TITLES TO LAND

Southland Times, Issue 23502, 7 May 1938, Page 19

TITLES TO LAND

CONDEMNATION OF FREEHOLD MINISTER EXPRESSES HIS VIEWS Condemnation of the practice of granting settlers the freehold title to their land was expressed by the Minister of Lands, the Hon F. Langstone, in an address at the Labour Party conference in Wellington. Mr Langstones speech is reported in the Labour newspaper The Standard. “The land of New Zealand has been alienated from the Crown by the policies of past Governments, said tne Minister, “and the Lands Department turned into a mere leasing authority occupied with endless squabbles with leaseholders. In spite of all the disastrous muddling of the past over land tenure and rural finance, New Zealand has splendidly efficient farmers. Sne leads the world in dairy and sheep farming—a proof of the intelligence and energy of the men engaged in these industries.

“There is a most peculiar mental attitude to the land problem among many New Zealanders,” added Mr Langstone. “They think the Crown has an inexhaustible supply of good land, but it has not. Moreover, the Dominion is almost surfeited with primary production and is facing the competition of artificial substitutes. “The failure of land settlement in the past had been the granting of titles. Every man who worked on the land wanted a title to a’piece of it. A man who worked in a factory did not demand a title to the factory, nor did a railwayman expect eventually to own a piece of railway. Yet the land worker wanted a title to the land. “What does he want it for?” asked the Minister. “Past history has shown that he wants it to gamble with to get away with plunder. While lam Minister there is going to be no new opportunity given for anyone 'to do that.” , State farms were now in course ot establishment, continued Mr Langstone. The Lands Department was becoming a development department. If the number of men employed in production, plus an increased volume of production, was the test of success, then the new policy was greatly sucThe Minister proceeded to detail areas of land which were being developed intensively and in conjunction with the provision of adequate reading and power supply, and housing of a type calculated to keep families on the land. He mentioned several localities where blocks of thousands of acres at present in private ownership—had been selected as suitable for development. However, they had yet to be purchased—and at the right price. Farms under the new type of State development must be planned as selfliquidating assets. The price must be right, the land must remain in State ownership, and cultivation must be proceeded by reading and housing.. The need of a rural State banking system of the most flexible nature was dealt with at length by the Minister, who concluded with an explanation ot his ideal of farming as creative work that would give expression to the individuality of the farmer.

The Milk Marketing Board in England is still meeting a certain amount of opposition from producers who do not like compulsion and it still continues imposing heavy fines against offenders when breaches are discovered. For selling milk wholesale without a contract seven producers have just been fined sums ranging from £4 to £43; for selling milk retail without a producer’s retail licence fines ranged from £2 to £34 on six offenders; for rendering false returns £8 to £35 on nine producers; and for selling milk by retail below the prescribed retail price £1 to £lO on four producers.