LAND ENDOWMENTS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 16 October 1914, Page 4

LAND ENDOWMENTS.

LOCAL BODIES AS LANDLORDS,

[Br TiXEGRAPH— fc-PKOIAI, TO BIAB J WELLINGTON/Oct. 15. - lhe system of land endowments fo*local bodie* sustained a heavy attach from both sides., of the Hohso thiV ' afternoon, when .he Lands Committee reported in regard to the Wairoa - (Hawke's Bay) Harbor Board. Endowment Bill that, a* the Bill proposed to deal with Crown land, and tbe consent of the Crown had not been- obtained, it recommended that the Bitfbe not allowed to. proceed. - a . ::. - "Local bodies have become obsessed with the idea that they must haEevendowments to assist their revenuel,'^'_eclared the Prim© Minister. If tie><xm^ plied, with all the requests of this nature during tbe last twelve monttfj"6 there would be no • Crown lands left' The House: also had* to remember that* the endowment system"had not'worked" satisfactorily. Settlers were put on ' tliese lands, and then their troubles commenced. They became dissatisfied '*' wfth their landlords and the insecurity of tbefr tenure, and fhey began1 appealing to the Crown to put them irf a better position. In one case he had' offered1 to buy out a local body's endowment on the basis of the unimproved' value, so that -they could again become Crown lands; but the local' body would not agree to sell.' It held' on to the rents, and the, dissatisfaction would continue. He had had.to^ refrain from agreeing to the Wairoa Harbor Board's request, for 1000 acres-. of land. He would far sooner gjye them a monetary grant and allow the-' land to be administered by the Crown in the ordinary way. Mr Forbes- remarked that the diffi- / culty about local endowments was that 1 local bodies considered the revenue first, and not the settlers. He quit© , agreed-with the Prime Minister's idea that' monetary grants were ' better. His own experience of the admin is tra- L tion of reserves by local bodies was that they had no regard for settlement. "They are just as hard rackrenters as any landlords I know,"*" • added Mr Forbes. Mr Vernon Reid heartily endorsed ' the previous speaker's remarks, and suggested that the Government should legislate to compulsorily acquire endowments, paying compensation to the local bodies, if the latter did not pj«C perly administer - their endowments. The policy of the local-bodiey was a dog-in-the-manger policy, betiafce thenexactions disheartened'settlers and retarded the proper development of the endowments. "A most astonishing suggestion," declared Mr Ell! t He did not agrea --yith what had* been said. There were* lands in Canterbury, controlled by local ' bodies, profitably and { equitably' work- ' cd. Did the previous speaker suggest , that the Canterbury College should he > deprived of its valuable endowments?. Mr Reed: No; you cannot nnderstand the position. \ ' .•-'.'•. I Mr Ell: "To be logical; yon Wet take all local bodies' lands'froia them.'** He agreed jvitb; the Wairoa proposal. Here was a local body prepared 'to - take over and settle a block of Crown land now lying idle. , > ' a Mr Witty was not in favor of giving large blocks of' land to local ? bodiea' if they did not administer them properly. Did/not the whole difficulty show that the Government "made a mistake in.granting the freehold to all Crown tenants, thus making ,the" endowment settlers dissatisfied? It wasi useless referring the.matter hack t<. the committee, seeing that the Lands - Department was against it. \ i Thß- Hof; F- ' w- B' Fisher «M ha* ' knew the block of- land. Wairoa was a £80,000 upon its harbor. The natural ( that they deserved assistance. . |g Mr Witty: Why not a monetary' The Minister replied fbai. in thi s , caso it would be advantageous to the State to give land because it would £ settled - Unles. the Lands De paJ £ ment helped', the Marine Depart would have to do something to enopnr! age a small C o mmmiit -. __£T£s The report was adopted.