AUSTRALIAN NEWS By Electric Telegraph.— Copyright. (PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

Mit Dutiiib thon wonb on to show that whatever prosporl'y bho colony had on joyed hud boon owing to i.ho full in ihe rato of intorogfc, and horo wo ropoab thab Mi 1 Duthie never aborted, aa was bolo graphed over tho colony, that the Govern mon had harassed privato capital by rcdaoing the rate of interosb. They had, In faob, rotardod its reduction by a maau of fantostio logialafion, designer] possibly to do good, bat that instead did ft lot of harm, In dealing with tho question of land SHfctlomont-, Mr Dci'lito would, no doub'-, hnvo before his mental vision tho absolute failure of Mr M'Kdime's efforts. in tho North Inland, whero sobtlors wore > oxpootod to nuocood on 160 acres of booh land, which, after boinpr cleared* was sup posed to bo able to maintain the settlor by the grazing of sheep and c tttlo. Ho stitblor could make a living onsuoh a smalt area, and tho records showed th*to bhoBo who had triod it wore leaving tho land muoh faster bhmi those who nad nob were going on, "Why thon," naked Mr Duthio, "should they worship the man «8 a foiieh who had made ouch a gigantic ttiiluro as tho Minister for Linda had done ? They should rabhor think of bho ruin of those who had gone upon tho laud and losb their money there," These aro wise words. Further, while tho valao of all tho products from the land had decreased tho Government had raiao3 the valuo of land tor taxation purposes, Inoroaeing the burdens of thoso ill ablo to boar them. Aa a matter of comparison, Mr Dutliio fj'ud bho area of land settled in the throe years of tho Atkinson Govorn menb was 1,421,624 ;>oroo, and in tho last fchroo years of tho Seddon Gnvornmont 1,054,934 acres ; bub as 302,000 aorea had boon thrown back on fchn hands of the Sad don Administration ib lofo them with only 751,937 nores as actually settled, a little moro than half the area aobbled by thoic prcdeouHsors ; and yet tho multitude desires to canonise thab ombodimonb of bungling, tho Minister lor Lands. 