HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 15, 12 October 1907, Page 6

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

the land bill. COMMITTEE STAGE ' CONTINUED _ The committee proceedings of the Land Laws, Amendment :Bill wore continued yesterday afternoon in the' House of Representatives, on clause 22 Under, this clause it is proposed to' amend the principal Act-' to render tho Under-Secretary the chief officer in'tho ; Lands and Survoy Department.. Formerly tho, ■ Surveyor-General was tho principal officer. • . : j" ■ Mr.' :Massey. did: not: altogether Vagroe with -the arrangemont.-'"Ho considered the : technical' and-tho- clerical braribhes should be separate,. each. to have' an officer rosponsiblo to the Minister. Tho Minister , said; the i suggested' arrange-' ment had, really, been in operation' for some timo, and it was now- sought to rendor it legal. • • ■ Tho.clauso was passed unaltered 1 . Clauso 23, making it an offenco to remove or doface u - survoy or boundary marka,'waß : adopted; ■::. '■■ ■•.::■ - 1 -'* ■ ! Applications for Sections. ..i Section, 24 governs -applications for sections. In reply to a. question by I Mr.- J. Allen, tno Minister said that I under this Bill the- limitation was ; put upon the individual actjuisitibn of land, and' not - Upon tho number' of apphea- ■ tions., A man nujjht put.in applications aggregating a-largo al-ea, but tho limitation was placcd \ipbn his success,' not upon his appKcatitin. : : The members {or Bruti'.and "Wellington East queried whether this would bo, wise. ■ - 'V',. ■"v"- : - v -'p' The Miwsterv replied that:thoappli-v ',chnts.'would; not .all apply ffir', the best as . would Uo tho v caso if , the nunibe'r'.dif' iridivid'nil ftppfifcatidns'.Vm limited;' result'would thus be obtained.' :', -' Z '• '* ; ,: : Mr. Wi ]?rasor. isaid'this had'virtually 1 ' been done under tho old. Act,, but the ability-to do so was not gonerally loiowri.' ' • 1 ; Clauses 25 and as' not .amended. Some Amendments. ■ ■ ■;■ : Tho Minister for Lands ..proposed to amend Cliuse 26a. (which provides. foT tho . recording of -' improvements) by 'mailing. the, provisionsapplicable to a leaso-in-pnrpetuity . . holder.—Tho amendment Ti-as carried. Mr. J. Allen.(Bruco),moved,to further amend tho clause by striking out the words" providing for tho payment by the lessee pf tho, costs.,and expenses, incurred by tho:,Commissionor in .ascertaining . the particulars so, to be recorded ,by him." Mr. Allen said his intention was .to'threw'the .ctfst-of recording the improvements upon; tho Crown instead of iipon the settler. The Minister said tliisi could not .legally bo done,; as the chargo would come upon the Consolidated Revenuo; '. Tlio Chairman permitted tho amend-mont-to go through, thoiiigfr ho doubted wliether a subsequent motion to givis effect to Mr. Allen's; desire could bo moved. ■ • .' ■ ■' ' ■ Tho, amendment .was lost 'by forty votes to.twenty. Mr. . Allen then moved a now subclauso to the effect that the non-re-cording of tho improvements under the section should'not be retained as evidence that they had not been carried Out; '■ 1 " ■- - • ;■ ■ The sub-clauso was lost; the "voting -being thirtv-soven to • twenty-two. Mr. Okey (Taranalci) -moved' to make tho provisions of the section applicable to the West Coasts Settlement reserves, but the motion was defeated by forty-one votes to eleven.

New Sub-Clauses. Mr. Mnssey moved a furthor subclause, under which ovcry Li.p. settlor or a holder of a renowablo leaso should bo required to furnish a return every census (five years) of the permanent and substantial improvements effected on his land during the fivo years. Tho amendment was negatived by 40 votes to 21. '' Mr. Herries moved-toadd: —"Every such record shall bo available for, and may be used as, evidenco in any assessment under tho Government Valuation Land' Act, 1896." Mr. Herries said that tho great object of having a record as proposed under the clauso was to have it'available for 1 the purpose ho had sot out. Tho'Choirman was about to put tho amendment,, when Mr. Massoy rose to say that important wero boirig moved, : and- the -Minister's opinion should bo heard upon them.Ho added that he did not attach much importance to tho proposed record of improvements, but the member for the Bay of; Plenty had placed his finger on a"vbry r weak spot in our administration.. It was explained that sub-clause 2, which provides that .the ■ record shall be; receivable I 'as sufficient evidence" in all matters ; arid proceedings touching tho. value .of the improvements, would apply to' the proceedings' of the. Assessment ,Gourt;. :Mr. Herriesi' on receiving the Minister's,'assurance'to this' effect, said' he. would not press his .motion -to a division/ lost on the voices.. On tbb lfiiiister's "motion, the following - snb-clanso was! added: —-"Such regulations may provide,for the. supply to any person interested a copy'of such record.- ■ .:. - Against pummylsm. • ■ At,clause 27a, .which against assignment by. a-lessee of his interest in the landl.unless he . has resided thereon. for\two years,,., .. Mr. i Witty, moved to make the iieriod of ; residence four years. He saia .this would bo tho befit way of preventing dummyism, wnifch was; the object, of tho clauso., • i- : . In:. tlio • cOitfsb of discussion, Mr; Massoy expressed tho opinion that the term of .residence provided for. would be . long enough. He _was anxious to. stop dummyism, hut. it began at the ballot and should be prevented- there. .Mr; Barber said it . was nonsense to suppose "thatV a speculator would take up land :.'a|id live ,on .it., for two years for.:the;.sake- of, sellmeit at an--in-creased' price. He "could . notsupport, tho'.amendment. . <■

• Mr/. Hogg said great. areas of bush land liad been; occupied .by. contractors for. bush-folliiigr'who wero really dummies the spfecul&tor.' ' This -had; been done'in the Forty-Mile Bush, Kangitik'ei, and all over the 3Yeliing-' ton'land -district.' . 1 TKoamendmfi&twas lost by 47 votes to 18, ahd : the clause was- adopted un-' altered.' '' ' Leasehold .and Freehold Again. The iaew Clause 28a,_added to tho Bill .by..the-land; Coidmitteo, proposes to repeal paragraph 2> of _ Section. Ill; of the principal Act, which provides that i town, v.and'suburban and . village lands,'.:if riot sold;at,the auction, may be'let fori any. time not exceeding fourteen. years, at'a rent' not exceeding 5 por cent'. on l tho. upset.price, the lessee to' have \no i right to compensation.'for improvements.)■ vAs; a .substitute far this provision, Clausq'2Ba;proyides that such lands may bo'let .for ariy-timo riot exceeding, twenty-one years, at a rent bf( l npt,:.less,,.than ! '.6, perl,cent, .on- the' upset tjprice,;or •on such lesser, price as tue . Minister, on ; the-: recommendation; of: the, Board, ..directs, .with right to compensation ,for improvements on the expiration of the lease. — •-. Mr.. Massey protected against this alteration, pointing .out ~ that it removed' the necessity of first offering these .lands for sale••by'auction. He suggested that, under a Minister with leasehold'leanings, none,'of such lands would be sold for cash, .' ( but all would be leased, arid thus the whole question' of leasehold versus • freehold'. came, up; again in another form. It was significant that the new sub-clause, so he was informed; was moved: in the Lands Committee" by Mr. Ell.; ■ ' Mr.. Herrws moved ;to insert the words of the original paragraph,"if not'sbld at : suchjaucia6n.'' : If this -tow; done, the auction sale ; would mandatory instead of being , made permissive.',-, • Mr. Hemes's amendmerit was lost, the voting.being 17 for,"and 44 against. The Minister, then proposed to give the lessee, of such town lands. a right to renewal of the loose. He explained that his ameridriient only provided for. oner renewal, ~ ■ • - Mr. Aitken advocated"'a continuous right of renewal for 14 . years, on the lines vof the , Glasgow ' lease.. ■ The amendment was agreed to on the voices.'-' The House divided on tho; adoption of the clause, which was carried by.,47 votes to 17: Classification of Lands., _'Mr. .Massey" criticised " the new classification of , rural hands in Clause 29, He said that to call land valued at'£l an acre first class seemed anomalous. The-effect of the clause would be that a, man could not hold more tlian 640 acres'-of land- worth £1- an acre. This would ;n6f be -an holding • in'remote'' districts ; ; ' Mr. "Field, Mr. Mills; - arid other riembers indicated that, a more complete system .of classification should be placed - in the Bill:The Minister said'this part' of the Bill -dealt almost ,r exclusively with; land in its'natural condition, and no. great area of. such land, had boen disposed of by'the Government at more .than £1-an.acre. •

■ Mr.' Rutherford ,said the, classification shbuld. differentiate, between agricult'uxal; and- pastoral :land. Four Clares Proposed. , - Mr. -Massey suggested a division into, four classes, as. follows First-class— agrifcultural ■ land. Sccond-class—mixed agriculttiral -and pastoral land. Thirdclass —p'astbral • land: that can bo profitably • worked. in • areas of. 500t) acres, or less.. Fourth-class—pastoral ,-land that cannot be profitably worked in areas of ■15,000 acres or. less- ■' ' The Division—A Tle. : On:a division tlio' voting .on . Mr. Massey's amendment was; equal—Si for and_ 31, : jagainst. -. The Chairman gave his casting ,voto for the clauso as it StOOd. :;, - The following. is tho: division list: — ■ For tho: amendment • (31): Aitkbn, J.' Allen, Bonnet, Bollard, Dillon,; Djincan, ,Field, Fisher, ' Flatman, A. X>. D. Fraser (Napier), W. Fraser (Wakatipu), Greenslade, Guinness, Hardy, Herrios, Hogg,' Jennings, Lang, :Lethbridgo,..Lowis, jSlajor, Malcolm; Mandor,. Massoyi Okoy, -Poland, Ross,' Rutherford, Steward, Syinos, Thomson. Against tho amendment (31): E. G. Allen, Barber, Barclay, Carroll, Colvin, Ell, Fowlds, Graham, Gray, Hanan, ,Hogan, Hornsby, Houston, Izardj Kidd, L'aurcmson, Lawry, M'Gowan,. M'Lachla'ii, M'Nab, Millar, •Ngata, .Earata, .'Poole, . Seddon, Sidoy, Stallworthy, , Tanner, . . Ward, Witty, Wood., . , . , Mr. Massoy regretted tho action of tho Chairman. , He said tlio amendment onibodied the classification scheme of tho Maori. Land Settlement Act, 1905, to.which.his attention had been drawn during tho. dobato by Mr. A. L. 'D. 'Fraser. •••>'• ■ Tho Minister said that whon Clauso 65 (limiting tho aroa of land of each class • which one person may acquire) was reachod, ho would, if a more satisfactory classification .were found to bo available, be prepared to recommit Clauso 20. • . ;.-,,:■

Mr. Wilford asked the Chairman whether the bell had rung outsido tho Chamber for tho division. Ho had not heard it, though ha was in tho building, and, therefore, ho had not recorded his voto. This was tho first of tho twonty-four divisions of tho Committeo th.it ho had missed. Other members said they had heard the bell, and, when Mr. Lauronson declared that it had awakened him from a comfortablo sleep in tho library, tho. Chairman said that settled the question^ With vory little discussion rapid progress was then made to Clauso 38,which was passed, ■ and tho Houso immediately adjourned.