THE PREMIER AT DUNEDIN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1411, 29 October 1885, Page 3

THE PREMIER AT DUNEDIN.

( Continued ) Now I have to refer to one or two things that come under the first and second heads, and one of these is the LAUD BILL AND NATIVE LAND BILL, because they deal really with individual rights as well as interests, for I recognise that the land is the property of the State—(applause)—and I recognise further this ; That the land should only be parted with by the State to encourage the production of things necessary for humanity. Now I will refer to the Land Act. With much trouble that Land Act was passed, I do not need to explain my views regarding the land to this meeting ; but let me tell you that we have got embodied in this Land Act not only many things that I have expressed myself in favor of, but we have got provisions under this Land Act that I did not expect in any Legislature in any colony it would hate been possible to have passed in the present state of public opinion. We have got what is termed the perpetual leasehold extended right and left, I may say. I don’t like the term “perpetual leasehold." I would rather call it “ conditional freehold,” because under the perpetual lease system the person who takes up the land has absolute security of tenure, and what is that security ? It is this ; A man who gets a farm under that system goes into occupation, and pays 5 per cent on the value of the land as a rent. He has the use of the land for 30 years. Two or •three years before the end of the lease the land is valued, and all the improvements he has made upon the land. The value of the improvements is deducted from the value of the land, aud then he can obtain another 30 years’ lease upon the value of the land, deducting all improvements. Gentlemen, I call that as good as any freehold. (Applause). He has another option if he wish. He may say ; “ I think the value of tha land too high, and I am not going to take it up again at 6 per cent, rental on tho value,” Then any person who takes up the land has to pay every penny the improvements are valued at, so that the original holder under the perpetual lease system on going out of occupation receives full valuation for improvements. Gentlemen, I call that a very good kind of tenure, (Applause). And let me tell you the advantage of that. What has been crippling our farmers 1 It has been the mortgaging, and there will be no mortgaging under this system. What farmer has been able to get money at 5 par cent 1 Not one. And what lias been the result ? So many farmers have gone to the wall. They have had to mortgage their pieces of land, and pay perhaps 8 or 10 per cent; interest, and when bad times came, and they were perhaps unable to pay the interest, their farms slipped away from them. Now by this system of perpetual leasehold a man does not need to launch out all his.capital: ho keeps his capital in his pocket; he can use it for stock, for improvements, and ho has only to pay 5 per cent, on the value of the land he holds.' He has also absolute security—nobody can turn him out. I believe this system of tenure is the system for the Colony ; but it has another effect. Now I will tell you what will make our finances staple. I want you to look to the future. I want you to think that wo in this colony are laying down lines of policy that are not only going to affect us, bat are going to affect our children and our children’s, children, I want to ask you what will make our system a solid system in future? 1 believe it will be this conditional freehold system. Let us look at it in another way. When we borrow money we are afraid of a grinding taxation coming upon us. I I am going to let you see how that is going to be avoided. We hear also ef local taxation pressing heavily. How can that be avoided T Why, if all the land, for example, had been alienated on the system of perpetual leasehold what would we have ? We would have a certain finance. Tho rents coming in from our lands would baye been so large that we could have eased off taxation as the Colony progressed instead of increasing taxation, and I say that if we are i going to have financial security we ought to encourage in every way possible the system of perpetual leasehold. Why ? As the Colony progresses we will find the local taxation increase and not decre ise ; but if you had in every county, for example, large blocks'of laud in perpetual leaseholds handed over to the counties if they were so endowed with revenues—see what a diff rent position they would be in. One of the things that has saved us from additional taxation no doubt has been our 'land rents. What has saved even the city of Dunedin from the taxation which it would have been sub- ; jected to ? But for the large rents coming I in from the reserves set apart in the early days, your cates instead of being la 3d in

the pound would have been 2a 3d. Why should you deny to the whole colony this system that has worked so well for ypu ; l —(Applause). Gentlemen, lam glad to say that the Parliament saw that, and that they have extended this perpetual leasehold system right and left. We have it over educational reserves, over' village settlements, and over special settlements. Now let me tell you what that means. So far as the special settlements are concerned, we can set aside 100,000 acres of land every year, and we can set some of that aside on the perpetual leasehold system, so that we can apply the perpetual leasehold system to the North Island, Then the village settlement scheme. What does that mean 1 We have elaborated a village settlement scheme, so that we can give to the people what are called village settlement sections up to 50 acres, and these sections can be given on this perpetual lease system; so that you will see that those who sneered at me and asked what had been done in reference to this nationalisation scheme do not understand this land bill. I say that this land bill has given us in this perpetual leasehold system far more than I expected Parliament would give. But wo have got more than that. We have practically perpetual leasehold throughout the Colony to a wonderfully large extent, because wo have got power to set aside land on what are called small grazing leases—pastoral land unfir perhaps for agriculture we can set aside in small grazing leases. Now, the provision for that is that if a person takes up a small grazing rim he shall be paid for his improvements if he is not out of nnssession; but as it is merely pastoral land he is to pay, instead of 5 per cent, only 2$ per cent interest for the rental, that is per cent on the value of the land, and this system may be applied right through the colony. But the beauty of this small run system is this, that one man can only ..have one run. You will .remember that in 3877 Mi Donald Reid, who did much for our land laws, brought in a bill which is the | Act of 1877. In that bill w’as inserted a .'provision that no run should be larger than would carry 5000 sheep, but there was no provision in the bill, and perhaps it could not have been carried in 3877, that one man should only hold one run. What was the result f The result was that a big capitalist or a big company could come in and bid for 20 or 30 runs. There was no limitation, and then the Mackenzie clause—a very proper clause, though it was thrown out by the House of Representatives—limited the holding to 20,000 sheep, which meant that the pastoral lands should not pass into the hands of the few, but should be held by the many. That had been defeated. But in this small run system we first say that no man shall hold more than one run in the Colony, and secondly, that if he has land, that, along with the area of the run, would amount, to 6000 acres, he cannot get the run, so that we can now administer our pastoral hurls so that instead of having large area—miles and miles of territory—in the hands of one man or one company, we cm as the pastoral leases fall in split them up. into small holdings, and have our sheep, farmers quadruple, or even quintruple, what they are to-day. I say, looking at the Land Bill and its bearing on tire land question, Isay that there is no Land Bill in the other Colonies, or in any country under the sun, that is more liberal than the one we have passed. I think you will see that what I pledged myself to on the land ques'ion when elected I have at all events in this bill been able to carry out. Now, let me say that the Government,, the House, and the country are indebted, I think,, to Mr Rolleston for the great assistance he has given us in carrying this Bill. Mr Rolleston took no end of trouble over this measure, and cared little for party lines in voting upon it. He assisted us in every way in his power, and I feel sure that when the history of the land legislation of this colony comes to be written the historian will not forget the important part, the good part, Mr Rolleston played in the House of Representatives. (Applause.) We introduced also what is called the homestead system. Notv, I; confess that I do not think so much of this homestead system as some others do, I believe that perhaps, to enable people to . pioneer districts that have not been pioneered it may be necessary to give them the land for nothing, but in districts near settlement, if you give one section for nothing you may have 20 or a hundred people applying for the same section, and how are you to select the man who is to get it. Besides we cannot afford to do that with the burdens we have upon us. Wo cannot afford to give land away for nothing, except in the outlying districts, ! nnd ,1 thoroughly agree with what I saw in the Star the other evening in criticising the homestead clause. I believe, however, in outlying districts in may be useful to give land for nothing to enable pioneer aettlera to take it up, and to be the forerunners of settlement and civilisation. The village-settlement scheme, however, in practically a homestead scheme; and as under it land may be taken up upon deferred payments or on perpetual lease, it will meet all the requirements of a Homestead Act. There was another provision which was inserted, which shows (he necessity for the State keeping control of the land. It is found necessary in this bill to insert a provision giving power to the Government to buy back land to enable (hem to settle the, people upon it. That very fact shows that there has been a blunder in our legislation in the past. 1 ( hope when we come to deal with another branch you will never let this land question slip from your memory, but will recollect that after all the land question is the question about which the big politics! fights will yet have to be fought, and that it requires your eternal vigilance. {To be continued.)