Mt. Ida Chronicle NASEBY, FRIDAY, OCT. 25th, 1907. LAND LAWS AMENDMENT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 37, Issue 9607, 25 October 1907, Page 2

Mt. Ida Chronicle NASEBY, FRIDAY, OCT. 25th, 1907. LAND LAWS AMENDMENT.

The Laws Amendment Bill has passed its committee stage and is in a fair way to be placed on the Statute Book. It is a verv different measure to that brought down last year, jS.U M Nab in it shows that he is anxious to meet the wishes of the people of the colony, and the new proposals are un doubted ly the outcome of a desire to deal fairly between the two opposiut' sections of thought, and it must be conceded that he has to a great extent succeeded, -for the freeholders view it as a great improvement on last year's measure, vhile such a pro nounced leaseholder as Mr Laurenson eon siders that it embodies some of the most important reforms. Of course neither the freeholders nor the leaseholders are entirely satisfied. Neither ever will be uuless one gets au absolute victory over the other, and that is hardly likely to come to pass. The freeholders rejoice over the facts that the selectors of ordinary Crown lauds will have the privilege of the o.r.p. system, and the lease in perpetuity hollers' the riuht to purchase g anted them, but the latter con cession is robbed cf its oarm because those who wish to take advantage of it will have to_ purchase at present values. It certainly will not appear very attractive to those who .nave purchased holdings frotn a pre vious tenant. But we don't thiuk that under any circumstances many holders of these leases wuiil.l warn the freehold. If at any time tuere is a very big slump in land va ues a _ ft-tv m»y take advantage of the opportunity to purchase. The abandonment of the 990 years' lease will certainly be applauded, although the 66 years' lease for ordinary and the 33 years for settlement lands wil- by freeholders be deemed too short a tenure ; but on the other hand the leaseholders will view it as a decided step in advance. The two opposing sections naturally look on the refusal to I i.p. holders of settlement lands of the right to acquire the freehold from opposite standpoints. It certainly does seem rather illogical that the tenants on one class ot land under the same tenure sliou d bedenied a privilege thataman on another c ass enjoys. The clauses dealing with the compulsory acquisition of land by 'the Government will give a shock to the holders of large estates who will have to pav taxation on the market value of the land, and perhaps smaller holders who have tried to evade the of as muoh land tax as possible will not feel quite so comfortable when makiug up their returns. In the past the amount of compensation was decided by the Compensation Court. Now it is proposed that the amount shall be the unimproved value plus an addition of 10 per cent, the value of the improvements (which will be assessed in the ordinary way), with an addition of 2 per cent on the capital value. Of this clause the leaseholders very •strongly approve on the ground that the compensation will bear some relation to the tax paid. Owners who feel doubtful about their land bciug coinpulsorily taken can apply to have the unimproved value increased and their names will be inscribed on a subsidiary roll, which will be used for taxation purposes and for assessing the value of the land if it does'happen°to be taken, tor local rating purposes the main roll will be used. It is not likely that this clause will affect many except the holders of large estates suitable for closer settlement. The concession to Crown tenants of a representative on Land Boards is a piece of justice that they have fought for for a long time; In the clause which provides that personsowning over a certain area of land shall not he permitted to buy any more from the own, leaseholders see a pronounced step towards universal limitation of area, and small holders generally will see uothinc objectionable in it, It provides that it shall not be lawful for any person to acquire any interest in land subject to this part of the act. if such land, together with any other land owned or held by him severally or jointly in csttntmau with otJi > fcxceecis a lota area of OOo6a,~au<3 iu calcul"- - Uou iriiu ''very acre oi first, class laud is reckoned lis Jin, and cvevy acre of second class land equal to 2Aa of third clas« laud.