellaneous. 
for State action is to declare in what manner the land shall pass at death, 
for herein the paramount and sole duties of Government step in,—the order 
and protection of life and property. We do not trust the State with a penny 
of money, as our ancestors, since the Rebellion, found it absolutely neces- 
sary to pass the estimates yearly. By placing this question apart from 
Government interference, we do not interfere with private right. ‘ Although 
the right of bequest forms part of the idea of private property, the right 
of inheritance, as distinguished from bequest does not.” Primogeniture 
gave the land to the eldest son. I simply wish to give it to all the sons. 
In further explanation of the third principle, or maxim, ** that we cannot 
trust the people,” it is only necessary to say that this principle varies in 
degree. The Roman Senate found that those who held the leaseholds would 
not give them up, and in our own case here, in New Zealand, we shall find 
that, being a hilly country, the people will become independent and cling to 
their lands in spite of any laws the Government may pass to the contrary. 
Such are the Swiss and the “statesmen” of Cumberland and Westmoreland. 
It will, therefore, be found highly injudicious to attempt to withhold the 
free individual title from the people of this Colony; although, at present, 
there is little necessity for any interference at all with the land question. 
The people of New Zealand, too, must become a maritime nation, and mari- 
time nations have a strange habit of growing very restive under any strict 
measure of Government control. The sale of the Crown lands then by way 
of lease and deferred payment, in order to encourage settlement, is, there- 
fore good, and amply sufficient for our present wants. But, if we expect 
more than that, we shall find that we cannot trust the people. They will 
not peaceably resign their leaseholds. And should the Government attempt 
to use force, the Government would find itself defeated. The best way to 
treat the people of this colony appears to me to be to give them their lands 
under the free individual title, and if alteration is required, declare the 
custom of England previous to the Norman Conquest. The law of gavel- 
kind is an inexorable law, by which we may trust the people, and yet divide 
the area of the lands exactly in accordance with the population. We 
recognize the justice of the principle every day, for when a person dies intes- 
tate we divide his property among his children. 
As to the fourth principle ** that the area of a state should be divided 
in accordance with the density of the population ;” there are one or two 
exceptions to this. 1. Commerce and manufactures will support a town 
population; and, 2. A certain number of people can be supported by usury 
or the profit of money-lending. Thus, Manchester, Birmingham, and Shef- 
field support a fairly large population, and draw their food supplies from 
abroad. And the profit derived by England from the mere loan of money 
