THE NEW LAND BILL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1056, 14 July 1882, Page 3

THE NEW LAND BILL.

This measure, which embodies an entirely new departure from all previous ones respecting the manner of dealing with the waste Lands of the Crown, is one that must meet with pretty general support. The only fault in it that we can detect being that it is -merely an addition to the already too numerous measures dealing with the whole question, and making one Act that would be intelligible to all. The chief provisions of the new Bill are for the leasing of rural lands for 21 years, with perpetual right of renewal to persons over 18 years of age, for tho leases to be sold by tender, the upset rental being five per cent, on the capital value ; for preventing any person taking a lease under the Bill holding in any way, by purchase or otherwise, more than 610 acres ; the consent of the Waste Land Board required to deal with the leases. A lessee may at any time, with the consent of the Beard, throw up his lease ; but to prevent this being done to get rent reduced, he is prevented from taking up the same lease again for seven years. The governor, for any public purpose, may resume posession of the whole or any part of the laud leased, paying compensation for impiovemouts. The lessee must occupy and cultivate as under deferred-payment leases, excepting where he possesses a freehold adjoining residence then dispensed with ; lessee barred against claiming damages for stream running through his land being fouled by Crown tenants, that is miners; provision is made for releasing and the giving compeusationforimprovements ; further provisions aie also made for the relief of def tred payment settlers who find it is difficult to keep up the payments ; it provides for such of the deferred-payment holders whose leases are under fifty acres, to take up more land on the Seine system, so long as he does nob exceed three hundred and twenty acres in the whole ; it also deals wt:h the pah ral licenses in so much us it extends licenses to 14 years, but take s away the premotive right to purchase to the extent of 32J acres There are many admirable features in the Bril, and when it comes out of Committee it should be a useful measure. The fol owing speech by th; Hon Mr. Rollest,on on his moving the second reading of the BUI vvil more fully explain it thanwßcauatieuiptto. The hon gentleman said that the far-off echo is of older countries taught them that the question of land tenure was ene of great importance. He ha-l little faith u taking the stories or facts fi-mn ot or eountri a, and he would deal wi; hj what he believed the natural outcome of lie question ns developed m this Colony. Th laud Act of 1876 took a grasp of the qin s ion of which they might well be proud and which was highly creditable to Mr. Bouald Reid. The bill of 1579 tended still further to promote a lilierul policy. I sobj ct was to.finable persons of knowledge uinl expe i nee t-o take up land upon advantageous terms ; hut it had one had feature —it encouraged Ihe defirred-payment set tier to borrow. In that way it defeated much of its otherwise beneficial object Since then there had been no legislation un til the bill now brought down. He traced tire operations of the deferred-payment settlers under the Act now in force. There were teas ot thousands of acres of land which would never have been taken up but for this system. Tha‘- was his answer to the query as to whe'her or not it should he continued. He was quite alive to the fact that it was susceptible improvement. What wa< wanted was to establish a system that would create a tenantry under the Crown, and not a tenantry of the money-lender. He made these remarks in view of the fact that many of these sett'ers were now in difficulties. Such an arrangement would not supersede the deferred-payment system or the cash system It would simply create a new means for a different class of settlers That was no revolutionary pioposal, hut simply in accordance with exigencies of the times. As regards the leasing system, a provision of that kind was a-h----soluielv necessary. If agricultural settlement was to go on on the goldfiel-is, grower must he taken to lease with a right of resumption for mining purposes. The hill made special provisions for the water-rights so as to converse them for legitimate min ing purposes, mining being the principal industry in those places. Difficulty of that kind had already arisen, and it was neces sary that some special provision of the kind should be made in the mining districts As regards the general features of the leasing proposals, they would tend to promote actual settlement on the very easiest terms, It would enable men with the smallest possible capital, who knew how to use land, to go to work at once, instead of working up their capital in the land or being dependent on the money-lender. No larger area than 640 acres was to be obtained under this system, and by that means the large capitalist would he excluded from taking advantage of the hill. The restrictions proposed were similar to those imposed on the de-ferred-payment settler under the exis ing law. The bill had also another application to the endowments made for educational and other purposes. It, would bring together the administration of these tracts, and place them on a common footing. These reserves would he brought under tho administration of a responsible to the House, and dealt with in the same way as other waste lands lands were. All the preliminary work in the shape of surveys, etc. had to he done by the Government department, and there could be no reason why they should not deal with these reserves to the fullest extent as Crown lands. He next referred to the deferred-payment settlers’ relief question. It would ho wrong to adopt the course which had been suggested of compelling those in difficulties to go before a court to plead their poverty.

What was proposed by the bill was to make alternative proposals to lay before these men, in common with others, and allow them, whether they were in pecuniary difficulties or not, to exchange one t- nuro foi another, with advantage to tlmmaelv's and without disadvanti g• t > tho State, In virtue of the common law • f the land, and not as beggars, it would 1 a unfair to th ■ success ful deferred.payment settler tp compel him to follow a course which his loss successful brother was compelled to do. Tho provisions respecting pastoral leases are next referred to. Unless they could give a reasonably long tenure they could not get a satisfactory class of grazing tenants. Provision was therefore made for a longer period than ten years, pre-emptive rights to ho done away with. By means of classification tho tenant would bo enabled to judge what part of the lease was likely to be resumed by Government. That would be a great boon to the pastoral tenant. If these lands were taken by the Crown for settlement, then the pastoral tenant would have the same right to get the land ns the outside purchaser, This was attempted last session and would he found to be of great consequence. As regarded land boards, ho did not think that in their election they could improve on present arrangements. Anything that lessened the influence of the Ministry o 1 the day in relation to these hoards was a mistake. Government had invariahy seen that the views of localitieswere represented in these appointments. He was most anxious to see this bill pass into!aw, and he appealed to. hon members to help him to make it law, irrespective of party considerations.