STATE AS OWNER

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 25 May 1932, Page 8

STATE AS OWNER

SPAIN’S NEW LAND LAWS. AGAINST BIG ESTATE. The placing of agriculture on a firm basis which will permit a rapid development of the resources of the country in this connection is the principal object of the Bill for Agrarian Reform which has been approved b\ the Government and which is to be discussed shortly by the Cortes (states the Madrid correspondent of “The Observer”). Elasticity is the chief feature of the draft. Expropriated lands may be colonised by smallholders, administered by co-operative societies of workers, rented to private individuals or companies wlio guarantee to farm intensively, conceded fo indSvid'uaLs who have rented them for more than 12 years, or lie exploited directly by the State for experimentation, and demonstration purposes. The measure is chiefly directed against large estates. An indemnity will be paid in all cases on certain fixed rates, except in the case of fuedal estates which have been handed down from generation and have never been sold. In this case an indemnity for improvements made to the property may be claimed, and it is to be presumed that few estates could not claim heavily in this respect. However, expropriation without an indemnity is forbidden by the Constitution unless a majority "of the members of the Cortes give tlieir assent. A sum of 50,000,000 pesetas (about £1,000,000) is allowed annually as a Government subsidy, and loans also would be applied, for. The transformation could obviously only go on slowly with this limited financial backing, as the indemnities are to be paid partly in cash and partly in special public debt bonds paying 5 per cent 1 ., while financial assistance would have to be given to colonisers. The tendency of the project is to keep the land in the hands of the State as to the definite owner, although certain provision for acquisition by holders is made. In contrast to other projects, the land of religious orders and of the Church is not included among the areas liable for expropriation. Provision is made for tho recovery by municipalities of the enormous quantities of common land which have been illegally acquired by private persons.