LAND TENURE

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1496, 3 July 1905, Page 3

LAND TENURE

iVlEfflS OK 'AN. OLD COLONIST,

HALE K CENTURY’S STUDY OF OUR LAND SYSTEMS,

The interesting statement mado to the Land Commission by Mr Q. B. Joblin was to the following effect : “ Goutlemon, I am hero to express my opinions on a subject which has, or ought to have, a profound intorost for every settlor in the colony, and that is our land laws and their administration. It appoars so me that the main subject has a threefold aspect, which comprehends that of the past, that of the proaent, and that which is to be of tho future. Tho subjeot is ono that has roooivcd my ooustant and careful attention for nearly half a century. After my arrival in tho colony I soon arrivod at tho oonolusion that its future prosperity must hinge upon tho effective initiation of a system of land laws that should possess as its pre-eminent characteristics a liberality and stability, that should comprehend in their nature progressive provisions. Tho Jaws of the Modes and Persians ar9 inconsistent with vitality , and denote stagnation and degeneracy ; evils from which our laws must bo exempt. The land laws with whioh I first made acquaintance were known as tho Canterbury system. They were largely and widely, but not wisely, eulogised. The effects of their aotion was to establish a uniform price per aore for all the land of the province of £2, Henoe for land of A 1 quality, capable of producing betweoen 70 and 80 bushels of wheat to the acre, the price was the same as that for land not capable of producing, more than seven or eight bushels per acre. A« to torms, in eaoh instance it was “ oash down,” on this point the system was inexorable. The effeots of this system was, as might have been foreseen, to encourage the purchase of large areas of the best land to whioh aooess was easy, by men who had capital or could command it, Such persons or their ngents would seleot in a given district all tho land of the A 1 characteristics, and that whioh was inferior remained ooly available to the bona fide working settler, and the boundaries of the A 1 land was often .designed or devised to increase the difficulties of ac-

0698 to the inferior lands to deter the genuine settler from renobiDg them. This state of things was exactly the reverse of that which was neoossary to seoure and advance the prosperity of the province and colony, and was alive in its nature to the enactment of an ordinance which shonld enforce the payment by the most valuable class of settlers, to wit, the poor, sober, industr'nus one, the same price for his pint of beer, as is paid by the rioh man for his

bottle of champagne. Or as just at present this illustration may bo unduly alcoholic in its flavor I will substitute for it one purely bucolio ; and say it was akin to the poor maD being compelled to pay for the measure of “ skim ” milk he may require for his ohildren a sum equal in amount to that paid by the rich man for an equal measure of cream subtracted from the said skim milk 1 The ultimate issue could not be otherwise than unsatisfactory to the class of working settlers. They were in a dilemma ; their choice was restricted and must be that of the devil or the deep sea. If they bought the infarior land thoy had to pay the two pound per acre cash, and might, as many did, have 4o wait many years before any reasonable means of access to the land was provided, or they might purchase from the A 1 land of the j speculators blocks, at an advanced price. They left the Northern Isles, the homes of I their fathers, skimmed across the sea I buoyed np by bright hopes, and this was the bill of fare oar land legislators plaoed before them. How can any one adequately realise the effect that such a state of things mast have had upon the minds of the hapless fellows wbo had to confront them, or what the effect upon the fortune of the colony ? But to revert to the settlers in their dilemma : what was the final issue ? What could it be but unsatisfactory in the highest degree ? They had to choose between the purchase of sections from the A 1 blocks, with, as a rnle, an extortionate enhancement of the price per acre, and that of the inferior land. The A 1 land was rich, easy of accesß, and immediately 1 available. The inferior land lacked eaoh of these indispensable characteristics, and I the majority yielding to the exigency of 1 the oironmstanoes that enfolded them j essayed the A 1 blocks. In acting thus what else could they do ? I know of instances of £lO per acre paid for such land, void of all improvements, and that would be five times the price per acre paid by the original purchasers. But it may be urged in palliation of this state of things that there-were other alteratives than those I have described available. Thus the would-be-settlers might seek what they wanted in other parte of the colony, or they might wait till changes in the land laws, which were inevitable sooner or later, would be made. In a restricted degree thiß must be admitted, and no doubt some would avail themselves thereof, but {he numbers of such would be comparatively inaignifioaot. Travelling in a semi-civilised country, is at all times costly, and not unfrequßntly dangerous. Then tbe largo majority of the class of settlers I refer to had means of a distressingly limited character, while many good fellows landed here utterly devoid of Bny pecuniary resources whatever ; yet bent on creating a Dew borne. All of thoeo were utterly in-

capable of commanding means of travelling, aod, practically, therefore, suob an alternative did not exist for them. Kioh men undoubtedly could, and did travel, engaged in thoir ceaseless aud insatiate landgrabbing operations. As to waiting for changes in the land laws, which might be available or not, in five, ten, or twenty years, seeing the limited duration and uncertainty of life the prospects disclosed to tho sottler seeking a home were not of an inspiriting character. Bnt I turn from this aspect of the case

with much pleasure to the second and existing one. The foregoing brief recapitulation of soma of the features and efiect3 of the land legislation of the'past Bhould enable us to appreciate more vividly the progress made in this department of colonial jurisprudence ; and the extremely benefioial nature and extended scope of the changes introduced by the present Government. To myaolf the contemplation of the oxisiiog state of our land laws affords measureless gratification, and I feel that whatever revulsions may be enshrouded for our race in the future John McKenzio’s nams will bo regarded with ] honor and respect while the race endures, end brighten the pages of history that will record his patriotic work. Tens of thousands of the struggling and oppressed have benefited by his action, and disappointment and despair have had to give place, in their souls, to other inmates related to hope and joy. He has departed in the odour of a people’s gratitude. “ One with the souls that made this generation great, ho labored not in vain, but left the world better than ho found it.”> Among the acts with which his name is especially associated are The Land for Settlement Act and The Advance to SetCon’Ein.ued on Page 4.