MR. LANGSTONE'S LEASEHOLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23325, 19 April 1939, Page 12

MR. LANGSTONE'S LEASEHOLD

A new system of land tenure for New Zealand is apparently being devised by the Minister of Lands, Mr. Langstone. Nothing much is known about it at present, but Mr, Lee Martin, who is deputising for Mr. Langstone during the latter's absence overseas, informed a meeting of South Island sheepfarmers on Monday that his colleague was "drafting a bill which aimed at a universal tenure of 33 years with perpetual right of renewal." Farmers in particular may be forgiven if they regard this announcement with misgiving. Mr. Langstone is the arch-enemy of freehold, and, even though his new system may have much to commend it, it is difficult to see how it can be introduced without some interference with existing titles. The condition of land in the Dominion as at March 31, 1938, was as follows : —Freehold, 21,863,161 acres'; Crown land leased under all tenures, 17,337,455 acres ; Crown land available for future disposal, 1,629,412 acres. Obviously the land available for future settlement, even if it is all suitable, will not go very far. Owners of freehold land, therefore, remembering Mr. Lee Martin's use of the word "uniform," must ask themselves how the Government is going to obtain additional land for distribution on leasehold tenure. Mr. Langstone has already stated that he is not prepared to buy land at the prices which are being asked for it, but many freeholders are beginning to wonder whether the piling up of costs will not eventually force them to quit at prices which the Minister might consid^ 1 reasonable. Then there are the Crown tenants, whose leases may give them an option to purchase, and the occupiers of small farms who were promised titles to their land by a previous Government. ' Both these classes have cause to inquire whether they will be brought under the new system of uniform tenure. Uneasiness must be the natural result of Mr. Lee Martin's statement and thus there is every reason why a full statement of Government policy should be made.