LAND FOR THE LANDLESS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 174, 21 July 1909, Page 4

LAND FOR THE LANDLESS

It 'will be 'gathered from a report in yesterday's issue that there is some little conflict of opinion between the Department of Lands and the local Land Board concerning the disposal of a Crown section in the Mahakipawa Survey District. The Department suggests that this section* be "disposed of under a pastoral license, while a majority of the Board desire that it shall be leased in sections to people desiroiis of settling upon it. Some of it is said, to be first-class land, and since there are men waiting for it to be thrown opon for selection it is strange that the Department should desire any other course to Jbe pursued. The present absence of access to the land is alleged as a reason for the departmental action, but it is scarcely a sound one, for if the land were settled this defect would very soon be remedied. The Btijard is to be commended for the stand taken in the interests of landless! individuals. This particular section is well-known to members of the Board, who appear to be certain -that it can bo profitably occupied by men who will estab-

lish homes upon-it, and thus make. it nf f;i.T Tn^i'f viihT- t^ tlio P^.to than it it passes into the hands of adjoining landholders to be used merely -lor pastoral purposes. Our lands policy is opposed to the aggregation of estates, and the country has long ago definitely decided in favour of small holdings for the beno fit of the people. The present action of the Land Department would appear to indicate a deviation from the correct course, a sort of departmental aberration, for which no excuse can be offered. It is hoped the firm attitude taken up by the Board will result in the governing power recovering from its lapse from the path of rectitude.