The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1911. THE MACKENZIE RUNS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14363, 8 February 1911, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1911. THE MACKENZIE RUNS.

It cannot bo denied that tho explanation giveu by tho Land Board of tlio provisions adopted by it in connect ion with tlio ballot for the subdivided Mackenzie runs causes tho position to bo modified considerably from what appeared to be the case when its. decisions \rere first reported. -Mow fur that modiliealion is to be attributed to tlio criticisms which were .p'ut'ted when tho Board's bare resolutions wero first innda known \Vc are unable, of courso, to say. The condition to which special objection was taken was published oiiginally in two forms. As it was received by us and other papers through the Press Association, and as it appeared also in the detailed report given in " The Press," the resolution stated that "applicants must disclose the fuct that they posses" in cash seven times the amount of the annual rental of tho run applied for." Xo exception appears to havo been taken by the Board to this version of the resolution, though the condition, as it was published in tho " LyUelton Times," makes the regulation a good deal less stringent by requiring applicants to show possession "or command" of that amount of capital. Tho Hoard now eyph.ins that the resolutions are not to be considered as hard and fa.it regulations binding on itself, but rather as goneral guiding principles that will not be exercised without discretion. The average rent of tho runs work;; oul ai about ,G2OO, but it: is not intended to insist upon an applicant put I ing down about i'IKIO in cash. II is now .-.fated tit.it if an applicant can put <h>\> 11 ■IWJO, mid nive .in i!ii'.iU<7-Hor:ab!<» guarantee thai he will br finrnred for the remaining- sum. flint will

I>e Mlitif.l'll. lui' 1 In* Ixi'.tltl. 1 ' > I S i> a «!«".> I .'ii'Jlf Mili^taiioiy 11);iit llie p..M.!i>:i as il at Hr.-t sil>-p«.-aivd, ami it is ulivinii-; that a certain fiimm-ia! st;il>i!iiy '.s

rr'iuisitv ill ill!' ill a[!|>'u'::'il for litis I'ui :ii li'.ii- <■<Hinti-y- v -' i(-1 • siio>vsloilu> .I'i'i <>tlicr will {••• tuiitiimli'i'i-.1. and ei• n. i 1 t'l;i 1 !■ ■ c\pi'ii>es iiui.-i i't' nu-iinr'!. At tilt' .saliu" Ii: i' tin It" will, \vc icei, Ih> coti>i.ii , r;s!iK' and a ti-i'liufr iiuu ilio suliuix 's!,.ii ot the runs iuts Ik-oii atti'iided with a very limited decree ot usefulness, ii t!i<' Hoard is unable to .set its way to something less than the equivalent of s-.-vf i; vear.s' rental, oven allowing . for the broader souso in which tee provision is now able to be understood. At the mooting of the Land Board at which the provisions wero discussed, in con amotion with the question of limitation of area, a fairly general emphasis was laid upon tho point that the runs were meant to bo availabls for landless men, and not for those who were possessed of land already. It is obvious, however, that applicants who ea'i show the financial resources which the Board voqmres, although they may be landless, wi;l be only landless from choice, nul not necessity. There will be much more probability that the subdivision of the runs will henc'it shepherds and others of the ola.vs whom it was meant to benefit, if the ISoard can see its way to reduce the security required to the equivalent of four years' rent, a-) has been proposed, at least in those discs the practical experience of applicants is an asset to be thrown into the balance. We also think it will be a gTpat pity if no rii?ht of renewal is to be given, after revaluation, at the end of the ~1 jears' lease, as an inducement to tenants to improve their holdings and bnild upon them satisfactory end permanent homes.