HON. MR MILIAR AND THE FREEHOLD.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVI, Issue 52, 10 December 1909, Page 5

HON. MR MILIAR AND THE FREEHOLD.

L.I.P. A COSTLY BUSINESS. •1,-J 17 SETTLERS COST £3,55)9,000. | Speaking on tlio Land Question in I the House on Tuesday evening. the I j[on J V. Millar said he was atraul I il was not a desire on tho Dart of some members to retain t , I Leasehold so much as a desire to | throw the country into a state o ,haos ia re-aid t<» tins question. All through this legislation they had no I departed from this principle, but I aU i stuck' to it. They had introduced a | m> w principle, because no country I could go ou purchasing estates as ' Zealand had been doing. Would hon. members say that the country could Stand it? Every property purchased l.v the Crown enhanced the, value of' the land that renamed, lie admitted that it was necessary to break up these big properties, hut not that the State should keep on jcdi after year purchasing- them. 1 he sum of £5.5'.W,000 hud already been boirowed for the purpose, and the result had been to place 4,417 people on the land acquired. The Crown tenants numbered about 27,000. It appealed to him a desire on the part of &omo lion, members to have all Crown tenants on the lands of the county. What would be the result Wwt was the result now ? \\hen there was a serious snowstorm the Government were looked to for help. Men there was a 'Hood, or when any other hardsnip was suffered by the Crown tenants, it was the Government again. 'The same alter bush hres. _ l.ho Crown was appealed to every time for a rebate of rent. They were so often approached that it made him hesitate to extend the number of Crown tenants too far ; and when the whole country was being run for the sake ot some *27,000 or 25,000 Crown tenant it was time to civ a hall, because there were other sections of the com-' ■ munit.v who desired and who deserve, attention, and whose interests must bo looked to. Under the present system, if. it went on, the Crown tenants would become a bigger dominant power than they were to-day. I ho country was year spending many thousands of pounds, all for ; the sake of 4,417 men, and the sooner the. people knew tile position the better. If every one of those settlers got their properties and paid for thenj there would bo only 4,417 settlers as a result of all the expenditure-the country had made, and he was not prepared* tf) go on asking the country to I borrow money every year in order to I pay £1,260 a head to put settlers on i the land. Every man the Crown put on the land, as soon as he found him- 1 self on his feet, clamored for the Freehold, and, hon. members representing those settlers were with them in thoir ( dwanis Only wui<j of oity re*

presentatives were opposing the demands. If lion, members wanted to go to the country, and as a result thci Freehold was given to the people until the last acre of it was gone, 'then no one need tell him afterwards that the present Government had not tried to retain a sudicient area o£ land for Leasehold purposes, so that the poor man would have the opportunity of securing a piece of it and making a home for himseif and becoming a useful settler. The Government recognised tlie pressure of public, opinion in this matter, and they believed it was only a matter of time before the Freehold would be given.