LAND SETTLEMENT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 113, 9 November 1910, Page 3

LAND SETTLEMENT.

DISCUSSED IN THE UPPER HOUSE. LAND FINANCE BILL CONDEMNED BY MR. ANSTEY. A CAUSTIC RETORT. The motion to go into committee on the Land Settlement Finance Act Amendment Bill was responsible for a keen criticism of both the Act and the measure by the Hon. J. Anstey (who was a member of the Land Commission in 1904) and a pretty caustic retoit by the Attorney-General (the Hon. Dr Findlay). Mr. Anstey said that last year when speaking on the Bill 1 then before the Council, he declared that the Act could not effect its purpose. He quoted from the observations of the chairman of the Land Purchase Board on the working of the Act. In particular he referred to the statement "that with fewer restrictions and wider powers the Act would be very largely availed of. Under the Act very little good had been done duiing the last twelve months. He had hoped that the Minister of Lands would have introduced an amendment this year which would have made the Act operative. One of the greatest obstacles was the requirement of formation of an association before purchase. The Minister of Lands had stated that there was no joint liability under the Act. If that were so then the main object of an association did not exist. The difference in taking up land under an Act such as this, and under the Land for Settlements Act was very marked. There was no Act under which a man could more favourably take >up land than under the Land for Settlements Act. On the present land values where a man had to pay up to the full productive capacity of the land he could do little more than pay his annual rental and live in decent comfort. THE DIFFERENCE IN COST. A man taking up a farm worth £2000 would pay £25 more under this Act than under the Land for Settlements Act. Another error in the Act was the failure to allow a member of the association to hypothecate his rent. Owing to the limitation of area the Act would be applicable to small areas only. There would always be the greatest difficulty in forming a 1 large association. All the preliminary work in connection with the acquisition of estates under the> Act should be done by commissioners, and the necessity for associations so done away with. If this course were decided upon the Act could be made a really useful measure. He regretted that the Statutes Revision Committee had struck out clause 7 'of the Bill (limited liability of members of an association). This Act was intended to supersede the Land for Settlements Act. The purchases made under the Act in 1908 totalled £613,000, in 1909 the total Ml to £382,000, and last year the amount expended was £296,000. And 'all that was to take the place of the Land for Settlements Act was the Land Settlement Finance Act with all its unworkable provisions. New Zealand was piling up a huge national .debt and the only good excuse to offer should be a close settlement of the country. PASTORAL RUNS. The pastoral runs could be better dealtwith than they were at present,. Thnnsatnds of acres of educational reserves were lyinc waste owing to bad ma/nafiement and bad administration. Curiously enough, the Government proposed to introduce a Bill dealing with those reserves which were well managed. A few days ago it had been' stated in the Houb<» that the Wellington City Council was spending £10,000 per year on its reserves. A gentleman who heard the statement made declared that, properly managed, the reserves should be returning a revenue of £15.000 per annum. While be would not describe the drafting of the Bill, as a friend of his- had, as the work of some city "crank" who> wished to embody his ideas in. law, h» would ga the length of saying that it was the work of -a, man who was unacquainted with the interests and the wants of the farming community. There were quite a. number of practical men, including himself, who could have helped to make the Bill a more practical measure before it reached this stage if they had been consulted. It was all very well for paper-collaa'ed gentlemen to sit down in their offices and produce such a narrow amd defective measure as this on©, but it would not assist the farming cunimuniAy. He also regretted that tho Bill had heen. left till such a late stage of the session. DR. FINDLAY IN REPLY. In i*eply, the Attorney-General said that usually Mr. Anstey had a wealth of ideas, but that day he had chiefly a wealth of adjectives. The head and front of the Government's offending seemed to be that they had not con «ulted the hem. gentleman. He had no doubt that it was the du/ty of the Government to have known every one having knowledge of a particular matter, them straightway to have consulted him, and sat ait his feet, so to. speak, in order thail they might havo the full benefit of his boundless wisdom. But probably even a farmer was not infallible. A gentleman who wore a white collar might not ha.ye so much intelligence as a, man who was always lamung, yet he might be a.ble to hold a candle to one who was a, sort of Bhakespea.ro among farmers ! When one felt that one waa right, one could not help feeling keenly j when one was ignored ! In future he I had no doubt the Government would avoid any discourtesy. , j Mr. Anstey : I will forgive you if you j will only tattle the land. ! REPUTATION NOT JUSTIFIED. J Dr. Findlay went on to say fhat j Mr. Anstey had that day failed to ]uctify his reputation. He had started that tho purchase of only one estate had been actually completed. As a matter of fact, the purchase of seven estates had 'been actually completed and gazetted under j the Act, while the purchase of four others was under way. If the Act wassuch a blundering piece of legislation, how came it that these estates had been purchased in so short a time? Thds was an inexcusable blunder. A PERTINENT QUESTION. Mr. Anstey : How many proposed purchases have fallen through ? Dr. Findlay : None. Mr. Aitstey ; That is not correct. Dr. Findlay repeated his contention.. He added that he would make ai\ explanation Of each section of the Bill, which embodied detail alterations of the Act, when, the committee stage had been reached. The proposal to commit the Bill was •agreed ta on. the voices. COMxMITTEE PROCEEDINGS. The Attorney-General explained that in regard to clause 7 (limited liability of members) the members of the House of Representatives appeared to be under a misapprehension a.s to the true position of associations under the Act. There was no joint liability of any kind on the part of the association. Each member was responsible only Jor his own part of the purchase money. If one member failed to pay, the others jvere .not responsible.

The amendment made by the Statutes Revision Committee striking out the clause was agreed to. Clauses 8, 9, and 10 (assurance fund, the power to let unoccupied allotments, and allotments limited to one in the caso of each person) were struck out as recommended by the Statutes Revision Committee. The following new clause j was substituted : — "For the purpose of providing a fund out of which the expenses incurred in the management of an association can be paid, and out of which losses caused ' to the association by the defaults of purchasers or otherwise can be met, the following provisions shall apply to every association which is incorporated by any Order-in-Council made after the commencement of this Act :— (a) On the execution of the transfer or conveyance of an allotment ... the purchaser of that allotment shall pay to the association a sum equal to one-half per centum of the purchase-money of that allotment, (b) The said sum shall be payable in addition to the said pui-chase-money, and not as part thereof. ' SPECIAL PURPOSES. A new clause was also added at the instance of the Attorney-General providing that an agreement may provide that any area of the land comprised in the agreement shall be reserved as a site for a school, church, cemetery, recreation ground, or dairy factory, or for any other purpose of common utility to the members of the association, and the association may deal with or dispose by sale, gift, lease, or otherwise of any such reserve in such manner as the association thinks fit for carrying into effect the purpose of the reservation. The Bill was reported with amendments and passed.