LAND TRANSFERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 23, 2 March 1942, Page 2

LAND TRANSFERS

ALIENS GETTING POSSESSION

MA N Y-SI DEL) PROB LEA I

Towards the Cose of last year, Mr S. W. Jones, on behalf of the Hay of Islands branch of the Auckland Farmers' Union, brought beioic the

Executive a remit drawing attention to the alleged prevalence of transfers of property from soldiers going abroad, to aliens who were escaping military obligations. Ihe remit suggested that the trend was so marked as to represent an undesirable movement irom a national

point of view. Mr Jones stated that the original

purpose of the remit was to draw attention to the need for keeping a close watch on land transfers of all kinds, during tlie war period. not only those in which aliens were concerned. The interests of soldiers on active service should be kept constantly in view. Members of the Executive agreed with Mr. Jones that the matter warranted serious consideration but emphasised the difficulties of effective action. However. representations were made to the Minister of Lands, the Hon. J - C,. Barclay, who has replied as follows: —

"This is a matter which arose early in the war, but no satisfactory solution of the problem has'yet been discovered. The difficulty is to define clearly the classes to be barred from acquisition of land. Enemy aliens are covered by the Enemy Properly Regulations, but the public concern is with some Avho, while 'friendly' aliens, are still undesiiable soldiers of land. It is easy to say. 'bar all aliens,' but *uch a policy wcu'.d operate automatically against, say, Americans with names and ideologies as English as your own, or Scandinavians, some of which nationality in the past have provided many of our best citizens. Names arc no guide. As j'ou know, many Yugoslavs ,I'or example, of 30--10 years' residence in New Zealand, married New Zealanders, and their offspring could not reasonably- be precluded from holding land.

"Other organisations, notably the New Zealand Returned Services Association, have also raised this question, but all that T have been able to do is to ask Land Boards to use their wvn discretion as far as possible in the allocation of Crown land fo aliens. When it comes to transfers of Crown leases, the matter is complicated by the Tact that with a possibly limited field of purchasers for a property, particularly when the transferor is going on Active Service, grave hardship and financial less might be inflicted on the latter. "My jurisdiction is, of course, limited to Crown lands and leases, but [ can well imagine the indignation of freehold owners if restrictions wre imposed on their free right of sale, even though their general views might be heartily in accord with restriction of land holding to British-born peoples."