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1913. NEW ZEALAND.

LANDS COMMITTEE (REPORT OF THE), ON PAPER No. 127, RELATIVE TO THE AGGREGATION OF LAND. (Mr. E. NEWMAN, Chairman.)

Report brought up on the Iph November, 1913, together with .Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, and ordered to be printed.

ORDERS OF REFERENCE. Extracts from the Journals of the House of Representatives. Thursday, the 3rd Day of July, 1913. Ordered, " That Standing Order No. 219 be suspended, and that a Committee be appointed, consisting of fourteen members, to whom shall stand referred after the first reading of all Bills affecting or in any way relating to the landK of the Crown, or educational or other public reserves ; the Committee to have power to make such amendments therein as they think proper, and to report generally when necessary upon the principles and provisions of the Bill; the Committee to have power to call for persons, papers, and records ; three to be a quorum : the Committee to consist of Mr. Anderson, Hon. Mr. Buddo, Mr. Coates. Mr. Forbes, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Mac Donald, Mr. E. Newman, Mr. Nosworthy, Mr. T. W. Rhodes, Mr. Robertson, Mr. R. W. Smith, Mr. Statham, Mr. Witty, and the mover.'—(Hon. Mr. Massey.) Tuesday, the 29th Day of July, 1913. Ordered, " That Papar No. 127, ' Papers regarding Aggregation of Land,' be referred to the Lands Committee."— (Hon. Mr. Massey.) EEPOET. Report on Papeh No. 127, relative to the Aggregation of Land. The Lands Committee,- to which was referred the paper above mentioned, has the honour to report that it has carefully considered the same, and during the course of the inquiry has examined the following witnesses: John Strauchon, Under-Secretary for Crown Lands; T! N. Brodrick, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Wellington; H. Lundius, Crown Lands Ranger in Wanganui District; R. E. Hornblow, proprietor of the Mangaweka Settler; F. S. Pope, Secretary for Agriculture; N. Craig, Crown Lands Ranger, Taihape. That in the opinion of this Committee the following allegations made by the Mangaweka Settler— (1.) " That aggregation has been rampant in that district " has been refuted by the evidence, and that there has been no aggregation except in a few cases which took place in years past, and was made under the then-existing land laws and with the sanction of the Board. (2.) " That land agents were going round with their pockets lined with gold to tempt the small settlers to sell out to the larger landowners " was completely disproved by the evidence. (3.) " That aggregation was encouraged by the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912, and to a large extent was due to the provisions of that Act " is incorrect. That the evidence clearly showed that originally much of the land had been cut into sections of too small an area, and that the Land Board had acted in the best interests of settlement by allowing the areas to be increased so as to allow the settlers to occupy an area of sufficient size on which to make a living. A copy of the-minutes of proceedings and evidence taken is attached hereto. 14th November, 1913. E. Newman, Chairman.

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