THE HAUTOTARA BLOCK.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXII, Issue 9700, 3 November 1909, Page 3

THE HAUTOTARA BLOCK.

(From Hansard,)

Mr Buchauau.—l have now to refer |jjj|to the Right Hon. the Prime Minister, '■"whom I am glad to see iv his place. He Ims had a great deal to say since his return as to misrepresentation from this side of the House, aud I regret very much I shall have to charge himself in that direction, whatever may have been the case in regard to the members on this side of the House. In dealing shortly witli the land questiou, he accused the honorable member for WairaraDa of urging the Government to purchase the Hautotara Estate for the benefit of oue man ; that it was ouly graziug laud, aud could only be divided into six homesteads : and that he would not buy from large lauded proprietors land which would afterwards have to.be rented at from £2 to £2 18s by the unfortunate occupiers who took up the land. iNow, the trouble in this House is that the settlers' interests are so poorly represented on the Government side. Out of twenty-live representatives classed as farmers who Jbave had the honour of beiug returned to this House, ouly seven of them are on that side. What, then, can we expect from them in dealing practically with the land questiou? The

only practical settler in the ranks of

the Ministry is excluded from dealing #with the laud; and the Prime Minister, as Minister of Lands, has evidently been misinformed with regard to this particular estate. First, let me say there was no pressure put on the Government to purchase this estate, beyoml a respectful petition from all classes of people—farmers, business men aud working men in the Martiuborough district —asking that the Government should send their best valuers to ascertain whether the estate could not be pur-

chased for settlement at a fair value. The Right Hon. Sir J. G. Ward.— They lifted the value £'61,000 before they did if. Mr Buchanan.—ln my representation to the Government I never for a moment asked them to purchase at the owner's price, because I did not Know the estate sufficiently to judge whether the price demanded was reasonable or otherwise. But Ido know this absolutely : that it is a fair average pait of a very large block of grazing country, of which the Government has already purchased many thousands of acres; that the areas into which the land has been cut up average about 540

acres; and that the settlers are doing

very well indeed. In proof of this. jSjjLet the honorable gentleman consult report of tiie Grown Lamh Commissioner, wiio took the trouble to visit the whole of these settlers tn ascertain their condition, and he will see from that report that this block of country is amongst the very best which the Government have hitherto dealt with. I have already stated that I do not know the Hautotara sufficiently in detail to be justified in fixing a value, but I do know that some of it compares very favourably indeed with the best portions of the four estates which have been already taken under the land for settlements system. I refer to Tablelands, D\er Settlement and Mahupuku.