LABOUR LAND BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20868, 9 May 1931, Page 8

LABOUR LAND BILL.

The Agricultural Land Utilisation Bill, which has received drastic treatment from the House of Lords, should not be associated in any way with the land taxation proposals contained in Mr. Snowden's Budget. There is no connection between the two. The bill, which made its first appearance last November, was described in an official memorandum as having three objectives, the establishing of experimental large-scale farming, the reconditioning of land suitable for agriculture, and the settlement of unemployed workers on the land. Its aim is to set up an agricultural land corporation to acquire land for the purposes stated. The first two clauses deal with the scheme for large-scale farming operations and demonstration farms, for which purpose land may be acquired, by agreement if possible, or, in the alternative, by compulsion. Clause three, which has been most fiercely criticised, covers the proposals for reconditioning land. It provides first that land which requires draining, reclamation or other treatment to make it fit, for agriculture may be acquired, reconditioned and then disposed of for settlement in various ways, including outright sale. Another proposal is that where land is proved to be in a deteriorated state the owner may be called upon to recondition it. If, after a stated time has expired, he has not done so, and it is shown that the land has suffered by his default, it may be acquired compulsorily and handled by the corporation. When the measure was first considered by the Lords, at the beginning of April, these clauses were hotly criticised. Now the whole of the first part has been rejected after the two Chambers have failed to agree on amendments. The gage has been Hung down by the Lords over a measure described as an insidious attempt to introduce land nationalisation. It was predicted in April, from Labour sources, that in the event, of a deadlock over the measure, the Government would force it through by use of the Parliament Act. No appeal to the country was then mentioned. If there were an appeal, it could be trusted to produce a contest recalling in keenness that of 1000 over Mr. Lloyd George's Budget. The sense of private ownership in land is so firmly entrenched in Great Britain that an historic fight would certainly develop over it in an election appeal.