The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, SEPT. 8, 1892.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3153, 8 September 1892, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, SEPT. 8, 1892.

The perpetual lease clause in the Land Bill was framed with the object of securing the support of the land nationalisation party ; also that which holds that freeholds should be granted to all who hold land under any of the systems, which have or do prevail, 011 payment of the capital value of the land they hold. That the attempt to satisfy both patties has failed is evidenced by two notices of motion which have been tabled. That of Mr Fish is that the c'ause granting 999 years leases shall be amended by the addition of the following words : "But all such leases shall be subject to revaluation of the unimproved cash value of land at the end of every succeeding fourteen year?, and the future yearly rental shall be at the rate of live per centum on the then ascertained cash value of the lands." If this amendment were carried, the term perpetual lease would be a misnomer. It would, in fact, be only a lease for fourteen years, with right of renewal on terms to be settled at the, eud of each period. Mr Hutchison is to move the addition to clause 152 : " Any lessee in perpetuity may, as soon as he has completed the improvements required by his lease, apply to the Commissioner for a grant of the freehold of the land comprised in the lease." It is to be hoped thnt the House will reject both amendments. The former for the reason that its enactment would be likely to deter settlement by introducing uncertainty as to the terms on which a man's descendants may hold the laud which he has taken up and improved, with the object of providing for their future welfare. In addition, it is an attempt to introduce on? of the worst features in the creed of the land nationalisers. As regards the amendment of Mr Hutchison, holding the opinion as to land tenure which his amendment indicates, we think that he has been injudicious in bringing forward his amendment, as the perpetual lease offered is as near an approach to his ideas as is likely to be reached. A lease for 999 years, with a fixed rental for the whole period based upon the present value to sell, is equal to a freehold ; and the conditions as to improvements within a given period, in order to validate the title, are such as no man who takes up land for the legitimate purpose of occupation can consider hard terms, and it is certainly a right principle that no laud should alienate from the Crown except on that understanding. It is true that the live pt>r centum rental will remain as a perpetual charge on the land, but against that objection there is the fact that a man taking up land will have the capital value in hand with which to make the required j improvements —a matter of very I great import to the majority of men at the commencement of their colo- i nial career. It is a patent fact that I not only in this district, but also in every other in the colony, the most frequent cause of a settler's failure to hold his own has been that ho 1

has applied too much of his capital to t.lin purchase of his holding, and lias had to svpply to private inoney-lf-nders or monetary institutions for loans in order to stock, ft;nce, etc., without which, of course, his purchase was valueless to him. In tlie ovfiiifc of a man having the surplus capital required to do this, it is within his powers to extinguish the rental by investing in Government securities sufficient to yield in interest the yearly rental. He would then have practically converted his lease into a freehold, and his heirs would be in the same position as if they had a Crown grant locked in the safe. It has been argued that the perpetual lease is a concession to the well-to-do, for the reason, forsooth, that he will not have the money to improve, because his title is not sufficiently good to adftit of his borrowing upon it. The answer to this objection is that he has the money in hand which he otherwise would have paid for the grant, equivalent to an advance of the whole assumed value at 5 per cent, interest In the event of his wishing to sell, the sum he would realise if he made an equitable bargain would be the value of his improvements, pins the increase in the rental value capitalised. We are presuming, of course, that the yearly rental charged by Government is such that the land, owing to its quality and other circumstances, by proper management, will leave a fair margin of profit. The wisest course that those who believe in freehold tenure can pursue is to leave well alone and strenuously oppose any movement in the direction of Mr Fish's amendment.