LAND SETTLEMENT FINANCE BILL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 686, 10 December 1909, Page 5

LAND SETTLEMENT FINANCE BILL.

DEBATE- ON SECOND READING ■' seoond.Teading.'ofrtliia/8111, - ." said, it was one fa liills .witch would come • :v..¥pwnv for, .conaiuoration-' 'this.- year, vi. Ifur-'. more : ,, .i*WfioPtont--taaiL'»the. , quqsfaon-of' , 'tenuro was*tlie .question.of .sottjenfeat;f-Thff.-future of,"Now. Zealand, lay ln.stqpping.fchodiiift-of peoploito the . : -ownfl, and. turning; ;ihera ; ?back a&d' settling thepi, on-, the .Country; lauds-•: In Denmark/ the w .'population: was:, now greater ' 111 the : . cities .oving: to tho lnfcro* . ; , .of> ; vsottlemont Ihe • ■•'• ®jrc^ A ;P.*v& '-.nvcasure-jliko '.tho one-.ln: question ; depend/ so rauch:-.on v as oil JP? > which'; was - 'administered: c go tfd / -/the ~.. meaaute,; which; was,, he'stated,: ono of- thefav* . /. ourife children-of>£he"Prime" Minister: vltrwns ! anticipated { t{zit;>jußti as good'-results :bo ,/ >btainpa- % nndor.. -had accruodv L under, Settlement-.Act ; * vrWhen •an • v egfate.acquired, ->-aJ dtfljcult <matter. • to7T31 ue ■the-i.differcnt^allpkmonts.T -'but "it> w&g ■ , je*p«Ud. of the* operations- that .»/ T^Jd./ bp .fotmedt'.wQiild-conw•very-jioariUoU'ho ."»'•■•. fflflrfc tpftheir mutual" satisfaction.'.'•Urider: the, .« rfall'very, lightly on ■» ''.varioiis".associati6ns- - u Tho Hon W W M'CARDI.E (Auckland) de,w^red!that6o far,:back')as'lß75 i ho had advocated antieipjited thai large nanipersrAvoul(L;apply',.to;itake.'Up lantV-nrnjer- the Ac.t. would>;nhdoubt&dly'.- *chievo the' suc- ■ v,; ! V-i'-.-V 'Mr. Riga 'Critfcisas the Bill ' _ iTha : too. meisuro was '-capable 'of -producing :very ■ imuch; JeiTis- ■'■ IMft had .alreiidy .sotaethmg if thejr own, but ignoiyd the»Jr£ill£s9 abd !.' ■ i i °F ;5° considered that D?et land kj»islflpoii waj tjiat ptfoplo conltl 'ljot do am good on theliad unjoin t]vey had capital Uildtr tho Bill t|iate was,no p/cfenpe ig help i . ■ •; uufee j.»ho,« wore; most! 1 in* need ; of/■ insistence—

{hoio who had onlj irregular employment He would have preferred to llavo seen the energetic administration of an improved .homestead sjstem of land settlement Tho 3ill proposed to gifo State nul to those ouls which former Liberal Administrations had attempted to suppress i r Tho Bill followed that class ot State Social ism which would not find favour with a majority of people Oiie of its effects would bo to fatten tho money lenders, and in that connection 'he might sav that ho believed tho time -aas coming when private money-lfendiftrf wonld bp forbidden in every civilised country Another bad feature of the Bill would bo that it would enoiurnge specnhtion in land, which would retard closer settlement' and increase \ iliies If there was any loss undor tho scheme the Government had to bear it, but if there was ■* profit none of it went to the Stat* Itjfecmcd to him that the dnv nas uot far distant i\hen the Government would find itself in finanml difficulties as a result of its pro posals Tho Council wauld be doing the Gov crnment a good iturn jf it reected i the Bfil which was ill conceived, ill digested, and ill considered . A Friendly Critic of the Bill TJio Hon J (Canterbury) said his mttcism would not be hostile,to the Bill The L f gr Settlemont Ac* contained within itself the elements of its own defeat Although he believed in thp pnnunal of thp mca«nro it wi« ako hi-. bMirf tin the maclunerv would Mndor it inoperative especiallj m regard to Hrge estates The difficulty in forming a«so ciahons would wreck tho ineasnw \nother wyaknes in the Bill was that it did not enn tain division to prevent aggregation Ho would susgest that the m-ichinerr of the Bill be redrafted I* was his omnion that the government should deal direct Wh the landowner, and rtlow tho land tmrds to dmde the lend, tifter which , the successful appli cants would take over .their respective frrnneial liabilities In addition to this* Bill tho Government =honld hold out inducements to hrgo | owners to enspose of their lands He did not see wh\ in a case whore a large owner let his land out under lease the graduated tax should not then be passed on to tho mumie occu piers Tt was his hope that the Bill with such amendments as ho had outlined would reach the Statute Boob this session. ""

Opponent'of the Bill. The Hon j't PAUL (Otago) was of opinion that the. land legislation put on tho' Statute Book in 1807 was very creditable No agitation had been so successful in this qountry as tho recent agitation by a. reactionary politi cal p-uty for the freehold for the Crown tenants The new land policy of the Government was , in opposition to the traditional pohpj of the Liberal partv From his point of view the Government had mistaken noise for strenrfh Thero could be no good settle ment v/ithont provision for a' good tenure He went on to say that the interests of the landless had to be seriously considered in con npction with tho romaimrjg Crown lands The Liberal garty should at* once dense a 6ystem whereby sppcnhtion in Jand wonld be pre vented Although he was a leaseholder ho thought it should provide a new freehold title, tho chrdiml feature of which 'wonjd be occupy ing ownership m the history of the Land for Settlement the State should havp commenced to take largo Estates at the owner's ( for faxing pnrposps pins 1,0, per cent. The proposed measure was, in his opinion, against the interests of the conn to _ . ' '

'The Hon J (Auckland) asserted tyiat thj\ land tenure was the weal or woe 6f arty country He. knew of no (entire that was equ-il tq the leasehold, under which cich in dividual paid Ho th,e rest of the community for ffoo monopoly whioh he need He did not approve of 'he. of the freehold nnder the Bill bu,t he' wa,s prepared tp support the Bill, u it would, lead to fttHhor settlement T> iHons T Marshall (Wesflandj, Bal doy '(Otago) Beehan "(Auckland) and Barr (Cdnterbnry) also bneflv discussed (;h« Bill ' ' VINDIAY^pEFENDS'LAND 1 ' i Replying to crVticisins on the The GENERAL remarked that a good deal ihad beert «ald on the question of tenure "but he would like ro point ,out that the Bill didinot f dflal CWwn 'lands, but wjthVpnvately-owned- lands The object of the "Bill was m brief to large freeholds into small freeholds) which was surely a , very desnable object He would like to quote from jf 1 Hqbson, fho eminent Home wfrter who stated that neither leasehold nor freehold was tn» jr«, appointed tenure by Heaven— I that the question of tenure should depend on . the circnmstanoest, the time, the place, and the 1 country There were (Dγ Tindlay continued) lands so remote from civilisation—whose cul hvitioiv would 60 dishearten the stoutest heart -that in those cises even if the State gavo the occupier freehold all it would bring to them would not Dβ too much (Heir hear*) Of courts tb.o position ivas von difteront (n the cose of land for settlement linds A member Will the lands dealt with undor this Bill be situated onh in , tho biekblocks? Df Tmtllay I am dealing with principle jnst now I Resuming, Dγ I'indlaj said that he wished to emphasise tho point that when the S'-ite alienated piece of land under a Crown lease to dav it alienated it for over His object in referring to thq subject was that there seemed to be, an erroneous lmprcsbion prevalent that after leasing its laud tha Crown could hare it at a Jeter date for the pnrpose of handing it over to, other tenanis when the population had become greater As a roatt»r of fact tho State ahemted Jand as completely , 'under tha leasehold sjcfem as it did under the freehold system Although , it 'was called a renewable lease it was really a lease- in perpetuity Sir Paul Tho landless must get the commiiDitr v-ilne i Dγ Futdlay Yon mean the State, but that is liable to verv henou* criticism (

When the State Leases Larid Continuing, Dr Findlay siid that, ho'again wanted to the point; that'iyhen the State lea c ea land under a renewable sjstem it really leased it for <s>er All the had a right to do was to prevent aggregation, ajitf to get the unearned increment, if there be any' He wanted to point out tttat there v[as a drawback to that svstem froni the pornt of view of the State, which did not exist where tuece was freeholi subject to a recurring charge v which tho Go\ernment was going to insist , on jn connection with its new proposals W,here\ er the new valuations at the end of, a terju wers verv low t\o tenant would accept bift wherever they were high the tenant would Tojcct and call on the Mate to become a Crown debtor to the tenant in respect of hie improvement Udder that system alto if there was a decline in the value of tho pro perty tb« tenant would pay a lower ront K member lhat is the right principle Dγ Tmdlaj The leasehold is not all gold from thd point of view of the State and tho freehold i& not all dross from the point of vier of tho State o long as the State secured a wasonable proportion of the unearned in cr,em«nt r What was Expected of the Bill '

■■■■■?fß'';.^e\V^tfiM,;orSufther : :remaris;Vj)t>''iFii(i--:lajr./said; thati ; heorcp ijld; ha,ve ;>tHe jjointe Raised before •the.:GoT(>riiaieiit. : Hut .were'"h'bt'toQ'iate: sbme';of^iem 'rMiglit :-tie .scared:!tEe Tbelief-ib'f Hr/H'Gowan tbjat. iif! pn'e''man; could "Bβ;got;td .lead the ; others'• as;'ji'e.iknewj ; :iti^ tempt of,'^heVKindOba'd'b^rivm^de , i'n ; '.the''Brf-' -tish-'Ptfipite;. , Afi'/theh/.wasi-no w.hiphvtoj'medel;.the ■BilljCthere':werei ■'deubtiess im;perfecUb , n'ey.in ; cit;; bf,:tfyii)(j;.to-.ni'afaUt-a'-BUccc|g tliat.tie Aest results*;. weuJd*bp' .obtainable -linds'r!(the"■BilJV Everi.if'the 1 rosulti'ifere:only-itp. settleifiye m'eii on-'the^lantl^Kerevoae , man •was-.'now ; settled It ;,was;> believed,.: that ,witiiiir.;a?;few/ l Tears. 20,000people'^'pmdltie, : Settled '.'on 'the' Jinir by.'meane of; theißiir.- J )';iu"c- V: ?;' i, '%',,{&■■■ .ried.'by;:i6 l ,to;3,'ithe:;''Noes','.'Being l ttie'JHoh'fc Biirri ; 'Eaul;;:and}{Kigß.i: ;-: : ;V\'. ..':j'i. ':■■■ ''•'' If !•# $&s?■ ■ '-.Tjje 'iNaval£l)efc>ii«o ;i •Bi.if-V.w.as '.received'/ from : i^'''^^^^d:''e''fi^ ; -ti3ne, ! "a'iid'-%e ;: 's^obnd ; Nadjng} V,' ;^; -J. --jf.j-; -y ( j It waa decided with reference to Iho airfindmeatx} made in this Bill by the Council and ii&grefcd with by the Houße, that the Hpns Dr v Pindlay, Dγ Collins and W'^cehan 1 ?nonid roprosent the Council at a conference tor bo held with managers representing tho Houso fo-d-iy It this etagc 11 p-m", tile Council adjourned v I. t I ' ' \TSACHERS' PASSES *In reply to petitions of over 500 school teachoti that flee posses should 6o allowed thorn to attend classes, tho Lducation Com niitteo roportcd ypsterday as followp — 'Havine further cpteidored these petition'? and ovidcnlS t ij n u /ommittce is of opinion that thoj 'hould bff tQfcned to the favourable wnsideru tibn of fho Government/hrtbjfM.l to thd iinfto«,i tion of such «afeSaar.d t abuse as nmy be considered necessary" i