THE PASTORAL LANDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15301, 15 November 1911, Page 12

THE PASTORAL LANDS.

In our correspondence oolumna -within tho past Few days attention has been directed to tho question of the deterioration of tho pastoral lands of Canterbury and Otago' and to the consequent diminution of'their capacity to Carry sheep, and it has brcn suggested that the nlxience of liny security of tfiniro to the runholders has contributed to the existence of this fitnto of things. No doubt the migfi<wtk>n is to o largo extent well founded) but wo belicvo tho runhoklcrs fully recognise that where the land comprised within their leases is of a nature suitable for subdivision into smaller areas the public sentiment fetrangly favours the resumption of it oil tho exptTv of tire Icmcs hnd that the propyl made by one of our correspondents, that tho pastoral tenants should he granted an alwohit© optioil of renewal after revaluation upon the eKpify of each leasing term, is ( such as wilt l» very generally liold to be opposed to public policy. Any propcsal to increase tho fvcciirity of tenure of Ihe pastoral lessoffl, ov-in though it« adoption should have, a* it would have, tho (.fleet of encouraging tho' employment of measures to nrrcat the process ol deterioration of lite land and to improve tho public eslato, must b# held to be ouleido the donain of practical politics. There is greater hopo of tho siiccffs of a proposal that pastoral tenAntls should) upon the expiry of their leasf& aw! upon their going out of occupation, receive an adequate valuation for the. improvements they lidvo effected. Tne law provides that, upon a run passing, on the expiry of tho leiwe, out of the oacupation of the tenant, Valuation shall bo given for tile improvements consifting. of tho necttsary buildings, plantations, fcnces (other than rabbit-proof fencofl), and dilcltra for draining on tho land, this valuation being based on tho worth of the improvements to the incoming tenant, or, in the caw of a subdivision of the run, to tho incoming tenants of the dividod portions of Iho property. It may be supposed that this provision ensures that the outgoing runholder shall b« fairly treated. In actuhl practice, 'however, thw is hot ti«xs?nriiy so. It ling happened within tho pdst ooii|)le of VKirs that the holders of runs which tlni Government has resumed for subdivision havo been most unjustly dealt with. Wo may cite a particular ta« by way of illustration. In this 'particular caec tho runholdcr'e fencing improvements wero absurdly imdervalued. The fencos wer© substantially built and all in good order at tho expiry of the leaee. Owing to the distance of tho run from the railway and to th« difficulty of the country that had to bo traversod. this necessitating tho packing of a great deal of tho fencing material on hortM to convey it to the place wltore it was required, the average tcet the fencing was probably not. less than £70 per miie. For considerable lengths of it tho runholder was allowed £8 per mile. In general terms it may bo said that for fencing which cost 16s a chain, and which was good and fiound on the expiry of the lease, tho tenant received 2s a chain. And tlie valuation was mado without any reference to him at all: tho reply ho rocoivod to an inquiry with respect to tho valuation of his improvements was to furnish him with an extract from the New Zealand Gazette showing the valuations an already adopted! This really meant that tho runholdcr vraS allowed for his fence# ar. amount loss than he had paid for tho transport of the material-to the locality. This, however, wan not the full extent of the hardship inflicted on him. As we havo 6aid, the valuation in the ease ot the subdivision of a run is booed on the wwtli of the Lm. provemcnts to tho incoming tenants of

tho snbdlrislonß. Ih thU gpecwHnstonce the runhblder'» feneofl were admirably •l»daptod to serve M - bottedarW# for the i smalt grazing runs into tthich lM proipcrty was cut up. if tliey hid Been to ] used/ clWrly, he would have obtained ■ higher 1 Valuation fot Uiem thafl If thoy wero discarded as tisaleee. fai two il«tirtce« ( however, iitendtog over many miles, the boundaries of tho small grating runs wero bo adjusted that they Wire placed a few chains aWiy from the lino of tho rimholder's fences. By this petty trick the value of many-mil** of fencing which the funholder had reeled was practically confiscated. The tunholder remonstrated with the Lands Department over tho mjnstioc to which ho was subjecbid. Tho feply lie roccivod' wag at one-) to lnughablo and bo audacious that it will not bo altogethoi sut prising if hia rwnso of humour eventually overcamo the tense of retentment it must at first have aroused in him. It was unfortunate, ho was told, that he had not put hia fencts where they would havo suited the new purvey, but tho responsibility for not doing so rested entirely with him? Belt! The grow iiftpcrtinence of this feply may well havo momentarily staggered him, but how coukl he avoid beilig tfckled by the suggestion that twenty years ago ho should have known that the tun would In cut up into small grazing runs and that ho should then have had the trigonometrical secondsight to bo nblo to determino whero the boundaries of theso small grilling runs, would bet Mr Huddo, in his capacity gs Minister in charge of tho. Lands Department, having Achieved the brilliant <oiip oi thus throwing on the runholder the responsibility for not having foreseen twenty ycafa ago what ho mortal being could have" foreseen, felt that no useful purpose would be lervod by any further discussion of tho matter. And no doubt in this he was correct) Yet the incident furnishes a uiofal illustration of the kind of hardship to which pastoral tenants under tho existing law and under the existing administration may ha.v e to eubmit. It wows to us that, white they miy a 4 well abandon any hope of obtaining a qreaior security of tenure than they now poesMs, they, may Justly ckim tliat provision should be made whereby they should haw a henaonablo expectation of being allowed, on the expiry of their leases, adequate coinpeneation for the expenditure they incur that is calculated to improve "permanently the. Crown estate.