LEGISLATIVE EXPERIMENT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 14973, 20 April 1909, Page 5

LEGISLATIVE EXPERIMENT.

A VICTORIAN MINISTER’S OPINIONS. LAND AND NO-LICENSE. [From Our Correspondent.] . DUNEDIN, April 19. The Hon H. M’Kenzie, the Victorian Minister of Lands, to-day concluded, a visit to New Zealand, Victoria nas not yet gone in for the progressive land settlement policy that has so greatly helped to make New Zealand what it is to-day. Owing largely to land-hunger, many young Victorians have left their parent State to take up holdings elsewhere, and Victoria, if she has not actually lagged behind; has not made the progress that her great natural advantages would have ensured under rqore favourable circumstances. But there are not of awakening —for Victoria has been lying awake for more than a little time—but of actual rousing now; and Mr M’Kenzie has visited the dominion to investigate its advanced land legislation and its actual working. He was in Dunedin on Saturday, having worked his way down from the north, and in the course oi a briei interview that afternoon, he rapidly sketched some, of his impressions.

"I am satisfied,” he said, "that your country here lends itself to closer settlement much more easily than Australia—particularly the northern parts of Victoria—because of your excellent climate and the splendid water available in all parts of the country. Your settlers, so far as I have seen and talked with them—and I have seen the man on the land at his milking, his poultry-rearing, and his fruit-growing —appear to bo satisfied, although they have not in many instances had an easy time, having bad to carve a. home out of the forest. I found, certainly, that there was a great demand for the freehold by those settled on the thirty-three-years’ lease basis, but the 999years’ leaseholders appear satisfied. What the. smaller settlers seem to be relying on to ■ a great extent is the export market, principally butter and lambs, just ns is the case with those in Victoria. I think that the Canterbury district is a very fine one. I had no idea that there was so much fiat country in New Zealand. I saw some very fine land indeed,. and I should think those on it must be very successful.”

Before concluding his remarks on New Zealand Mr M’Kenzie added: “We have received every courtesy from your Government in extending to us facilities in the way of travelling, and officers to accompany us from oue place to another and give us information. We have endeavoured to get both sides of the question, and have interviewed largo landholders as well as small. We lipve tried to obtain from all sources—bank managers, managers of freezing works, the man On the land, Government officials, in fact, everywhere—all the information we could possibly get, and I feel quite satisfied that the. subdivision of your large estates has been the means of bringing about a. good class of settlement.” Mr M’Kenzie was asked if be would care to say anything in regard to what he hnd seen of the working of no-license in New Zealand. “Only as a traveller,” answered, smiling, and on that understanding ho went on: “ Well, as a traveller, by all means, give me the towns where the licensed houses are. From my experience in Australasia I consider that the drink traffic would he controlled better with a proper system of licensed houses. Prohibition means the most pernicious form of drinking. It means the taking of drink home to the house. In many instances the working man would never dream of taking it into the house on a Saturday night, say, if he could obtain it in a hotel before going.home. So far as the public are concerned, they will be better served in a licensed house than in a hoarding-house. You have no control whatever over a boardinghouse. Mind, I am speaking of good hotels, and you seem to have good hotels, all over the' State, even in the small towns. But the funny thing about it is that I find many men here vote no-license and they are not teetotallers themselves. Tt seems to me a strange position. Can you explain why they do it?” But a's that question could he answered in a variety of ways—most of them probably wide of the mark—and as Mr M’Kenzie had to catch the south express, it was proclaimed unanswerable off-hand, and the Minister, in search of further information about land, went to Invercargill, where, no doubt, he would have further opportunity to study also the working of no-license. He left New Zealand for Melbourne to-day by the Warrimoo.