Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 1891.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1832, 14 August 1891, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 1891.

Thk Minister of Lands has thoroughly shown his quality iu the B<ll which he has introduced, ostensibly to " atnt-nd the law regulating the sale or other disposal of the lands of the Crown in New Zealand." Th« measure, practically, is one to hriug about the nationalisation of the land, and to throw the great productive uidustiies of the colony eutirely into the hands of small men without the means of carrying them out effectively. The wool-growers who have made a name for New Zealand in the markets of the world, are to be limited to the hoMing of one run—which means a maximum of 20.000 sht-ep. the yield of which would by no means justify the maintenance of the present establishment and costly processes of preparing the fleeces for export. The absolute insanity of this proposal will be realized i>y all who understand the subject; hut it is only a specimen, however, of the so-called "amendments" which Ml John M'Kenzie would make in the land laws, it is declare.!, for instance, not to lie lawful for any person to " acquire or to he the holder under any tenure " other than a small grazing lease or as a piatoral lease, " whe'h- r such land was acquired by purchase, lease, marriage, or under a settlement by will, or by virtue of an int.estac>," of more than 2000 acres of land in the whole, inclusive of not more than 640 acres of first-class land. No person, moreover, is to be entitled to "acquite. obtain, or hohl. either by original application or by transfer, or otherwise in any manner " any laud under any tenure, including, of course, freehold ! So runs, most certainly, the letter of the Bill. Then sales for cash on immediate purchase are to be abolished. The Bill proposes to timet that no Crown grant shall issue to any purchaser of laud until the Laud Board of the district sh ill be satisfied that such purchaser has expended in substantial improvements of a permanent character on the land a sum equivalent to 40s per acre on first-class land and 20s per acre on second-class lands On the payment of the purchase money the purchaser is to receive a certifica e of occupation iu a form prescribed ami he may, with the sanction of the Botrd, transfer his interest in the land, but the transferee »»» 8t make a statutory declaration that he is acquit ing such interest solely for his own use and benefit. The effect of these provisions may lie exp- cted to be (and it is no doubt hoped and intended) the entire stoppage of cash sales—a more than equivocal policy in regard to the settlement of the country. A very vital change is proposed in the perjietual lease system. The term ot lease is extended, but the lessee is no longer to be entitled to purchase the freehold after a certain lapse of time on fulfilment of the conditions. Should this become law a deadly blow will be dealt ao selection under this system, which has of recent yearo become so popular, as the poorest settler likes to look forward to the time when he can call his holding his own, and be able to transmit it to his children. The chief attraction, in fact of the perpetual lease is the ability of the lessee, after a term of easy tenancy, to exchange his lease for a crown j/rant. The Hill ig positively Draconic in the severity of the peual clauses, which are, indeed, of such a character as to create an entirely new class of offences—hitherto unknown to the law. It will be criminal, for iustance, for auy person to acquire land by any means unless exclusively for his own use and benefit! This may seem absurd, hut we quote fiom the text of the Bill " No person shall by himself or through any other person for him be entitled to acquire, obtain, or hold, either by original application or transfer, or

otherwise in any manner, any land under any t*--nine under this A-t uuhss it be exclusively foi hia own use aiid benefit. Any |>e: »o»: wh-> wi.fully commits or incites, encourages «»r t-n»j•!« ys any o" i.e." person to commit any breach of the pro visions of • his Act, or of any Act or enactment repealed hereby regarding lauds disposed of tor cash or on deferredpayments or perpetual lease or as small grazing iuop, or )>y pastoral lease or license, by obtaining such lands not exclusively for his nun use or lienetit ahull be liable to a term of imprisonment uot exceeding five years, ami every one aiding and abetting in such breach shall be liable to the same punishment." The Minister of Lands, it is notorious, is afflicted with a monomania in respect of dumtmism and, in order to prevent an evil which is mostly ideal, has designed these startling ukases which, if tin y should come into force, wiil certainly deter any sensible man from inventing in land. Much to the same effect as the clause just quoted aie the provisions of the Bill which give extembd powers to and enlarge the functions of the Land Hoards. It is made, for instance, the dutv of the Board to direct the commissioner to iusti - nte proceedings ''against every person who commits or aids, abetts, incites or'encourages ai-yo'her person to commit a breach of any provisions of this Act or any other Act relating to the administration of Crown lands and the Hoard is at all times to have power ''in the public interest and in their discretion to refuse to receive any application whatsoever, whether referring to cash lands, deferred-payment lands, perpetual-lease lands or lands under any other system of tenure." Should the commissioner have reason to believe that statements contained in any declaration made by any applicant for land are false, or that the applicant hid in any way evaded or at tempted to evade the requirements of the Land Acts, the Board may hold an enquiry into the case and declare toifei'ed all the rights to the land and all moneys paid in respect thereof. Any person w ho. in a statutory declaration required under the Act, wilfully declares to anything that is false is to be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour and. on conviction, will be liable to lie imprisoned for any term not exceeding live years. Other very objectionable portions of the proposed measure could be referred to did permit, but sufficient has been pointed out to show the revolutionary character of it.