THE TENURE QUESTION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XL, Issue 5596, 5 December 1908, Page 4

THE TENURE QUESTION.

(Lytttelton Times.) The Wellington Post having assisted to " Strengthen " the Opposition— to bring about " a turn of the tide," ns it -says / itself — is now afraid that Mr Masaey a«d his frlerads may b© encouraged by the slight reduction in the Government's hup-e majority to make an attack .upon the Liberal lanJ policy. It would have been well to have thought about this possibility before the elections, but apparently our comtemporary was too anxious to put a " check " upon the Government to consider how the " check " might operate. We are not, however, very greatly.. alarmed ourselves: Probably the Post is correct in saying that a majoiity of the members of the new House of Representatives are favourable io the freehold iovm of ieiiure. A majority of the members of the old House were favourable to the freetold, but they were not all prepared to go the length of bribing the Crown .tenants by allowing them to acquire their holdings at the original valuation. The Land Act of last year, j ■which, provides i-hat the tenants may | purchase their folmie nil the present • unimproved value. satisfied all the moderate men. But, even if Mr ¥kssey thinks he can embarrass the Government by. renewintr his attack up<ni its land policy, he will hardly open the campaign by movinsr an amendment t&.the.Addresshin-llaply as our contemporary suggests. He is too good a ■tactician to make a mistake of that kind. The freehloMers on the Liheral side of the House, whatever their pledges, would be under no necessity at that stage to join with the Opposition in censuring the Government for not having made " sufficient provision for- the freehold tenure." No onewili know until the Government brings down its proposals what provision it has made for this tenure. If the Land Settlement Finance Bill is re-introduc-ed and placed on the Statute Book, the freeholders will find it extremely difficult to imagine that they have any -grievafcioe. They will have the option of tenure in regard to all Crown lands, the right of conversion at the preseat value and the privilege of acquiring settlement lartds as freehold. We cannot oelieve that the electors who have been " strengthening- " the Opposition and putting a- " check '' upon- the- Government expected then-votes-to accomplish more than this. Mr^Uffassey's pblicy is to convert all the Crown lanids into freehold as speedily as .possible, and to deprive 90 per cent, of the people of evei-y interest 'ibey may have in th& soil, of their own country ; but the elector who can look even ten years ahead must see that the adoption of this policy would inevitably bring aljfout in New Zealand the bitter conditions that lie at the root of nearly all the social troubles in older lands. At the present time there axe only some 52,000 land holders in ihe Domimon holding areas of more than ten acres - in extent, and under Mr Massey'splan not t more than 10,000 ccmld be added to their number before every acre of laid that could be profitably occupied would -foe alienated from the Crown. TWhat would our Conservative friends do for the 950,000 landless people that remained and for thei? descendants ? This is a question which they, have never attempted to answer.