The Dominion. ONDAY OCTOBER 26, 1914. A PROGRESSIVE LAND POLICYONDAY.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2290, 26 October 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. ONDAY OCTOBER 26, 1914. A PROGRESSIVE LAND POLICYONDAY.

Though the Land Bill of this year is less important than the big policy measures of 1912 and 1913 it marks a convenient point from which to survey the changes effected in land- legislation during the term of the present Parliament. The achievement of the Massey Government in this' field is not to be measured by mere figures, for it'has consisted very largely of an improvement in system and method, which will exert a beneficial influence upon settlement for many years -to come. The land policy left 'behind by tho Continuous Ministry was like. Joseph's coat of many colours, and in its variety and wealth of contradictory features accurately reflected tho mind' of the party which produced it. Its glaring defect was that 'it attempted to perpetuate the restriction of the leasehold tenure in direct defiance of popular opinion, and the desires of intending- rattlers. While'a great majority of the farmers and settlers of the country enjoyed the benefits of the freehold tenure these benefits were denied to settlers taking up land under the Land Settlements Act—that is to say the best land at the disposal of tho State. In addition to this, the interest of •the State in tho greater part of the Land for Settlements' land was practically nominal, since it had been leased for a term of 999 years. The demolition of - this absurd and ineffectual system and the substitution, of a freehold policy; with limitation of area is the principal achiovemont of the Massey Government so far in' the domain of, land legislation although many other important changes have been made beneficial to the State and to the settler, lender the freehold the. process .of settlement assisted by the State is selfsupporting, and is capable of indefinite expansion so long as thero are suitable lands available for subdivision, bccause the individual settlers will repay with interest the capital expended in acquiring their holdings, and the funds so derived can be expended in subdividing additional estates. So the process can go on indefinitely without increasing the public debt of the country. The merit of the freehold legislation, therefore, does not . consist merely in conferring upon a few thousand State tenants the right to acquire the freehold; it struck off the fetters which for years prior to the advent of the present Government hampered the beneficial activities of the State in promoting settlement _ where it can be done most effectively and with the greatest benefit to settlers and to the country at large. When the Land Bill came up in the House the other day, Sir Joseph Ward was absent, and it was left to Mr. Mac Donald, member 'of the Bay of Plenty, to take up the cudgels for tho_ Opposition. Mr. MacDonald is himself a freeholder, like nearly all the country members who truly reflect the spirit of their constituencies, but being in duty bound to find some fault with what the Government has , accomplished, he did so by declaring somewhat helplessly, not that it had done a bad thing, but that it had done a very little thing; Before the Government took office, he said, the tenures in force in this country were: Cash purchase, occupation with right of purchase, and renewable lease, and these tenures still obtained. This is perfectly true, but Mr. Mao Donald neglected to add that while the party he supports recognised and applied, the freehold to a limited extent, it inconsistently excluded that tenure from the department of settlement in which it was calculated to exert the greatest benefit—namelyi in the operations conducted under the Laud for Settlements Act. Crown lands are a diminishing quantity, and their settlement is. a temporary feature in the land administration of the country; it is to the' purchase aud subdivision of estates that the State must largely look in future so far as the direct promotion oi settlement is concerned. Possibilities of useful activity in this direction have been as enormously _ multiplied by the freehold legislation of the present Parliament as they were hampered and restricted by the limitations of the leasehold system of the Continuous Ministry. Whilo the full benefit!; of tho fven< hold legislation will not necessarily!

at once make themselves apparent Iho Government has already established a creditable record in actual settlement operations, and has greatly improved upon the slow and cumbrous progress of its' predecessors. This is particularly apparent in tho case of operations under the Land for Settlements Act aa will be seen by comparing tho figures for the last two years under the Continuous Ministry, and tho first two years under the present Government. In 1910-11, 1'1,399 acrcs were purchased at a cost of £153,796,-and in 1911-12 44,447 acres at a cost of £381,483. In 1912-13 (when tho Massey Government held cifficc from July, 1912) 52,098 acres were bought for £428,044, v and in 1913-14 there was a further advanco to 141,062 acres, acquired at a cost of £560,708. The Budget of this year shows that during tho twelve months which it reviews 549 Crown tenants purchased 99,127 acres, under tho Land Acts of 1912 and '1913, paying therefor the sum of £108,205, In addition,_ there were at the end of the financial year 221 tenants who had converted their leases to deferred payment, and aro acquiring tho freehold by this method. Tho area covered was 32,467 acres, and the amount received by way of instalments during the year was £8336. The , figures given in the Budget showing the total subdivisions of rural land during tho two years and a quarter ending on June 30, 1914, are impressive in their magnitude. In all, 2316 original holdings were cut'iip into 6196 subdivisions, tho total area involved being 1,125,678 acres. Of tho total 844,664 acres held_ by 2259 freeholders were subdivided into 5569 holdings. Under the Land' for Settlements Act 39 estates of an aggregate area of 262,183 acres provided 484 holdings, and under the Land Settlement Finance Act 18 original holdings, comprising 18,831 acres were divided into 143 holdings. In addition more thah- 800,000 acres of Crown, Native and Settlements land were made available for

selection during the year. In view of the position disclosed the Prime Minister might have a good deal further than ho did in claiming credit for what his Pariy has accomplished. His speech the other day, however, did better than this, for it supplied a clear indication that the Government is by no means inclined to rest upon its oars in tho matter of land legislation and tlii promotion of, subdivision and closer settlement. Having cleared the way for progress tho Government now proposes to discriminate, by. legislation or taxation, between land occupied and utilised to the fullest possible extent and land not utilised at all or hot utilised properly. This may not be pleasant for the_ land-grabber and speculator, but it will be welcomed by tho bona-fide settler, and unquestionably is'in the best interests of the country. '