LAND SETTLEMENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9910, 27 July 1910, Page 4

LAND SETTLEMENT.

QUESTION OF TENURES RAISED. SALE OF ENDOWMENTS URGED BY OPPOSITION. no-confideFce MOTION ACCEPTED. [From Our- Cori;esfon*t)i;j;x,] WELLINGTON, July 28. There was an expectant air in tho Manse of Representatives tins evening, when the debate on the Financial Statement was to be opened, and on. the motion to go into committee of . supply Mr Massey's uprising was the sign l'or applause. Air iViassey, by .means of 'an amendment on tlio land question and his remarks on it, soon had the House electrified by a proposal to soli the national endowments and , 'land for settlements land held on renewable lease, and when the amendment was accepted by the Primo Minis- < iter as a. want of confidence motion, it ■ .was 1 expected to provide an interesting debate. j\ Mr Massey snid that ho intended to move an amendment. • The Prime Minister: We know what .it is. • , i •'Mr Massey: Yes, but the House : might not know. i /'The leader of the' Opposition continued that his amendment was to strike i out all the words after "that" with ' th© object of inserting the words " As the prosperity of this country depends bo much on the settlement or land, in the opinion of this House the Legisla- ' fciire should make provision this session for additional facilities for the occupa- . lion and most profitable use of the lands of the Crown, (a) by extending the optional system, both to Crown v ' lands and land for settlements laud.by ' .'removing every hindrance to the exercise of the option which enables, settlers to take up Crown land on 'the system of Voccupation with the right, of purchase/ (b) by providing that all lessees under ' . ithe lease-ip-perpetuity system should have the right to purchase the freehold . • l at the original value, either by installments or otherwise, but where they I have been paying 4 per cent they shall*, ill; addition, pay such an amount as will ' tnake their payment equivalent to what thjOy would have paid bud they held Iheir leases on a 5 per cent basis; (c) bv securing the limitation of area <.« trip freeholds so acquired ; (d) by utilisi in'jj the moneys derived 'from the sale of; freeholds for the, acquisition of further lands fo.r settlement; (e) by providing'for the speedier opening up of the surplus Native lands for settlement purposes, thereby making such lands contribute their fair share to the gen- , ' irSl and local taxation of the country." <;SALE OF NATIONAL ENDOWr MENTS. » ;Mr Massey said that lie had not attempted to deal with every phase of the !apd question, and lie had not mentioned the endowment lands or land for settlements land held oil the renewable, lease, but the question must arise very • soon as to whether the option of purchase ought not to be granted to settlers going on endowment lands, and whether the money so received should not bo used for the purchase of other lands more suitable and valuable for the departments they proposed to ben--1 ' efit. He intended to refer tb another question. There was a provision in the National "Act that, in the case of any, settler going on Crown land with the optional tenure and taking up land on renewable lease, that fact made them endowment lands. It was a position not fair to the settler, and one that should be remedied. Subsequently he would bring down a proposal giving the right of purchase to settlers taking settlement lands on renewable lease on conditions fair to the jnettler and the State. He asked nothing for the tenants which belonged i to the State, and nothing f;r the State \ .which was the tenants', but he sub- • . jnitted that if the lease-in-perpetuity tenants were allowed to acquire their land at original value the money could . !be used to better purposes by putting it into the land for settlements fund. ' , \ . NATIVE OWNERSHIP. - ' The most important part of his .. , amendment, Mr Massey continued, re- . lated to Native y land. Native ownership in its present form wa's a curse to , (the community, and he wished southern members would visit the North Island to realise the' extent of the evil. He , quoted statements made at an Auckland conference showing how big counties were at< a disadvantage, ,becauso the Native lands returned Jittlo or no rates. In one year the Raglan County Council obtained only £3 (5s 5d from {Native land, and had"to write off £1357 ■ . due from Native lands. The position ! should not be tolerated, and in saying this he meant no injustice to the Natives-. . The kind-hearted apd easy-going Native Minister had refused to allow the local bodies to obtain judgments /"against the Natives .for rates. h ' The Hon J. Carroll (Native Minister): Only when the local bodies put dead men on the valuation roll. "' Mr Massey went on to say that the Natives' had received no benefit from the European settlement which had gone on in the neighbourhood of Tau- : marunui. Only that day he had received a telegram from Rotorua stating:. "Willing to lift the Thermal Springs Act. Let the pakeha pay a fair price for the land. No Tirai Kara. No . taihoa. May God help you." (Laughter.) i ■ 'Mr G. W. Russell: He thought you wanted some help. .(Laughter.) . i-

What the coijntry wanted, continued Mr Massey, wt / a progressive land settlement policy and security of tenure. (Government members: "Hear, hear.") He admitted that the Government had done something to provide land for the settler, but not nearly enough. Ho described as nonsense the allegation that the Opposition favoured the aggregation of largo estates. He congratulated the Government upon Bringing down tho Financial Statement early. He believed that as a result the session could be got through without long hours. , There was, as usual, no policy to be found in the Statement. It was always expected that tho Statement would contain an expression of the Government's programme, but 110, looked in vain for the land policy. The amendment was seconded by Ms A. S. Malcolm (Clutha). WANT OF CONFIDENCE MOTION Accepted. The leader of the Opposition explained that he had sent a copy of his amendment to the Prime Minister at noon, so as to give him full notice of it. He had also asked the Prime Minister whether he would accept it as a want of confidence motion.

"I never received it," said Sir Joseph Ward. " I am very sorry," said Mr Massey, " but I certainly sent it to you by special messenger." . The Prime Minister said that he most certainly would accept the amendment as a want of confidence motion. " The mountain has been in labour arid has brought forth a mouse," declared ■ Sir Joseph. With that remarkable haste for which he was noted, Mr Massey, without, wa, ting for a reasonable opportunity of discussing the subject intelligently, had brouglit forward land proposals before he was in a position to see whether they could be servicoable. His proposals for the sale of lease-in-perpetuity land would rob Now Zealand of a very large ■ sum if given effect to. Nothing, apparently, would satisfy the honourable gentleman unless he was doing everything himself. REMARKABLE SETTLEMENT.

The 'Prime Minister continued 1 that lie wished the House and the country to know what the Government and its predecessors had done to promote land settlement. The number of people settled 011 the land under permanent tenures (which did not include uastoral runs) under the late Mr Seddon's administration was 26,734 upon an area of 6,234.939 acres from 1906 to 1910. tinder the present Government's administration 6808 people had been placed on 2,289,952 acres, making a grand total of 33,542 settlers 011 an area of 8,523,991 acres. A fair estimate of the" total number of persons put on the

land by the two administration:: amounted to 130,000. The Antagonism 'to the acquisition of Land for Settlements land and the provision of money for the settlers came from the Opposition party. This could not be denied, the value of the land settled was nearly six millions, and the tenants upon toe laud numbered 4632, while the area held "was 1.120,14<3 acros. JI. "was? ab(surd, then, to speak of inactivity. NATIVE LANDS. In regard to Native land, Mr .Massey had again shut his eves to the facts and indulged j n generalities. On lands alone 73 surveyors Were now engaged as well as 173 chainmen. Already 1,191,25(5 acres had been seltlcd. outright, TJ.o Native Court had dealt, mtli 572,2(0 acres, and the total area dealt with for settlement * v P l '" r at 6 alienation was i.bli ,bb2 acres since 1900. In addition the land dealt with by the Maori Land Courts had been 254.871 acres, and the lands administered under the I normal Springs Act had been 2182 H-r'on? 1 ' a total of aU lands of '-"t ocros ' ' n addition to that /20,.i04 acres were now survej ; ed and were being made available for settlement as well as a further 30.000 acres, a grand total of 3.200,000 acres dealt with in ten years. There had never been anything to equal it in the history of the country, commented the Prime Minister. Mr Mi issey, he continued, had suggested that no rates were being collected from Maoris in occupation of their own land, but the difficulty of collecting the rates would bo .overcome by legislation this year. THE CHECK TO SETTLEMENT. There had not been as much laud taken up this year, as Mr Massey had naively remarked, the Primo Minister continued, and it was a matter that Parliament would legislate upon this session, but it was because the large owners had jumped up the price of their lands to an unfair and improper price, at which no Government would be justified in buying them. Mr Massey: It was 3-011 r own Act. The Prime Minister: Then you will have an opportunity of amending it. Witli these high values standing against the Government, if tho lands were to be taken compulsorily it wouTEl have to be plus 10 per cent of tho owner's valuation. It was 110 wonder that the Government could not acquire the land. It was a question whether a proposal should not be introduced by which the State could compel persons with such lands to allow .those who wished to settle 011 them to have tho right of occupation at a fair rental. The Opposition, the Prime Minister continued, had opposed tho land for settlements . policy, and tho great majority had opposed the compulsory acquisition of estates and tho State Guaranteed Advances Department. LAND TENURE. In conclusion the Prime Minister said that every member knew that the Government was to bring down land proposals, and tho amendment, which proposed to intercept them, was moved by Mr Massey to endeavour to induce some members before the land proposals came down to vote with him on a distinct party proposal. An active land settlement policy had been carried out by tho Government, and a great deal had been done in the Native Department. He challenged, anyone -to say that during the last five years there had not been a reinvigoration both by forward land legislation and the consolidation of the Native laws. A POPULAR TENURE. Mr J. Allen (Bruce) said the Opposition wished to know_ whether the Government had any principle in regard to land. Ho did not deny that there were many systems of obtaining land, but when lessees were in favour of the cash and the deferred payment system they were discouraged, and urged to take up land 011 the renewablo leoso, with the ultimato result that a proportion of the lands of the dominion would be turned into leaseholds. v

The Hon G. Fowlds, in reply to Mr Allen, said that there was no incongruity in a single taxer and a freeholder sitting together, as the freehold tenure was a fundamental principle of tho single tax. He added that if all taxes were remitted except those on land the great majority of- the people would pay from h-lf to quarter of the taxes they now paid. . Tho debate was adjourned at 12.35 a.m., 011 the conclusion of Mr Fowlds's speech. .