Spirit of Press.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 558, 14 October 1882, Page 17

Spirit of Press.

As several important alteration* iri the provisions of the Lnnd Act Amendment in a conference; of the two Houses of Parliament immediately before the prorogation, it is necessary to supplement our article ',.'oiv the suhject; d£ this IJill published in last monthly Summary of Bth September. It will interest our readers generally, and specially those of them in the Mother Country who may have an idea of emigrating to this colony, to be assured that all the ohanges' referred to are such as to, render the Act more favorable 'to intending settlers, and so to facilitate the speedy and beneficial occupancy of the waste lands. Instead, however, of confining bur 7 observations to these amendments, it will better promote the ends of" public Vserficeto, a more general statement and exposition of the principal 1 features 1 and provisions of the Act as it finally passed the Legislature. r main feature! of the Land Act ♦ 1877 Amendment Act 1882, which becajtne law on the 15th September, is the introduction of the principle of perpetual leasing of the Crown Lands. As the- Bill Was originally presented to Parliament there was no limit as to the proportion of land that might be reserved for. settlement under this system . But after much debate and consultation between-the two Houses' of Parlian|eiit,' , the ! area , which: may ; be; offered on lease in any one year is restricted to one-third of the agricultural land 1 open" for selection. The principle of perpetual leasing was still' further modified by Parliament enacting in section 38 of the Act. that the right of purchase may be exercised by the lessee, if availed of within eleven years of the commencement of his lease. • This right of purchase, • however, is not 1 permitted Within the goldfields districts—a precaution in the interests of the future development of auriferous ground which at once com-, mends itself to those who have any knowledge of the wide distribution of gold within the proclaimed goldfields, and the mistakes which have been made in selling lands which: afterwards were found either to be aurifier- j ous or necessary to the working of such country* '.' -V ~ .'.:.;• \ "■ !'V '. •.V,! Reverting to the leasing .clauses of the Act, then' conditions under Which leases are to be disposed of may be summarised as follows :—(l) The upset renfe wp,!b;e s;per : cent.', On; the assessed capital: value of the land, which will vary from £1 to £3, or an annual rent of from Is to 8s an acre. These rates, however, may be higher in some instances, as the leases will be subject to public tender, the highest tenderer being entitled to possession. (2) The firstferm of the lease will be for thirty r ,years ;, the second and succeeding Three and a half, years before the expiration of the first, and every subsequent term,' .the rent,, will be J&"' arbitration,,,to ['. :the then value of the land, after deducting the value of all improvements, whether, of fences, or cultivations,,Whict: latter value is the property of tW leasee. On these two valuations of land and . of improvements being made, the lessee will have the offer of a renewal of his lease at a rent of five per cent, on the then value of the land. This offer will .remain' ■open for his acceptance • for three years. Should he not within that period accept the offer j the land and improvements will then be put up for public tender, the incoming tenant paying the - assessed value of improvements to the outgoing tenant. . These terms rare undoubtedly liberal, and, indeed, so great is the inducement to take up land which they present, that there might be some danger of the good intentions of the Legislature being frustrated by persons acquiring a greater extent of land than they personally required, with a view to sub-letting eertain portions thereof at a profit. To obviate this tendency it has very wisely been enacted that the limit of area to be held by any one person ahall not exceed 640 acres. Furthermore, as a guarantee of good faith, each lessee during the first six years of his lease must reside on his leasehold, and within four years have •brought into cultivation not less than •one-fifth of his area ; and by the sixth jear have effected substantial improvements of a value of at least one pound per acre of his holding. He is then free of any further obligation beyond paying the annual rent, and may, if he choose, acquire the freehold of the property within the next five years. In addition to this last optional pro-

vision, which will in many cases be availed of, it is, we believe, the intention of the Government to intersperse freehold and leasehold sections, so that the means is provided whereby the innate craving for the possession in feei-simple of a piece of mother earth which' one may call his own may atill be.immediately gratified by pay ment in cash of the price determined. > The 1 Act also modifies the conditions under which the leases of purely pastoral country may beheld. Any change in this .respect is of great. moment, seeing that the colony has upwards of twelve million acres of valuable country/now let on lease, which for its suitability .for , grazing purposes is unsurpassed in any part of the world. Hitherto the law imposed no restriction 'on the'extent of land or stock which anyone could hold, and, as is well-known, there are sheep-farmers who shear their tens of thousands of sheep | yearly, and literally can count their cattle on a thousand hills. But the Legislature, whether wisely or not remains to be seen, has enacted that in the future no one may lease more country from the Crown ..than, will carry2o,ooo sheep or 4000 head of cattle. This, however, is a very liberal allowance, such as might satisfy the ambition of most men, especially when it is remembered that, as population increases, this land will be required for settlement, and that personal desire in this matter ought to give place to public benefit- There.are a number of other . important clauses in the Act relating to the. several land districts, such as the regulation for cutting and floating timber from the Crown forests, the adjustment of prices and classification of lands; but these are questions of more local than general interest. These observations on the new Land Act! may be brought to a close by stating that this is the first practical attempt, by legislation, to give effect to that principle of the nationalisation of land which is advocated by many thoughtful persons as a remedy for the troubles which older countries are now enduring. ■ With wise administration thjs; Act will have the most beneficial effect on the progress of the colony in settling on the unoccupied lands that deserving class of settlers whose capital, it may be said, is chiefly to be found in their stout hearts and strong arms; '