The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, OCTOBER -2, 1889. SURRENDERED RUN LBASES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2260, 22 October 1889, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, OCTOBER -2, 1889. SURRENDERED RUN L BASES.

! The process of arbitrament by tossing a coin, when conducted on tho principle "heads I win tails you lose," is necessarily only satisfactory to one of the parties, but it swims to be fairly descrip- | tive of the condition of things existent j m relation to the matter of tue leases of rune, or at least with regard to tho leases oi certain runs. And the party which stands to win is the lessee, and the loser, if there is to be a loser, must be the State. For it would appear that while if the lessees are making profits however large, the State has no power to determine the leases or to increase the rentals, yet if on the other hand the lessees find that the rentals are higher than they care about paying, they are at liberty to surrender their leases. This extraordinarily one-Bided arrangement according to the "Oamaru Mail" applies to all runs taken up under the Act of 1887, m respect to which arrears of rent are not recoverable, the penalty of nonpayment being merely the forfeiture of the lease. If that is really the case, then there has been a most deplorable over sight m the framing of the Act referred t>, and the blander should bo remedied at the earliest possible moment. We cannot help thinking though that the Government has the power if it chose to exercise it to compel the payment of the ront instead of exercising the power ol forfeiture, and if we are right, then it id most certainly an exceedingly impropei thing to relieve such wealthy companies I as the New Zealand and Austra lian Land Company, the New Zea- ' land Loan and Mercantile Agencj Company, the National Mortgagi and Agency Company, and Messrf s Robert Campbell and Bone, Limited of engagements which they have enterec * into with the State. Yet surenden , of leases m tho case of all these Com i paniea have just been accepted. Writing ; upon the subject our contemporary sayi 3 " Uur land laws are so indefinite am 9 confusing that even their administrator . have doubts as their meaning on somi ' points. There is nothing more puzzlinj t than a study of the several Acts m ai ' attempt to ascertain what is the exac position m regard to pastoral lease p holders. The Government appear t have taken advantage of this to releas . from their obligations all and sundr * pastoralists who apply to them. M _ Hichardson evidently takes it fo - granted that the law sanctions anj t* thing that is for the benefit of pastoral * ists, and, seemingly, there are not man '" who take the trouble to place themselve '. m a position to dispute this viev It Hence, when the pastoralists' mock pani , P occurred a year or two ago, Mr Richard , son accepted surrenders with a satisfai t lion that led one to believe that he wa "* of opinion that the acceptance oi paston " surrenders was one of the few things thi made life pleasant. We do not vie' \ x Mr Riohardson's action as proof tbatth acceptance of pastoral surrenders i •r> either morally or legally legitimat* T Morally, pastoralists have no more rigfa J - than anyone elbe to relief from their con tracts with the State ; legally, it appeal to us, the acceptance of surrenders, as 12 rule, is not justifiable till every means < ■ compelling an observance of contract has been exhausted, it has been sai by our dreadfully democratic Premie that it would be unjust and injurious t bind men to pledges that they could nc fulfil ; though he did not then, and b his subsequent conduct, include m tb category of men those settlers who ha ' r agreed, though force of circumstances, t \ pay 1o {the Government twice or thric n the value of their holdings. It is simpl 0 nonsense, or worse, to talk about th . necessity to release pastoral lessees c the stamp of the New Zealand and Aue tralian JLand Oompany, the New Zoalan Loan and Mercantile Agency Cpinpanj the National Mortgage and Agenc Company, or Messrs Itobert Campbe! and Sons. We wonder what these coin panics would say if we were to publish 3 statement that the Government had fc . release them from their obligations be B cause they were unable, through financic 1 pressure, to pay their trivial rentals."