CLOSE SETTLEMENT IN NORTH OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 224, 28 May 1896, Page 3

CLOSE SETTLEMENT IN NORTH OTAGO.

By the purchase of the Ardgowan estate under the Land for Settlements Act the Government undoubtedly became possessed of some excellent land, and there is' every reason to believe that the price fixed by the Compensation Court — more than the Government had offered, but less than the owners had demanded — was reasonabler Moreover, it cannot be denied that the rush of applicants for sections seema to show, first, that the land was required for purposes of settlement, and, secondly, that intending settlers are convinced of its suitabiLity. The Minister is, so far, to be congratulated, though we may be allowed to express a hope that he will not add" the successful applicants to his statistics of land settlement until the parties are actually settled on the land. But while, at all events on a superficial examination, the result of last week's ballot at Oamaru appears to be satisfactory, one or two points of a doubtful kind must not go unnoticed. In the first place, it will have been noticed that no small proportion of the applicants, successful and unsuccessful, "Were women. Now, far be it from us to object to women taking up land, provided that in so doing they do not transgress the spirit or the letter of the law. The Land Act allows any person of the age of 17 years (exclusive of married women) to become a selector ; but it also provides that " no person *shall, by himself or through any other person for him, be entitled to acquire, obtain, or hold, either by original application or by transfer, or otherwise in any manner, any land under any tenure under this Act unless it be exclusively for his own use or benefit." It is not too" much to say that there is grave reason for supposing that that provision is continually disregarded. It is a matter of common knowledge that often when a man desires to take up land, with a view of bettering his chance at the ballot, he gets his sons and daughters, or it may be his sisters jind his cousins and his aunts, to send in their applications along with his own. If he be unlucky, the daughter may

have better fortune ; it' tlie son

fail, the aunt may succeed. This is the secret of a good many of these applications for sections on the part of females. And it is obvious that the conscientious man, who desires to take up land and at the same time to act straightforwardly and legally, is seriously handicapped by this improper practice. It is impossible too severely to ' characterise the conduct of a would-be settler who encourages a relative, whether male or female, falsely to "solemnly and sincerely declare" as follows : — " I am acquiring such lease solely for my own use and benefit;, and not directly or indirectly for the m& or benefit of any other person ov ! persons whomsoever. ■. . . And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true." Yet that this sort of transaction' often takes place is, we say, matter »of general admission. The section is obtained, say, by the daughter, who to all intents has acquired it for the benefit of the father, and probably she is taught to think that she has accomplished a clever and filial feat. The father either farms the land in the daughter's name or manages in some way or other to get a transfer to himself. Respecting the intention of transfer, the Land Act provides that "no person who at the time of making his application has made any arrangement or agreement to permit any other person to acquire, by purchase or otherwise, the allotment in respect of which his application is made, or any part thereof, or the applicant's interest therein, shall become a licensee or lessee under this Act." It is certain that no transfer ought ever to be granted in cases where there is ground for suspecting that the methods which we have just described have been adopted, and it is open to question whether the law should not be altered with a view of preventing the allotment of sections to females and youths who are practically dummies. Doubtless a number of women apply for sections in good faith and in strict accordance with the law, but that this is not the universal practice is clearly shown by the quite abnormal number of female applicants at last week's ballot. The Minister for Lands and Parliamezit might well consider the desirability of altering the provision which allows any person of the age of 17 years to become a selector. We do not think that many persons — at all events females — between the age of 17 and 20 become selectors " exclusively for their own use or benefit." If past professions go for anything, Mr M'Kenzih should not be backward in sternly discountenancing and thwarting all tendencies towards dummyism. There is one other matter in connection with this Ardgowan ballot that calls for notice. The superficial facts, as we have said, lend themselves to congratulation, but, is there much solid ground for feelings of satisfactisn ? What guarantee have we that the right sort of people have been successful at the ballot, or that [ such success is likely to be followed by success on the land ? True, the land is for the most part good, but the rent, as the North Otago Times points out, is equivalent to a .mortgage on the full value of the section, so that even with money and knowledge the selector would have all his work cut out. Our contemporary, who may be supposed to know something of the class of people who succeeded at the ballot, has cvi-

dently little confidence in their future as settlen, " There were at least 100

suitable applicants for Ardgowan — farmers and sons of farmers — who would have made most suitable settlers. Their success would mean a corresponding success to the town and district, and if they had obtained selections the Minister for Lands would be entitled to the gratitude of all who would like to see the stagnation that has so long settled down upon the town removed." The moral of all this is that the State should reserve the right to clioose its tenants. This system obtains in Victoria, and is said to work well there ; but we are not prepared to say that it should be adopted. In carrying it out there would be a danger of favouritism and undue influence. Still, there can be no question as to the weaknesses of the present system, and Mr M'Kbnzie himself recognises them. In his recent speech at Palmerston he even went so far as to say that " one thing was shown by experience to be necessary, and that was that land boards should have a right to select settlers, to keep out the indifferent, and allow only bona fide working men who were in earnest to go on the land and take up allotments." This declaration practically advocates a relinquishment of the present ballot system, and opens up a very large question. We have shown in the earlier part of this article that some change of the law, or at all events vigorous and vigilant carrying out of the law, is necessary in order to prevent the particular kind of dummyism which has arisen under the ballot system; while as regards the class of people placed upon the land, if any thing reasonable can be done to insure suitability and a fair chance of success, it ought to be done without delay. It is satisfactory to note that the Minister for Lands is not wedded to any particular method, while he is conscious of existing weaknesses.