BIG ESTATES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13644, 11 July 1908, Page 6

BIG ESTATES.

THE EFFECT OF THEIR " UURSI

INU UP."

MORE PLEDGING OF THE COLONY'S CREDIT.

The ; following- are -the \paragraph's in the Finincial Statement lo »uiclr- wt made, in -a sub-ltadcr yesUr day:— , , a " SPECIAL LAND SETTLEMENT.

The large areas of lands that are, now being'put on the /niarket by private; lioidenj'calls for consideration from ifc standpoint of helping desirable:- settleis to acquire - for settlement selections- of the same areas as is provided , tyr * in the Laud for Settlements Act upon Hie easiest possible financial conditions. 'lhe work of the Land for S«ttlenientts Act involves an' expenditure •of about half a .million sterling per annum, which adds direetly to our public debt, is meeting a great went, and should not in any way be curtailed.. After carelul consideration I ain of the opinion that a departure in another direction be made and a system of special "settlement association. established, so. as to. enable ' that great desideratum, the c.oser settlement of Ijjie land, to be carried out still mtJre expeditiously. I, therefore, propose to siibmit proposals to the House this session making financial provision lor .-special;, land settlement upon the following lines':—

Upon application by any number, say ten or more, of intending boua fide settlers -who have obtained iioni a private landowner an offer to" sell the estate at a pj'icefixed by him, the Land Purchase Board shall inspect the. land to ascertain its suitability for settlement and. tht fairness of the price, and if the Board is satisfied 1 on both points it will x-eporb to the Minister of Finance. The proposed settler will' then .submit a scheme for settlement, which must be consistent with the .limitations and other conditions of the Land fpr Settlements Act. If the scheme is approved by the Land Purchase :Board, the Advances to Settlers Department; through the Minister of Finance, will obtain the money required -to purchase the estate at the lowest possible rate of interest-, giving to the lander as security for such money a mortgage over the-estate in the name of the settlers," who will also bind themselves as ordinary .mortgagors by their own covenants, ihi addition to the security, and the Government will guarantee the repayment of capital and of interest ,lo the lender. I propose to provide for a redemption fund by which-, the settlers would repay both principal and interest in 32j years. Honourable members will see that by adopting this course, the country's guarantee for capital and interest would be made absolutely safe, • inasmuch as the reduction by way of sinking fund paid by the settlers themselves would, upon every payment, strengthen the security both for the lender and Government guarantee, and all improvements effected upon the special settlements would, still further reduce the liability of the lender and improve the security of the State. This' the guarantee of the Dominion would be steadily reduced and the value of the security steadily increased. The proposed 1 settlers "should have the same right of usage of the land as is now enjoyed by land-for-settleineut tenants.

Honourable members will recognise that if any settlers now purchase laud froiu private owners, the.iand as soon as they have'paid off the purchase money becomes their own property, and this proposal , does not take -away from them the, right in that respect that they would possess; •' on the contrary, it would give them great heart to wort and develop their property, as tinder the .terms I. propose this would be "done under very easy I feel aure that the proposal, which:is one of great importance, should ■ help' immensely a number ' of men 1 who intend : to settle' upon, the land to obtain areas from private owners in different parts of the Dominion suitable r to tOieir require-

ments, and upon financial conditions tii.it would make the acquirement of it comparatively easy. It will have the lurther advantage of preventing any direct addition in view of the criticism that t>o frequently takes place in connection with the moneys that are utilised lor what 1 may term the people's social requirements.

ADVANCES' TO SETTLERS.

The active land settlement that has been going on throughout the country necessarily calls for a large amount of money by those acquiring sections. A number of large holders have been placing the excttss of their land upon the market, and to this fact I attribute to some extent considerable demand that is being made throughout the country for financial assistance from that highly popular branch of the public service, the Advances to Settlers Department. It has worked so satisfactorily up to now—and the time has long since parsed when any doubt can exist in the minds of the most sceptical as to its stability—that 1 i'tei justified in asking the House to increase the limits of borrowing from that Department 'from five millions to six millions. It may not be found necessary to utilise all, or indeed any portion, of the extra million, but I am sure. honourable members will agree with me that it is desirable that many of our enterprising settlers who may look to this Department for advances should not be denied on account of the maximum amount now fixed. it will be gratifying to honourable meinbeis to know that the repayments 1 made to the Department now total the large amount annually of £BOO,OOO, and Uie time is not* far distent when the. repayments will reach a million per year. I look forward with confidence to bting able, without fresh extensions beyond the million,now asked, to carry on the whole of the fresh requirements from .tliis branch of the service \ out of the animal repayments. In any case, lam of the opinion that six millions should be the final limit for obtaining funds to .meet the purposes of this Department. It. seeins scarcely. fair that the total - borrowings of the Advances to Settlers Department shoultj be included as .a pail of the public debt, though strictly speaking it is so; but, as the moneys are used for the purpose of advancing upon landed security it is a question whether we should not consider the desirability of transferring the whole loan to the Advances to Settlers Board, making provision by law for the guarantee of the repayments. , I am of opinion that this will not in any Way weaken the security of those who lend t-lie money. . It would place this useful Department of the Dominion upon a basis tliat would more strictly represent the true posi ion. ,Supposing any outside commercial concern .were carrying on such a business, and could show result's similar to the Advances to Settlers Department, tliey would not include tilt money borrowed as part of the commercial concern's direct liability. In its present .form''it allows a. wrong impression to be con-