NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 24, 23 October 1907, Page 6

NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS

The Government, may be credited 'with good intentions in connection with the National' Endowments,.Bill, the second reading?of whjch. was moved in the House of 'Representatives last evening., The object of the measure, is ,to set aside; an area of some nine million acres of ' Crown lands as ,a national, ■ endowment \ for the purposes of education, and for providing revenue for the payment of old age pensions. The idea is attractive enough. Money spent on education is well spent, and who is "likely to< oppose a permanent provision for the payment'of the.State pensions of the aged. "But / these worthy purposes are merely the sugarcoating with which the Government have attempted to make' palatable, a bitter pill. The old questions of leasehold and freehold are involved, and the whole principle of land settlement comes under review. Past experience has shown that educational, endowments in 'this, : Dominion; have' been far,from satisfactory in the re- , suits,- achieved- therefrom, and> it l is a dangerous thing to place too greatj'reliance on revenue for such vital needs as;; education and old age.; pensions' from 'so unreliable a source aslCrown leaseholds. But', apart from this question, there can be little ddubt.'that the ; locking-upof this large area of Crown lands, for leasehold purposes only; must retard settlement, , and prejudice the development of the districts in which the land is situated. It would be'much more to the Dominion's' interest to place these lands on the market-under theoptionalsystem, so that all classes of settlers may have the chance of taking up holdings, instead of restricting the choice 1 to the limited number of would-be leaseholders.' It has been suggested that the leasehold party in the Government are using this national endowment proposal to secure, by a side-wind, what they cannot obtain by direct methods. No doubt there is some truth in this; but, plausible as the case that they make:out may be, it is not likely to deceive the country. The rejection of the measure would not threaten our educational system, nor the old age pensioner's weekly mite; but it would open up possibilities of settlement, and consequent development of the country, which the restrictions of the Bill now render impossible. . ..,...,-