Ground Rent Produced by the People.

He had said just before that the ground rent was produced by all the people. He had said he would explain how that was but he thought it would be insulting the intelligence of his hearers to do it. It was quite evident all had helped to do it. The previous night he had said lie was quite satisfied there was no owner in Queen-street who would dare say that he had by his [unclear: exertions] in any shape brought up the value of the ground rent to what it stood to-day. No man could be so absurd. If the whole [unclear: population] of Auckland should decide next week page 9 to emigrate to the banks of the Tamaki, what would the value of Auckland? Therefore it was quite clear that the man who kept a [unclear: hop] there had not added all the value to which [unclear: the] site had now attained. He had "suggested to them what would come of it if he [unclear: asked] all in the room to divide their earn-[unclear: gs] with those on the platform. Such [unclear: a] thing would be pooh-poohed and termed [unclear: ridiculous]. Yet that was what they had [unclear: been] doing with the land-owners. They [unclear: had] been trying to obtain harmony while allowing a few people only to take a form [unclear: of] wealth which was produced by the whole number. How could that sort of thing [unclear: produce] harmony? Therefore all the schemes which he had mentioned, and which did not [unclear: touch] the tap-root of the question, were [unclear: tterly] powerless. Half-measures were [unclear: less] They must abolish the unfair [unclear: priniple] and adopt a fair one. Then they could expect to get something like harmony, ([unclear: Applause].) What he asked, to continue the [unclear: imile], was the tap-root of this evil? It was [unclear: to] continue this private monopoly of ground [unclear: rent].