LAND REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1556, 27 September 1912, Page 8

LAND REFORM.

4 •' GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS. BILL INTRODUCED. IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS. The Land Laws imendment Bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives last evening by Governor's Message, is a measure of 31 clauses. It deals, among other things, with townplanning, exchango of endowment lands for other areas, payment of laud board members, the conditions under which small, grazing runs and pastoral runs are held, subdivision of private lands, sale of settlement lands, and limitation of area. Town Planning. Town planning is dealt with in Part. I of the Bill. It is provided that where any land is subdivided by sale or lease or other disposition as a town, a plan of the subdivision showing roads and reserves shall be prepared by a licensed surveyor and approved by the Goverrior-in-Couricil before any .portion of the land is so disposed of or offered or advertised for disposition. A fine of JCIOO is provided for breach of this provision. A clause in the principal Act of similar, but less definite, import is repealed. The payment of members pi Land Boards is increased from 10s. .to. 15s. per day, exclusive of the ordinary travelling expenses. Clause fivo establishes a uniform system of arbitration for the valuation of improvements and so forth in place of the different methods legalised Ijv existing Acts. All such cases are to be referred to two 'arbitrators, one to be appointed by each party to the reference. In the event of the arbitrators being unable to agree they are to appoint an . umpife. Each party is to pay costs incidental to the appointment' of his own arbitrator arid the parties, are to sharo equally the costs incidental to the appointment of the- umpire. The provisions in the principal Act relating to arbitration are repealed in so far as' they conflict with the new clause. Remissions of Rent. Section 1 i? of the principal Act, which empowers the Minister to remit, one year's rent or portion of one year's rent to Crown tenants, is repealed, and a ne>v clause substituted which provides that in the event of a Crown tenant being unable at any time owing to a natural disaster' or other sufficient cause (o pay his' rent due, tho Minister may, on tho recommendation of the board, postpone the payment'of not more than one year's rent by. such Crown tenant until "such date as the Minister may determine. '.The Minister may further postpone payment of the whole or any portion of the said rent to a later date. Before a Crown tenant is permitted to transfer or sublease portion of his interest in his lease, lie is to bo required to pay the whole of his rent; including any postponed portion, to the data of the sub-lease or transfer. National Endowments. ' Section 9 makes it lawful for the Governor, when he deems it expedient in the public interest to do so, to grant in feesimple .any area of ijational endowment land, in exchange foiV the fee-simple of any other, land which in his opinion is of approximately equal value. On aiiv such exchange-ten p<?r • cent. • of the estimated value of the national endowment 1 land mav be. paid or received.in cash. Moneys paid by the Crowh in this way are to to.paid out of the National Endowment- Account; and moneys received are to be paid into that account. Section 10 enacts that in certain cases small areas of freehold land, or of land leased from the Crown not exceeding five acres in area may be acquired for any purposo beneficial to the public by any person who already holds the prescribed maximum area of land. Introducing the Bill, the Prime Minister explained that this clause was intended to remove a hardship now resting on dairy factories and similar establishments..,, ; Limitation of Area. Section 11 provides' that tho limitation provisions set forth in Part xiii of the principal Act shall riot npply to land proclaimed as a road, land acquired as a site for a dairy, cheese, or fruit-preserving factory, church, and glebe lands, Crown ■land exchanged for private land, land received from the Crown or any local authority pursuant to any contract or ar-. rangement for exchange of lands for roads or any public purpose, any interest acquired' in respect, of land formerly used or laid oif as road, but subsequently closed or stopped. The new section is to apply to all such interests acquired since November 20, 1907 (the date of the passing of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1907). Small Grazing Runs. , The Bill contains a number of amend- [ nients, some of which are technical, in i regard to small grazing-runs. Section [ 218 of the principal Act, providing for the renewal of leases of small grazing-runs j is repealed, and a new clause substituted ■ which provides that any pastoral lands . may be classified by'the board as small [ grazing runs, in areas not exceeding 15,000 acres. , The board may, in the case of any small : grazing-run or pastoral run require the ! lessee, during the last two years of the ! lease, to divide the run into three ap- | proximately equal parts. The Minister : may, on the recommendation of the board, i determine that the land comprised in any ; such lease shall, on the expiry of that : lease, bo disposed of in two or more al- ! lotments by way of renewable lease. , Upon the expiration 'of the lease the les- ' see shall be entitled to Teceive a renew- - able lease of such one of the allotments , as he elects. If the lessee elects to accept such renewable lease he shall also ' be entitled to receive the value of the ;• improvements on the other allotment or > allotments into which. his original run has = been divided. 3 If the lessee elects not to accept a rcnew- - able lease he shall be entitled to receive, 3 on the expiration of the original lease:— 3 (a) The total value of the improvements. (b) The value, if any, of tho right of re- ' newal (exclusive of the value of improvc- - ments) which he would have had if this ■ section had not been passed. > Subdivision of Private Lands. ! Part II deals with agreements for the [ subdivision of privato land for settlement j purposes. In explaining his Bill, Mr. [ Massey stated that this part would apply to tho case of an owner who desired to 3 sell a block of land to the Crown or t.o have-it subdivided for settlement purposes. . Tho Minister was empowered in such : cases to make arrangements with tho t owner to have everything necessary dono [ in the way of surveys, subdivision, and . roading. The land could then bo cut up, L tho new sottlers being given in every r case the right to acquire the freehold. 1 The Stato would have no responsibility - after the settlers had taken oyer their - holdings except that of collecting from tho settlers the money expended in.roadi ing and subdividing. I Detail provisions of this part of the 3 Bill are that purchasing settlers shall pay i to tho owner of the land a deposit not • exceding ten per cent, of the price tender--1 ed. The balance of the price is to be - paid in'annual instalments over a period - of not less than ten nor more than twenty i years. Interest is to be paid at the rato i of five per cent, per annum. In the caso E .of lease with the right of purchase, tho t term of lease is to be twenty-one years, ' the lessee'to have tho right to purchase - the allotment at any time during tho t period of the lease at a stated price, t The rent is not to exceed fivo per cent, i of such price. t Land for Settlements. Part 111 of tho Bill is to form part, of J and be read together with the Land for Settlements Act, 1903. It is provided that tho Minister, on the recommendation of the Laud Board, may reduce the capital value of any allotment to such ; amount as he thinks fit in any case where an allotment remains unselected for more ! than one year after, the date when it bo--1 came available for selection. Section 30 provides that any settlement lands acquired after the passing of the ■Act or any settlement land heretofore ae- ; quired, but not selected under fhe Land for Settlement Act may be. told in fecsimplo if the Minister so determines. By Section 31 lessees of settlement lands aro empowered to acquire the freeholds of their holdings at a price equal to the value of tho land at time of purchase, les* the present value of the lessee's interest iia tlie nuewired term af lib lwsi and his

I interest in tho value of any improvements J affected by him or to the value of which he is entitled. The nrico is to be deter-

ue is entitled, rne pneo is to ue determined by arbitration. This right of purchase is limited by tho next section (31), which provides that it shall not bo lawful for any person to purchase an area of settlement land in fee-simple, if such laud, together with all other land of any description, owned, held, or occupied by him under any tenure, whether severally or jointly with any person, exceeds i total area, of 3000 acres calculated in the manner provided by Section 97 of tho Land Act, 1908. Explanation by tho Premier. In explaining his Bill, Mr. Massey stated that tho area of 3000 acres applied only to third-class land. Tho maximum area of first-class land to bo acquired in this way would bs 400 acres. Xo person who holds any interest in ■at is or was settlement land is to be allowed to acquire any estate or interest in any other allotment which is or was at any time settlement land. Mr. Massey claimed that the effect of theso provisions would be to provide the State with tho certain amount of money for the purchase of other lands. Mr. Witty: Will the lessees have to pay cash? Mr. Massey: No, credit will bo arranged. Mr. Witty: Then not much money will bo available. Minor Amendments. A schedule appended to the Bill makes a number of amendments in the Land Act, 190 S. Lessees of Rational Endowment lands aro given tho same voting rights in electing land board members as tenants of ordinary Crown lands. Special 'meetings of a land board aro to be called, by the Commissioner or any three members instead of by tho Commissioner and any two members, as at present. The principal Act provides that rural or pastoral lands offered by. auction and not fold shall be open on and after the day following for application at the upset price. An amendment deletes this provision so far a-s it relates to pastoral lands.- The capital value of rural third-class lands is to be fixed by the board at not less than ss. jier acre instead of 2s. (id. per aero as at present. Section 130 of the principal Act provides that ruial land riot required for settlement may bo let for grazing from year to year. This is amended by substituting "for any term riot exceeding five_ years" for "from year to year." The minimum price for rural lands on O.R.P. tenure is raised from'ss. to 10s. per acre for second-class land. A provision is inserted making ss. per acre the minimum price for thirdclass 0.8.P. rural lands. Another amendment niakes it obligatory on a purchaser of third-class cash lands to effect iriiprovements to the value of as. per acre before he can obtain a Crown grant. FIRST READING COMMENTS. NO~TAIHOA. When the Bill was introduced the Prime . Minister, at. the request of the Hon. D. Buddo, briefly explained its leading provisions. ; • Sir ,Tas. Carroll (Gisborne) said that the Bill failed to attack any high reform principle. The Prime Minister said .that he did not attack high principles. Ho supported them every time. To a question by- Mr. Buchanan, the Prime Minister said that the Bill did not contain now definitions of the different classes of land. As lie had previously indicated, the Bill contained only-half the proposals of the Government, but it contained as much as could be-dealt with this session. Sir.Jas. Carroll'asked the Prime Minister to tell tho House when the second reading debate would be taken, -and begged him to bo' emphatic, in opening that debate, on the question of leasehold versus freehold. Tho Prime Minister: I can assure tho lion, gentleman that there will bo no "taihna" so far as the second reading of this Bill is concerned. Sir Jas. Carroll: The Government so far has profited by the tailioa principle! i The Bill was read a first time.