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Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1992, 30 January 1907, Page 4

THE GOVERNMENT LAND PROPOSALS. MR. ALLEN, M.H.R., IN REPLY TO MR. M'NAB. Under tho auspices of tho Milton branch of tlio Now Zealand Farmers Union nn ablo addross on tho Land Rill was delivered by Mr James Allen, M.H.R., on Tuesday night. Tho following extracts nro from a roport in tho Otago Daily Times: — THE MINISTER’S FRIENDS. A man must bo judged by tho company ho keeps, and tho company that was following tho Minister in liis land proposals to-day consisted of tlioso who hod passed resolutions providing for re-valuation of existing leases of 50 yoars from tho date of tho lease. Mark tho word oxisting leases, and couplo this with tho fact that they had had re-valuation Rills one alter another and tho lonso-in-porpetuity holdor may woll pauso and ask whore his friends wore.—(Applauso.) There was another curious statement of the Minister’s which throw light upon this proposed legislation, a stntomont. made in his speech on tho Financial Statement. It must bo, ho said, a strong personality in his Ministry who will carry 90 per cent, of his own views in the proposals of tho Government. This was said in tho Minister’s speech on tho land proposals of tho Government. AVas the 10 per cent, in tho Bill, Mr M’Nab? AVas the 90, Mr FowldsP

THE MINISTER’S PROFESSIONS. The introduction of this Bill had been full of professions. Tho Minister had said that he had niado an enormous forward movement discounting his two predecessors in of lice and their land policy. Lie told them in the Financial Statement that the Bill explained from start to finish tho Government’s policy, and tho public were, therefore, justified in taking the Bill as it came to them from tho Minister’s hands as a full exposition of tho Ministerial land proposals. Tho Bill, he had said again in tho Financial Statement, “would be more clear and explicit) than any Ministry that had over yot occupied tho Treasury Benches had put forward showing that wo have not waited in vain to bring down our legislation,” and, notwithstanding all these boasts and all those professions, tho Select Committee had to put in clauses to save the revenues of tho local authorities, to provide for tho roading of the lands for endowments, to provide for tho payments to protect the New Plymouth bond holders, to advance the owner to make clear tho position of trustee and legateo, and to deal with mortgages and contracts entered into. Ho feared that tho boast of the Minister that tho Bill was more clear and explicit than over yet introduced nrust fall to the ground, but the Min-

ister must stand by his statement and they would take his Bill as the clear and explicit expression of the Government land proposals. (Anplauso.J WHY THE BILE WAS INTRODUCED. What were the reasons for tho introduction of tho Bill ? One stood cut prominently, namely, the difficulty of finding money for the purchase of land for settlement. It was scarcely necessary for him to justify that statement, for quotation after quotation could bo given in support of it. The Prime Minister, for instance, ill the Financial Statement, said it was impossible to go on borrowing £750,000 a year for land for settlement. Again, he said the Government must suggest) some proposal for an improved system of advance in this respect. There were stronger words of the Prime Minister’s which unfortunately were not recorded, that led the House to believe that they were prepared to abandon the land for settlement scheme on the difficulty of finding the advances. The Minister of Lands himself at Onehunga said it was an absolutely impossible position, and that financial ruin faced them if the money for the purchase of land for settlement each year went on increasing. This difficulty had been appreciated by members of Parliament, and proposals had been made by the Oppost'ion to get over it. The Ministerial proposals were to find the money by allowing the lessee of a renewable lease or a leasc-in-perpetuity holder to pay off up to 90 per cent, of the value of his holding. Was the land for settlement scheme to depend on this finance? If so, what faith could the country have in it? Tho Opposition proposal was a much safer one to find the money, namely, that the lessees should be allowed, under certain limitations as to holdings, to purchase the freehold of their lands, offering them every inducement to become the best of settlers, the money that they paid for the purchase of their lands being used for the jiurchase of fresh lands for settlement. (Applause.)

THE ATTACK OK THE FREEHOLD. But this 90 por cent, proposal was not the great part of the Bill. The main thing in the Bill was the destruction of the future freehold, the opening of the door for attack on tno existing freehold and the destruction of security generally. Before coming to consider the Bill itself, this well-thought-out Bill, about which so many professions had been made by the Miniser, ho would indicate the boastful attitude of the Minister himself: “They will have to start early and run fast to got past my clause,"’ said Mr M'Nab on the introduction of the Bill. “I will ask that the limitation proposals bo passed this session, oven if the Bill is not.” Did he do so? “We are going to stand by our guns, and will, if necessary, go down with thorn in the twinkling of an eye.” All these statements were made the first time that the Minister spoke or the question in the House. Ho did not stand by his guns. They did not go down in the twinkling of an eye. The limitation proposals wero not passed during the last session and he ventured to assert that a good many people might have started' very late and not have run very fast to get past several of his clauses. (Ap plause.)

THE ENDOWMENT PROPOSALS. After explaining the new features of the Bill, Mr Allen said that 20 years ago Mr E. C. J. Stevens carried a Bill through the Lower House 10 set apart a million acres for a national endowment. That was the time to have made these endowments, and it was a pity that those who were our rulers at that time did not set aside good land which one might be sure would increase in value as time went on. He favored endowments, and always had done so, but there was a sine qua non. They must be good, and they must be productive, or they were of no value. Settlement and us 3 was the one essential, and this Bill, by doing away with the right of cash purchase and occupation with the right of purchase, discouraged settlement, especially of the poorer lands remaining, which were the lands to be set aside under the Bill as endowments. The Minister’s ideas had hem apparently ' changing, formulating themselves as he got wiser apparently At first ho proposed to set aside about a million and three-quarter acres of land that would be available during the next ten years for option, if the optional system remained. He gathered from the Minister’s speech on the Financial Statement that nearly 16,824,000 acres would be set aside as endowments, with a present rental of £123,000 and a prospective rental of £184,000, and tars was Ihe great system of endowment to assist to find money for education,for charitable aid, and for old ago pensions. These three things cost us nearly £1,200,000 a year now, and were going on increasing. What a drop in the bucket, then, was the £184,000 prospective rents, and no prospect of these increasing in value for the next sixty-six years. (Applause.)

available revenue. But would this revenue be available under the amended Bill ? Most certainly not, for clauses wore inserted making the endowment money first of all available for surveying for roading, paying “thirds” and “fourths,” and he ventured to say that when these had been taken from the income of the Endowment Fund, as provided by this Bill, there would be mighty little left. (Applause.) To take them back twenty years to the Land Fund, when it was separated from the Consolidated Fund, the charges for roading and surveying were more than the revenue, and there had to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund to the Land Fund sums of money to make up the deficits, with the result that it was abolished and merged into the Consolidated Fund itself. Now they were asked to believe that with a diminishing land area, with poorer lands and the same charges for surveying and roading, a fund could be provided for those three great departments of the State. He should be sorry if education had to depend upon this, or hospitals or charitable aid or old age pensions. (Applause.) The late Prime Minister was wiser in his day when he refused distinctly to put old ago pensions on anything but the Consolidated Fund ,and, as a matter of fact, it was the Consolidated Fund to-day which bore those charges, and any rovenne that came from endowments for education was simply deducted from the vote on the Estimates. (Applause.)