Evening Post. SATURDAY. JUNE 1, 1907. THE LIMITATION OF FREEHOLD.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 129, 1 June 1907, Page 4

Evening Post. SATURDAY. JUNE 1, 1907. THE LIMITATION OF FREEHOLD.

The v, ide diuerenco of opinion between • tho i-ank and file of the Farmers' Union and its cr.ccutivß on a vita) pait of the Government's Land Bill goes, fir towards neutralising the unpleasant imprescioa crc.ile.l by the New l'lymcuth election. ■ Thit tiie Government had to take the field at N;v/ Plymouth .vithout a candidate to lcpresent their vi:w^ on tho lnnd ' question Snnrkod tho moct s,c?iou3 s.ct-br.ck - that they had yet rcc.ived on nn iosu? ' A.'hi'.h they have agracd to treat as paramount. But within a fortnight alter a content which was a victory for the oppor.cnto of reform as soon cs the nominations had closed, a division in their camp hus entirely changotl the fuco of aii:>irs. Iho Former:.' Union, which lias ' hithcito been i2prc£cr.t;d as a solid ; phalanx against the Laud Bill, is proved to bo nothing of the kind. On a diws- | tic provision ol tho Bill which is far mote open to rccsonablc doubt thru that which raises the issuo of public endowincnt3 versu3 private freehold, Iho Wellington breirjlies of the org.inia.itioa have broken light away from the recommendations of its olKciul leaders, r,nd by a majority of mors thr.n four to one has at the tanis time thrown discredit on tho wholesilc anathemas of which those lead, ers have inado tho Bill a target during tho ICOBES. Tho trouble began with a motion on ths approved official lines which was moved at the recent conference on behalf of tho Palmerston North branch of the union : — "That tho conference urge on tjio executive to maintain etpady pressuro against tho proposed Land Bill, especially as to fixing hard and fast limits ou the farming industry, whilst no euch limits aio imposed on other industiie3, and putting obetaclej in the way of enterprising farmers obtaining capital to assist thoir work." Wo have pointed out on more than ono ocenrien that there ai;o dangers in limitation, but we should not care to associate oureelvcs with the primaeval and contradictory arguments of the mover of this resolution. 110 contended "that the economic laws would do all that was required. A spirit of love of home t-. ho aid be incukuted, and a man !.hould not be tempted to djspoto of his holding becnuse hs could make a few miserable shillings by tho deal." To eulogise tho operation of economic laws, and at the sime time to condemn (hat appetito for "miserublo shillings " by which alone they can operate — to urge "tho love of homo" as a ground for encouraging t'le greed for an indefinite number of acres, which, after a certain ppint, lenders other people homeless in n proportion varying dncctly with tho extent of the indulgence— llieac aro feats of logic which it is quite impossible for us to answer more effectively than they answer themselves. To Mr. Moore, of Makuri, and Mr. Crabbe, of Kimboltoil, the thanks of the colony are dus for giving the argument a practical turn which ii> more in keeping with tho modem spirit, and for setting up the standard of tho common good a& that by which this question, liko all others, should bo moasirrod in an enlightoned democracy. "If," said Mr. Moore, | "a. man owning lnnd had already more than ho could properly deal with, and that land was not being worked to ito fullest capacity, then tho whole colony was being impoverished." This touches tho root of tho matter. We have previously expressed our doubts as to whether tho lower of tho two limitations ' proposed by the Government might not discourage the highest class of farming on tho graud scale which has done so : much for tho United States ; but our doubts imply an acceptuncc- of tho very ' test which ia applied by Mr. Moore. In ' a similar vein Mr. Crabbe insisted "that the rights of tho individual ohoulel bo ; subordinated to those of tho community" : — a broad and almost axiomatic canon, which neverthelepo hns almost the air of i a paradox to landlords of the old school. : He objected rery strongly to tho attitude taken up 'by tho oxecutivo as not tiuly representative of tho members of tho union. "There was also a feeling in hi? district that tho opposition to this- puiticular fcaturo of the Bill wa3 being run in tho interests of tho big landowners. They said : 'You can't make us believe that it is not tho big landowners who are fighting this.' If tho union took a deli- ' nit-3 ctaud en tliu question, though it mig'.-t bo against tho large landowners who wtro members, the ultimate jesult ; would be to strengthen the union in every way. Tho union should not allow it to go foith that it was going bald-iic.\d:d against tho Land Bill. If there were features of the Bill which comnwnded themselves to memb?rs tho union should candidly say

Mr. Crabbe proceeded to give some exceedingly interesting instances of tho mannor In whkh tho process of aggregation was advancing in his district. Old sctlleis in Kimbolton could say that there were forty less fanners there now than there were some ycais ago, and ho himself knew of a case in YVaituna where "thirteen families had been squeezed out to make loom for cne man." Evidence of this kind outweighs a vast amount of theory, and tho details if properly worked up might arouse the slumbering public conscience to the reality of tho dangers of land monopoly under existing conditions. The Wellington Pro\incial Conference of tho Faimers' Union has certainly givon an excellent lead, for by 26 votes to. 6 it accepted Mr. Crabbcjs r.'mcndment to tho criginal motion in tho following ternis : — "That this conference while- considering tho Government land proposals caide and unworkable, is not opposed to tho principle of limitation of areas on some equitable system." Seeing that tho Government's proposals relating to tho £15,000 limil seem to be consfciuctcd fur the purpose of facilitating evasion, and that nobody has yet devised n system at once cquioablc and efficient for securing their ostensible object, we hope yet to sco Mr. Crabbe and his friends following up the logic of their principled till it leads thorn to State ownership, with absolute becurity of lonuro to tho occupant except for purposes of sale, as the only socurity against the evils of land monopoly.