LAND LAWS AMENDMENT ACT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 924, 17 September 1910, Page 10

LAND LAWS AMENDMENT ACT.

! -Sir,-pi have carefully read tho above proposed Act, and have come to the .conclusion . that of . the maibing .of -laws in this afflicted country thero_ is no end. The one subject above . and - before all pthers ,-vwhere there should' -be ' some -finality,., and a'- fixed p'clnciplo pervading a -stalile law, is made s» much a. matter of change that, anyone iDaving New Zealand .for a , short period: would have'no guarantee thill the whul/9 tenor pf land laws would, not'hb' altared -during ~ his absence. Nor is it .certain"that. any-guch. alteration ah:'improvement.: v When Mr. Mackenzie! introduced' his iand Bill some years ago, we had tho j innovation of a 999 years' : leaso. This apr' jilied.-'to -lands 'purchased, ;for leasing 1 purposes. .'Nowwe havo proposed a leasing system for. purposes of .sale, . wiKh the f.lterpiitivo of-' ii : ' continued system of Jcasing'if the Governor so- decides in case 3 'where, .'auy of the subdmsions are _ not ' sold. ;;,It' must bo obbcrVed that this, is a decided reversal of poJdcy. - Joseph of old -had a. coat of many colours, but his principles were fixed and. absolute, even in. the distinctly l ; trying inonient when he Bed, leaving his cloak in the hands of .Madamo Potiphar. Fixity- of principles 'does : Wot appear .to be recognised as feshioDsible iitp^diiy,''..'cha^iilileon'rlikof Shange :with : astonishing' ;, i rapidit.y.- Tht! r 999 years;;- its. 1 .. told|. us;, would .-be-, the* universal form of tisnure in five .years, j Why,' lie really didn't l.ulievo in :it himself, when'he'-secured ilJushy ■ Park as a freehold foi, hi» soia i within a. very, short time of that professdon., ; Now his boasted 1 l.i.p. is no' longer credited, 'not-; withstanding- tho loud asjiertion of his' chief, Mr. Seddon, -that the Lands for Settlement Act w6nld"-;be .inaintiined in its intsgrityr-ryes, for ■ how, long? . The. present..-Minister, .for .Lands will, I fear, emulate his and have to haul down'his flag'again. - Just fancy Land Acts of belonging - to .former- by . Act -pf Parliament bearing the latter date—to'lis followed by another, • 1909, to! bo .snbseqiiently withdrawn—down camo- that, flagv again—to - ue* again followed by another /jaongrel' abortion m 1910, but. bearing, as you have pointed out, 'the previous . gear's date'; with colours, principles, and dressing, ant etyliV yott likb. waiTaiiited not to fade before the : frosts' : of xtext: winter. "Unstable as water thou shalt not excel," II this time-honoured principle were to be applied to the so-cafied. great Liberal partj', thero would be a psjquliar fitness in -■ tab application. -Its principles' have, been everything in turn, ;lrat nothing long. - As a fairly old settler,.:! deny that the changes in the circumstaiioes in Neiw Zealand ever justified . the constant change's in legislation, affecting the chief interests of the country. They have been made to satisfy the stupidiity'of some llimster, or: the craziness of .apportion of the' party following, but protending to bo "in tho interests of I,he country as a whole." Boes that silly' pretension : coniport with the facts? : Woald anyone; not a 'fit- subject 'for. a lunacy 1 commission,declare that constant changes oif law are oither necessary on desirable ?- (Supposing tho Customs tariff were altered every session, would that bo conduc.ivo to trade, would it not tend to cripple it? _ ... Another : feature, it will bo, noticed, is ever present in the vacillating 1 policy of tho present. Government, that, of' compulsion—compulsion to sell land, or rather to take it without' the owner's consent to sell. Now we .are to have tho variation—compulsion -to lease.- A landowner is to have a. tenant, \rith subtenants,. against his, will, perhaps also against his. interest as well. 'He is not necessarily a . consenting party. - Where, I ask, is his freedom? , Trio yoke /of tho tyrant' is fixed ufiou his neck--he is to have no alternative, he is to liecome a party, to a bargain, tho terms'of which a set of incapables havo fixed for him. Call this a land of liberty!/ In the long-' distant past, when the preserrt Prime Minister was carrying messages, I thougnt it was; often, in fact, said so.. -It is not so now. Tho pity of it! \Vbat, may I ask, is the,value.of our old p'prchmdnt Crown grants, which contained Itlie statement that the areas dealt with were to the "purchasers and their heirs for ever"? However well ah owner may utilise his holding, .if the Government for ( the time being see fit, ho must ,bo compelled to accept a violent change, become an unwilling landlord at 4J per cent, on the capital value, even if lie could prove that his returns were twice that amount. In such cases, would not that savour of legalised robbery? Personally. do not favour large estates, but I do fatvour an honest method of dealing ' with, them, which this is not.—l am, etc., ' , AGJEICOLA. September. 12, .1910^