THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1895. LAND SETTLEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2825, 6 June 1895, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1895. LAND SETTLEMENT.

For many years we have been endeavoring to impress upon the Government the desirability of adopting a new line of policy in regard to land. We have so long ago as 1887 pointed out the great difficulties which lay in the way of buying land from the present owners for the purposes of leasing it to others. , First of all •••> oney must be borrowed to do this, and this money appears as an increase in our total indebtedness. The Opposition takes advantage of this to point out that our liabilities are increasing, and this cannot fail to damage our credit in. 'foreign countries. But this is a very small affair compared with other effects .resulting. from land purchase. The present owners of the land cannot be blamed if they try to get the highest price possible for their properties. It is only natural that they should do so, and evidently they succeed in getting it. The result is that when the land is bought, and the incidental expenses, such as the cost of sub-division, are added to the price, it becomes too dear, and the rent, which necessarily must be exacted, is too high. This was made apparent by the demands made at the spacial meeting of the Land Board:in Timaru last Monday. There the tenants of the settlement at Waimate protested their inability to pay the rent, and one mau said he must give up the land' altogether. Now this is enough to discredit the whole System, and will of course be taken advantage of by the Opposition to resist its extension. No doubt the village settlers of Studholme Junction told the honeßt truth when they said they could not pay the rent, but at the sam<j time they did that which brings discredit on the whole system. Times out of number we have suggested an alternative scheme, the adoption of which would obviate all this. Our proposal has been that instead of the Government involving the country in extensive financial operations a law Bhould be passed which would compel owners of large estates to subdivide their properties into farms of suitable size and lease them at a reasonable rental to suitable tenants. We have so frequently explained this that we do not think it necessary to go very minutely into the matter again. The effect of it would be that the State would not be require to resort to borrowing; that the land would be settled better than under the present system; that settlement could be pushed ahead ten times more rapidly, and that the State would get all the advantages of close settlement without involving it in its responsibilities. We have tried to enforce this on publio attention without success, and the consequence is that we are face to face with such results as that which was exhibited at the special meeting of the Laud Board iu Timaru last Monday. ♦ i FAIR RENT. The demands of the Crown tenants at last Monday's meeting of the Laud Board in Timaru were fair and reasonable. They made no request to be permanently relieved of their liabilities, but they asked for leniency during the existence of low prices. There is nothing in this request to which any reasonable man ought to take objection. The Crown lands were taken up when prices were much better than they are at present, and while it was possible to pay renls then, it may not be possible to pay them now. It is unreasonable to insist on men doing impossibilities. If the tenants . cannot make the rent out of the land they cannot pay it, and it would be only fair that landlords should bear a share of the depression. We have frequently advocated a fair rent system, which would meet such emergencies as the present, and we are convinced that nothing else will ever ba fair and reasonable. Our proposal is that rents should rise and fall according to the prices realised by our staple products. There.could be nothing fairer than this, and there can be no difficulty in its way. Let us suppose, for instance, that when wool, grain, and frozen mutton are selling at a very high price, the tenant rents the land at a rate which bears a certain ratio to its productive capabilities, but when the prices come dowa, as they have done lately, and he cannot pay, and he is ruined. We hold that the landlord Bhould bear his fair sharp of $ e contracted productiveness of his land, and ajso enjoy a share of its fruits in better times. If our system were adopted it would be good for landlord aud good for tenant. The landlord would get a high rent when the products of the soil brjpg high prices, and he would also hays to share in seasons of depression like other people, ft ppuW be worked, simply; A scale of prices could be drawn op, and proportionate rents fixed, so that there never could be any dispute between landlord and tenant with regard to the matter. This is what is wanted, andwithout a doubt the day will come when necessity w#l enfprge jt§ adoption. -. » L. STATE BANK. The Scotsman has, according to a cablegram, advised British investors not to assist the Victorian Government in establishing a State Bank. It is very good of (the Scotsman to proffer th£ adjice, but whether the British investor does or does not assist Victoria must establish a State Bank or else go tg ruin. The banking returns for the Australian colonies fihdW that they are practically oq their lout logs- This 18 shown by the dividends paid. 'jhey have increased their capital enormously, W*- f he JF d ' dends have fallen to alnaosj; the vanishing poiot. This is only what might have been expected, at any rate, from the reconstructed banks. We are convinced that %b is almost impossible for them to stall 4. They gave to their depositors at the time 6* recopatfu/atjou preferential shares, which bear a high rate of interest, and owing to the depressed condition of trade they cannot pay it. The result must be disastrous in the end, and a panic similar to that of a couple of years ago may bo looked forward to. This cannot be avoided unless something like a miracle occurs, and then Victoria will bo forced to establish a State Bank. Ever since the bauking panic of a few years ago

an agitation has been going on in Aaßtralia in favor of a State Bank, bat it has net come to anything of importance yet. Queensland has issued Treasury notes which are in circulation we beliere, but has not-settled down to proper .banking business. The next crisis, however, will bring' the .people to their senses, and then will State Banks be established in all the Australian colonies. We cannot see the necessity for seeking the assistance of the British investor. If the British investor gets a fing3r in the pie, the State Bank will be ruined. Of course if the British investor desires to place his money on deposit in the Bank, well and good, but if he is to be given shares in it, the institution cannot be regarded as a State Bank. Necessity will force the State Bank into existence yet.