THE SUFFICIENT PRICE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1056, 24 December 1862, Page 3

THE SUFFICIENT PRICE.

As the "sufficient, price," or " Wakefield theory," at which the demesne lands of New Zealand should should be sold was one of the greatest interest to the early settlers of this province, so, we find it has lost none of that interest during twelve years, and in a somewhat .modified form, is being discussed in the I Province of Otago. When the candidates for the representation of Lyttelton in the maiden session of the Provincial Council met the constituency of the district, Mr. Christopher Edward Dampier submitted a scheme for the future sale of the Waste Lands, coinciding closely in spirit with that which afterwards obtained as law in the Province of Otago, and was answered in terms nearly identical with those used in an ably written leader in the' Otago Daily Times' of the Bth December. As this question never can lose its interest to any colonial community, we shall avail ourselves at length of this masterly dissection and exposition of a statenow existing there, which might unhappily have been our own, had not good sense penetrated at once to its weak side:— Outside the circle of the immediate framers (whoever they may be) of the proposals, there appears to be a tolerable unanimity of opinion as to the defects of the land system, and the readiest mode of remedying them. It is recognised that the regulations, devised originally for a particular purpose, to facilitate the acquisitoin of land, now serve only to defeat that object. The system' of application, to begin with, was designed as a means to permit any person to obtain the particular land he required. The limited auction between two or more applicants was presumed to be an exceptional case v but since the land is understood to be of a higher speculative value th#n the upset price, it follows as a matter of course that for every block there is more than one applicant, and the limited auction simply serves to keep out purchasers who do not comprehend the complicated system. The Crown Lands Commisioner in his report thus refers to the subject:— " That portion of the Land Regulations which provides for an auction between the applicants for the same land, whose applications have been made on the same day, is. generally little understood by the public, and is attended by much inconvenience; this, however, arises from that which was understood to be an exception having become the rule— the cause of its having become the rule is that stated before, that much of the land having acquired a higher value than the Government fixed-price of £1, there will always be a large number of applicants for such lands, many of whom are mere speculators." Further, on he says:—" The system of open auction is the only one whereby the full value of the land can be obtained, and that any rules or regulations which tend to discourage speculation in land, equally tend to the reduction of the amount receivable by Government" (?) This brings us to the .consideration,-—is it wise or politic to allow the land to be purchased for less that its value ?. In the. early days of the province the system was comprehensible enough. If you will consent to spend so much money on the land, you may have it at the nominal price of 10s. per acre. Such was the meaning of the low upset price, and the improvement clause; and we are not prepared to argue whether, if it had been a practicably workable system, it would have served the then purposes of the province. It is to be doubted whether it is not, in almost every case, better to allow commercial transactions to find their own level rather than to regulate them by artificial restrictions. At any rate, what might have been expected came to pass. The land was greedily taken at less than its value, - but the improvements were not carried out. The improvement clause then simply became a handle in the hands of speculative capitalists. They could afford to hold on till its repeal became assured, and they understood enough of business to know tliat sooner or later the government would be compelled to give valid titles to the immense number of landowners who held doubtful ones. They knew also that in reselling portions of their purchases they were securing allies who would make common cause with them. The samething goes on nowpersons purchase bad tenures, because they get them cheap. In other words, the improvement clause is so much detracted from the value, which sold with an immediate title would fetch a higher price The speculators are not to be blamed for taking advantage of a principle that their common sense told them was unworkable. But the administrators of the public estate will eventually have much to answer for, if they, in the face of all that experience teaches them, continue to allow the lands to be sacrificed for less than their worth. The raising the price' of the land to its fair value, and the doing .away with the improvement clause, are fair corollaries on the arguments adduced. Legislation is inadequate to force people to cultivate. The attempts in that direction have not only proved signal failures, but have promoted the evils they designed to cure. The money which might have been devoted , to cultivation, was expended in further purchases of land, whilst those whese means were insufficient, found the improvement clause with its insecure title an insuperable bar to obtaining legitimate advances of capital. Thus the clause played into the hands of the wealthy speculators, whilst its operation injuriously affected the poor cultivator. But although legal restrictions have been and always must be impotent to discourage speculation, the ordinary application of natural laws will go far towards effecting that object. Two circumstances encourage the speculator, the obtaining a thing for less than its value, and the artificial restrictions that tend to vest in him the monopoly of buying and selling. Both these conditions exist in the Otago regulations, but let them be done away with—let land be raised to its approximate value, and let any person have the unfettered opportunity of buying,—-and all inducement to speculation is at an end. Persons would only buy what they considered they had a use for. To now return to the question, is it right or wise to allow the public estate to pass away for less than its value ? Whatever inducements it might have been necessary in the early days of the province to offer to settlement, or to the investment of capital, f,he hour has surely passed when it is justifiable to uecure these'at the sacrifice to the state of its public lands. Neither to those who are hero now nor to the colonists who in future may make the province their home, is it fair that the public property should any further be frittered away at less than its value. Let every one have tlie opportunity of purchase, but do not allow a few to derive advantage at the expense of themaijy. Herein lies the difference between the past and the present. The facilities afforded in the early days of the settlement were calculated to apply to every settler. But any facilities, offered now would only advantage a few to the loss of the many. Take for instance the first shipload of immigrants who arrived. It was no doubt legitimate to encourage them by giving them land for less than its value. But when the nucleus of a community was formed, further sacrifices only went to benefit ft few at the expense of the bulk of the settlers, Sup-

posing now a shipload of immigrants was to arrive, and that land was- given/to them at less than its value, what an injustice would be perpetrated on the 40,000 inhabitants, upon whom would fall the cost of this bounty. Those of the 40,000 who in times past derived a like advantage would still have the right to complain.' They would say, justly enough, we are the pioneers, we have now made the place sufficiently attractive not to require inducements of the kind for fostering population. We thus arrive the conclusion that the time has arrived for administrating the public estate with reference to its value, without sacrificing it for the purpose of securing population. We have also seen that, apart from this consideration, no possible plan can be devised for sacrificing the land without paving the way to the plansof Speculators, In fact, the selling the land at less than its value induces speculation and discourages cultivation.

The principles of the remedy are apparent on the surface, the details are the difficulty. The restrictions, to which the : Government, proposes, to subject speculators, by taxing their land, are simply unconstitutional. Inhere is nomedium between giving them a good title and forfeiting their lands. The latter, besides falling upon the immediate buyers, would also affect the many hundred, persons who have bought from them. The course would also be beyond the conception of the terms of purchase, and would he open to other objections, but which it is not necessary to mention, as no sane person would think of proposing such, an expedient as forfeiture. As we have sdid,there is no medium course—taxation would be another ~ word for retaliation; and if the power were, admitted, it would reduce the value of all Crown titles. On the other hand, by legalising the titles, the facility would be given for cultivation, as the owner would have the power of borrowing money as he improved Ms.estate. , The present uncertainty merely lowers the value of the sold land, as well as that of the unsold land, as it places, the two in competition. But leaving the past 00 one "side, we have to consider how to deal with the present. We have said the land should be raised to its proper value, and it will be for the Committee to say what that is. The Chief Commissioner mentions that there is an exceptional ■ class of land on the seaboard of much higher value than other land. This might be constituted into a separate class, the same as suburban land in Victoria, and be always subjected to open auction. But for ordinary good agricultural land, as far as possible, the Canterbury system should be adopted—the purchasing it by application at the upset price. Owing to the Land Sales and Leases Ordinances, under which most of the pastoral runs are alienated, free selection could not be established over the whole country for a few years. But in the meanwhile the Hundreds .would be amply sufficient for the purpose. If free selection were permitted in the Hundreds, the plan would have a fair test, comprising, as this denomination does, the best land of the province. But even free selection over the Hundreds could not be allowed, without an Act of the General Assembly, which would require ratification by the Crown. Something approaching to it, ho weverj might be attempted without any other than Provincial action. By the advice of the Provincial Council, the Governor could raise the upset price; and the Land Commissioner might be instructed to flood the market with the available land in the Hundreds, which would then remain open to application, according to the existing rules. In fact, by offering more land than could be bought, the surplus would remain open to selection, whilst speculation would be effectually discouraged. But if the committee preferred an alteration by action of the General Assembly, we believe there would be no difficulty in persuading the Governor to hold a special Middle Island Session about February, when a revision of the tariff, alteration in land regulations, and other subjects of a kindred domestic nature, might be dealt with."