THE BILLOT SYSTEM OF LAND SELECTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2665, 12 April 1905, Page 6

THE BILLOT SYSTEM OF LAND SELECTION.

When the amount of dissatisfaction that has been expressed over the working of the ballot in connection with the opening of Crown lands for settlement is considered it is somewhat surprising that greater attention has not been given to the system in the evidence that has been tendered before the Land Commission. Probably most persons f who have had experience of the system recognise that,., with all its faults, it would be diiricult toTeplace it by a plan the operation of which would not create quite as much" discontent and heartburning. The auction system is not , acceptable, because it offers an undue advantage to the person with the long purse. The tender system is open to ! a like objection. For that reason both may be regarded as out of court. And, j in the absence of any practicable sugi gestion for the provision of a more satisfactory method of dealing with applications for land, the ballot system is approved by the majority of those who are associated with the administration of thei land laws, while the attitude of the interested public towards it may probably be described as one of toleration. "Unfortunately the system has shown itself to be liable to abuses against which no adequate check has yet been provided. It has chiefly . proved itself defective in the respect that it has 4*4 * opened the door to the practice of what may legitimately be regarded as dummying. An illustration of the existence of this evil under the system may be obtained on every occasion when land for which there is a ! strong demand is opened for applica- i tion. There is always a considerable j proportion of applications of doubtful j genuineness, though we should be dis- ] posed to think that ft was rarely that the speculative element was so very markedly present as, if the opinion of the Commissioner of Crown Lands' in Auckland may be accepted as trust- ' worthy, it was a few months ago when, upon, the opening of a block comprising 26 sections of land at Tokatoka Swamp, there were nearly 5000 applications, of which, he believed, 95 per cent, emanated from persons who had no intention whatever of going on the land. The desirability of providing some safeguards whereby the person who is bona fide anxious to secure a section of land i may be protected from the speculator was the subject of a good deal of earnest ; consideration at the conference last December between the Minister of Lands and representatives from the Land Boards of the colony, and a general sentiment was evinced in favour of the institution of some sort of preliminary examination such as was recommended by the Lands Committee of the House of Representatives in 1903. The Minister of Lands informed the conference that lie had in hand the preparation of a Land Bill, which might be brought down for discussion in Parliament next session, embodying some of the points covered by the Lands Committee's recommendations. The Minister's proposal was that the Land Board of the district should, before the ballot, consider the applications with a view to the exclusion of the ineligible candidates. According to Mr Duncan's plan, the Board *wotild make inquiries as to whether an applicant is landless or otherwise — a person being deemed to be landless if he doe? not hold, under any tenure, an area of land sufficient for the maintenance of himself and family, — as to his ability to fulfil the conditions of his lease or license and to work and utilise the land, and as to his condition of life and the number of persons dependent upon him. Having conducted an investigation on these lines, the Board would be empowered to reject the applications of the ineligible candidates, and the proposal of the Minister of Lands would render it obligatory upon the Board, in the case of competition for an allotment, to reject the applications of any persons who were not landless and would give it a discretion to confer a preference upon married men or widowers with families, upon widows, and upon married women judicially separated from their husbands and with families. These proposals are not free from (fekatafelft-

i ness, and it is probable that they may be capable of being considerably improved, but it is, at anyrate, certain that if the ballot system is to be continued — and all the indications are that it will be — some provision will have to be made by Parliament for the institution of a preliminary inquiry respecting the suitability of applicants for land J under the general land laws of the j colony, as well a<3 in the case of applicants for subdivisions of land acquired and opened under the provisions of the Land for Settlements Act.