THE SESSION S WORK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15748, 13 February 1922, Page 4

THE SESSION S WORK.

MR.. W. D. LYSNAR INTERVIEWED,

A number of matters of importance to this district were mentioned by Mi . D.Lysnar, M l’./ to-day, as having, been dealt with by the session ot Parliament just concluded. / . . • , J In regard' to the Land Act lie said, some important amendments had been made, one of which would assist small crazing runliolders in this district, as well as other interests. This provision allows the s.g.r. holder to obtain an extension of his lease for five years, on the existing terms, and is aimed at giving the holder an opportunity to recover irom the effects of the! present slump. The amendment also provides that, where s.g.r. leases Lave run out, and it. has been determined to have them subdivided, power is given to the Minister ot Lands, acting in conjunction with the Land Board, to have the determination amended, and to grant a. fresh ease to the holders. This is also tor the purpose of assisting a recovery from the present, depression, and it is realised at the. same time, that in certain cases there would be no demand tor the various blocks if subdivided. The power is of coui-se discretional. ■ Another important phase of the new legislation is that which 1 provides that- pastoral licenses may be extended' for a term of fourteen years, beyond the present term,

or on certain' specific conditions, a. lease of’ thirtv-iive years might- be granted, or alternatively, the. bolder of the license mav be permitted to obtain tbe freehold of a certain portion of lus land tor the benefit of bis family. The provision does not apply very closely to the land in this district, the benefit accruing to the pastoralists on the high lands of the South Island, and small areas in the North, where the general conditions have in many cases disheartened the farmers, and' where properties that had once carried from 10,000 .to 15,000 sheep were now only carrying two to three thousand. That type, of land was, said Mr Lysnar, the kind where they calculated the number of acres to the sheep, instead of the number of 'sheep to the acre. The Native Lands Act, Mr Lysnar stated, also, contained a series of provisions affecting this district. The fust was that which arose out lo.f the practice of certain Judg.es of the Native Land Court of making deductions from the goodwill on transfers of leases, for distribution among the owners of the land affected. An attempt had been made to validate this practice at the session, but he had opposed it, and to meet- his objection the provision was altered so that it affected the goodwill only on the transfer of a lease from a Maori to another person, blit not* .that in the case* "where* a European disposed of his lease to anyone else. It had seemed to him a wrong principle and! unfair in operation, particularly where a "European came into the question:. It was urged that tbe reason 'the Court had made the deductions ■was that the Maori lands affected were settlement lands and had first- been leased! at a very low rental, and that ■ therefore, if they disposed ,of their leases, the owners should have some of the benefit of the rise in value of the goodwill. Mr Lysnar mentioned that he had thought the practice was unfair from tjie native as well as the European standpoint, but as the native members of the House had hot undertaken to argue the matter, he had contended him.self with the protection of the .European interests. The same Act, said Mr Lysnar, contained authority for the Native Laud Court, from time to time, to make orders excluding • the interests of any natives from incorporation with the block. The present -law, ho explained, acted in an arbitrary manner. On the application of the majority of owners in a native block, the Courb could incorporate the block. This merelv gave control of the block to a small section of, the-natives, and there was no right of appeal against the order. It was wrong and lie had 1 been taking exception in the House to the provision that forces a minority of the owners into a false position. The present amendment allowed for redress of the wrong. . Among other clauses in the amending Bill were those enabling -Maori Land Boards to use a certain portion of their funds for the promotion of secondary education among tho native race, and that authorising thd AYa.erenga-a-hika

Native College Trust to borrow money on the security of the trust lands to such an amount aa it sees fit up to a limit or £SOOO, for the purpose of refunding certain advances, and for the maintenance of the college. This authority is to operate until October 1929, and unless

the Governor-General directs otherwise, will continue for an indefinite period thereafter. , MEAT POOL. . The meat pool was touched upon by Mr. Lysnar, who' said that the Bill had been passed in a satisfactory form. There might bo one or two minor administrative details that would require to be adjusted, and it had! been agreed that the next Parliament would rectify any necessary details. The Act as a

whole would come into force as soon as the Board had been appointed for the administration of the pool. .The board would have power to bring into operation the compulsory clauses of the Bill, wheh it. appears necessary, hut the voluntary clauses would be immediately in force.. It was likely that, the compulaory clauses would bo introduced when the board had completed its organisation for the handling of the meat at Home. The existing contracts would not be interfered ,With, and power had been given to make future contracts up to the time that the compulsory clauses were brought into force, but in every case, the meat must be shipped out of the Dominion by October next. The Act, m consequence, would automatically conclude all contracts by that date. The compulsory conditions might, at the discretion of the board, be brought m earlier, and contracts may then be respected up to October as the boavd sees

fit A very important clans©-lmd inserted! with regard to freight contracts. These are now entirely in the lianas oi the board; and. any contract made otherwise is declared illegal and! void. The board had the absolute right to say when and how produce is to be shipped Home. THE RAILWAY OUT. “There is absolutely no foundation,” said the local member, “for the statement that is is proposed to ‘close: down on railway construction between Wniroa and Gisborne. The first I heard of the matter was in. Mr Wildish’s wire to mo, which I received on Friday morning as I was preparing to leave Wellington on my return to Gisborne.' Where Mr. Wildish got his information I do not know but by the estimates there is an amount of £67,C00 voted for construction on the line this year, as against a eum of £70,000 last year. Of course is must be understood and recognised that in the depressed condition of the. country, and) with the acute shortage of money, there must be some curtailment in large works especially, curtailment in every direction as well as the civil service. It ia quite wrong to expect at a period like this that there shall lie retrenchment in general without the retrenchment affecting largo works not immediately capable of completion. What is intended is that there shall be no speeding up of the work at this juncture, but that things shall be kept moving. The Minister had promised!, Mr. Lysnar continued, to undertake, when othoif works nearing completion were finished! up, the concentration of plant upon the local railway, enabling the line to go ahead 1 with great rapidity. There ias a special 1 effort being made to complete the Ngatapa section, so that it might be handed over by the Public Works Department to the Railway Department. The steam' navvy was still working, andl Mr. Lysnar had the assurance of the Minister that it- would be kept working, and that it would later be supplemented by navvies from other districts.

“Ah an offset to this non-speeding-up of railway work, the Minister I'lu.s promised,” stated Mr.. Lysnar, to find all the money that the Cook and Wairoa counties can spend on the metalling of the Gishorne-Wairoa road, and he has also promised that, if necessary, ho will over-expend the present votes. So the position ia that the actual amount in the estimates are not to he treated as the limit, owinp- to the special importIWico with which the Minister regards

the route. Tlicj question as to-when the work would he completed lies entirely with Cook and Wairoa counties. There was a certain basis of work agreed upon, ho continued, but ns long ns the counties respected; this agreement the Minister had promised money would he found for any extent of work they were able to put through.