THE LAND BILL.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 214, 13 March 1907, Page 3

THE LAND BILL.

MINISTER OF LANDS AT TAIHAPE. Mr McNab addressed a large meeting at Taihape last night on the Lasd Bill. In the course of his remarks he said:— The Government was not knocking out the freeholder. What it was doing was simply to knock out the big freeholder, and bring in an army of small freeholders. The Maoris did not regard the eels in their streams as the greatest enemy of trout, but the big trout who fed on the small one. (Laughter.) In regard to the land, what they wanted to guard against was the big freeholder eating up the small one. What the Government now did was to lay its net with a and thanks him also for his visit to holders go through and to catch the big ones. It would be readily understood that the larger the estates grew the greater would become the number, of leaseholders, and the greater the wealth of the large owner. The Government was going to take care by this limit of £15,000 that the men who won the wealth from the land were those who were going to be freeholders. (Applause.) In the present instance it was the big fish who was yelling out to the little ones, and a great many of them were believing it. Mr H. Canton moved: — "That this meeting cordially thank the Hon. Mr McNab for his lucid address on the land policy of the Government, mesh sufficient to let tho little fr«the district to ascertain for himself its requirements." Mr A. R. Munro seconded the motion. Mr J. Ivess moved an amendment that no Land Bill would be satisfactory that did not provide for the optional system. Ho proceeded amidst some disturbance, to address the meeting, but was told by the chairman that the hall had been hired for Mr McNab. The meeting did not vote seriously. There was some confusion, about fifteen hands being held up for tho amendment and a slightly larger number for tho motion, which the chairman declared carried.