THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Morning. Nelson Friday, Feb. 16, 1906. LAND RESERVES.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11555, 16 February 1906, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily— Morning. Nelson Friday, Feb. 16, 1906. LAND RESERVES.

In the course of his policy speech, delivered at Kurnara last month, the Premier declared that the settlement of the land is to be proceeded with, and that the five millions of acres of native lands in the North Island are to be let, and rendered productive. Ho stated, that the landless Maoris are to be provided for, and that half a million acres of the land acquired from the Natives by purchase are to be set apart as an endowment for educational purposes, also that a quarter of a million acres are to be likewise reserved for charitable purposes. At the recent meeting of the Marlborough Land Board a circular was read which notified that the Cabinet has decided to set apart one million acres of Crown lands as an education endowment, the basis of distribution among the several land districts to bo in proportion to the number of children in each educational district, the proposal being to

primary educatio'n\ o^ quarter to secondary 1!, %,nu one quarter to tech- ■ nic%i education. An idea seems to have been formed that the revenue from such land endowments is to be available for the immediate district ta-whi£h IKfteVand is, but we tqil %6 seo ahy reason for |such»V», "cohclusion. Land revenue ' dtifes not belong to provincial districts, but to the Colony as a whole, and the income from reserves set apart f rtr specific purposes should be devoted tQ such purposes generally, and without limitations as to boundaries, save that steps should fee taken to equalise advantages. Some districts in the tJolony already p6sses3 large endowments, while others haVo | few or none, but it would be against the claim of the Government that j they are providing equal opportunities for all if the prsseht intention ! went further thim ah effort td place ; all on an 'equal footing. The qu'^ation as to -whether special \ services and requirements, such as education—primary, secondary, and technical —and the provision for old age pensions and charitable aid, should be provided for by means of special reservations, or from ordinary current revenue, is one that may well be thoughtfully coasidefedL Where the necessary means are raised by taxation there is the prospect ; that the expenditure will be more I carefully watched than if the requisite money is derived from, reserves, but there is also the danger that in times of depression, when taxation galls more severely, attempts may be made to curtail the usefulness of beneficial systems by reducing expenditure that is made out of ordinary revenue, or, if that is not done, or a hardship being inflicted on many. By setting aside Orown land for educational purposes, fdr charitable aid and. meeting the pay-, ments for bid age pensions, th<J caSI payttrs will, to sonv} Extent, be relieved, and permanent provision will be, made for meeting at least a porlion of the expenditure in connection with these pensions, with charitable aid> ttftd education. At .- the sahle tim« there will fee less revenue to devote ibo reproductive , works, fey 3etling "aside reserves. ; h6w"ev^r, We are not trenching upon current revenue, but are rather proi viding a reserve for future purposes, i and,providing that due care is taken I in the administration of the reserves, the system promises to be largely , advantageous to the Colony in years . to come. i Under such a system it may be • possible as time goe3 on to reserve further lands for like purposes, even ! though. fc 'such lands have to bB ac- > quired by purchase, and in that way : Jeftn years may, to a certain extent, be provided against in times of prosperity. It is notiwabls that some who advocate the freehold system in | preference to the lease favor the setting aside of land for endowments such as advocated, but one advantage of such reserves will be that people i of moderate means will be able to secure leaseholds.