FRAMING A POLICY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 471, 1 April 1909, Page 8

FRAMING A POLICY.

VICTORIAN LANDS MINISTER. COMES TO STUDY OUR LAND LAWS. , Tho Hon. H. M'Kenzie, Minister for i Lands in Victoria, arrived from Sydney yes- < torday accompanied by Mr. H. 0. Allan, an ] officer of tho Lands Department, who is ; acting as his secretary. Scon by a Dominion reporter yesterday, Mr. M'Kenzie explained that tho object of bis visit to New Zealand ■ is to investigate our land laws and their administration, and other features of New ! Zealand legislation. The Murray Govern- ! ment, which assumed office on tho fall of tho , Bent Government a couple of months ago, : intends to meet Parliament next July with a spirited and progressive land policy. A 1 graduated land tax, and an amended closer settlement system are considered to bo urgently needed, and tho Government recognises that changes in these directions are desired by tho majority of tho people. Tho ■ now land policy will depend very much on what Mr. .M'Kenzie sees in New Zealand, and what conclusions he draws therefrom. He will also inquire into our system of advances to settlers, and advances to workers, with a view to the adoption of something on similar lines in his own State. A Full Programme. Tho Labour Department, too, will occupy a share •of his attention. At present, the operations of the Victorian Labour Bureau are almost entirely confined to Melbourne, and though_ it is admittedly most needed in the capital, where unemployment is chrpnic, there is a suggestion that it might with advantage have branches in tho country towns. New Zealand's practice and experience in this matter will therefore be inquired into. A Stato coal mine will probably be opened by tho Victorian Government at . 1 owlett River, in Gippsland, where an eightfoot seam of remarkably good coal has been discovered by a Government prospecting party. Mr. M'Kenzie, whilo in Wellington, , will seek from tho Mines Department in- , formation as to tho capital required for such ! an undertaking, and tho best machinery to" ; use. Mr. M'Kenzie's colleague, tho Minister ( for- Agriculture, has asked him to visit tho . iiincoln College, and he has set himself . apart from his official mission, the task of obtaining information about tho Public Trust Office. Mr. M Kenzie has long been convinced of the extreme usefulness of such an , "jScal as tho Public Trustee, and he con- ; • e " that in this respect, is > in advance of Victoria. ■ • "''I 1 Probably keep him busy i "J Wellington for the next two or three days, t His itinerary after that will depeiid largely . upon the advice of tho Prime Minister and : Departmental heads, but he . intends to seo ; a s much as possible of both islands, and 1 visit some of the settlements on tho land. - tie proposes to spend altogether about a • i? Tii In 10 Dominion, and to leave from 1 the Bluff. 3 Victorian Land Laws. a 111 further conversation, Mr. M'Kenzie outs ~ . principal features of tho land laws, ■ S 1 ) , , ° e bis special task to reform, i He stated that the present land tax brought 9 in about £90,000 a year. It might almost 0 be called a sheep tax, as it varied according 1 to the grazing capacity of the land, and had ; no relation to its value. There were esemp- , tions up to £2500 in value, and up to 640 I a °res m extent. Tho situation of the land was not taken into account, and, therefore a property of just under 640 acres near Melbourne might be free of taxation, while another, in a comparatively remote locality o ?, nd ,°. n n y a fcn ' acros larger, might pay on Y the highest scale, though its value would be ® *only a fraction of that of tho former estate 3 This tax was the work of the late Sir Graham Berry, and was designed to get at tho squate tors. It was now generally agreed to be an--0 omalous and out of date, e Closer Settlement. In regard to tho Victorian system of resumption of land for closer settlement, Mr. M'Kenzie said there were a great many large estates, and on tho other hand there wero a |. good many peoplo wanting land. Ho was conr vinced that until some broad system of land 0 resumption was put into effect, there would s bo some difficulty in carrying out closer settle- |- ment to advantage. The present law was II originally based on that of New Zealand, but there wero differences, and the subsequent advances made- in this country had not, been followed.' Before tho compulsory clauses could be brought into )- operation in any specific case, tho approval 1 of. both Houses of Parliament must be obi- tained, and _ after that tho Compensation ' Court, with judge and assessors, • had to fix s the price. Under this slow'and oumbersomo method only one estate had over been acJ quired. so The Rise In Values. |r About 40 estates had been bought by volrnitary arrangement for about a million and a ' half sterling, but it was found that when tho s> Government entered the market prices went ie up. Prosperous seasons had also been a ig factor of tho enhanced prices, and altogether the result was that the Government could not buy land at a figure which would enable them to carry out closer settlement oh sound ls -linos. "Somo of our politicians," observed 0 _ Mr. M'Kenzie, "hold that the only way to BS keep down land values and get the lahd o- closely settled is to apply a stiff graduated ig land tax. I don't say that. I have come 2) hero to investigate." r. Mr. M'Kenzie also started that there is a °> good demand for small farms in Victoria. -There were 1200 applications for 94 blocks that were recently thrown open in the m Mallee. Not much had been done to eu--2- courage immigration, but assisted passages >ii wore granted to applicants approved by tho to Agent-General. £ The Freehold. Closer settlement lands in Victoria eventually become freehold, but residence conditions are firmly insisted on, not only in tho case of the first holder, but also in tho cases V of subsequent transferees, who must be er qualified in every way liko tho origial selector. Mr. M'Kenzie considers this tho best ~} possiblo safeguard against reaggregation. e- This applies only to lands resumed by tho in Stato for closer settlement. • A. The reporter mentioned tho cablegram of >n yesterday, showing that tho Federal Govern- ?• ment contemplated imposing a land tax if the State Governments did not do so. Mr. n M'Kenzie said Victoria would not wait for the Commonwealth to move, but would prou_ ceed to formulate its policy independently.