THE ETERNAL LEASE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13484, 25 July 1907, Page 4

THE ETERNAL LEASE.

• Our Elt-ham ■ contemporary, in an editorial, declares that 1 dne of the" result's of J 'the'<land._t©««re< -agitations of recoct years will be the abolition' of the 4)99 years' ' le&&;" sonietitties spoken' of a,s the 1 . lease. r "Whatever nattiest is -know-n liy'it is doomed to oxtihet ion- ;"' anil will'-erb long he merely a memory of the past." It is statements of"' this -nature that * have caused -the &eh'>Ag"ofri£il9o<&traty femeng ' the tenants which -made thelri agitate for the freehold... « Th- State -has made' 4 bargain/ with' the 4;©riah**ifor 099 years, and the tfcoa^fe£>-ioofc;«i>l>t*4'<(feVd4 rm«ftii^-4:or m«ftii^-4:o obseryej th,©^ oantract, ©ntfred jnto; As our', cqiatenworary says, waen. i^he -late John 3|oliC^kiQ ' d*4vlsed the Tease-in-perpetuitr it gap^^a^^iy jby ana tlmight .as, the poor man s opportunity" r ~lsu€~ f i'me and- experience bi'ought -the facjb.. home to,' "tlie tenants that the lease, w. as' not as good as a freehold, boc'aiisc was a difficulty about fihancirig .iipoft it. Even tho Government Advances to Settlers Ofiico would not lend upon leaseholds. After a while this disability was partly removed, and the tenants- became, more satisfiedThen, however, arose ithe sfgitatiori by land natioj»atiserjß and, singltf-taxers for periodical revaluation of .the .land,, and many of alarmed, fearing that some. Government^ if not the present! an,6 ; ,migtft listen to these arguments liiid vary the contract made. Hence tho renewal of the agitation for the freehold, which was fir&t started' on account, of thtf\ disabilities . nientioned above. The State made a shockingly bad bargain jn granting 999, years/ leases, and it would' pay U well to sell the freehold, at the pri^indi valuation; but a contract is aocontr^.ct,a o contr^.ct, and no Government would* w< bo*jiftt9ied > in ing a contract entered^into by its prodocessor , wit nont -1 giving compeftsation. The Argus" probably dpes not mean to suggest that existing eontcacts should be broken., but it says distinctly that the "eternal" lease is doomed to extinction. We repeat ifchat it ia statements of this nature . that cause leaseholders to want the. freehold, which they regard as .more secure than a lease, whqse terms they, fear may be varied.