Page 4 Advertisements Column 4

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1997, 5 February 1907, Page 4

THE LAND BILL. (Farmers’ Union Advocate.) Tlio Mon. It. MeNiib is pursuing his land campaign under conditions which, to less sanguine and stubborn lighters, would ho regarded as thoroughly disappointing. From lli-.il very commencement of the tour he ( has met with such opposition r.s would have caused others lo throw ui> the sponge. Liven in the Mouth, whore the land question is scarcely understood, the Minister's ineein igs were devoid of enthusiasm, whilst d, is significant that his colleagues in the Cabinet have studiously made excuses for their lailurc to assist i i the campaign. The Auckland opposition to Mr MoN all's proposals has boon explained as the result ol si mo parochial prejudice ; but since Iho carrying of a practically adverse motion'at Jiketahuna —one time desci'ibed as a “Liberal stronghold —the explanation, ingenuous though it may be, cannot possibly bo accepud. I lie fact is that the Land Bill, as a solution of the rural problem, it utterly impossible, and its author cannot lad to recognise that this is so. LI'S specious arguments in..support* ol Mio measure are characteristic or. fcha skilful lawyer who employs iirtiiico in bolstering up a hopeless case. They will not boar dissection by the most ordinary judge. What excuse is offered for the bringing down ot tho measure? The .Minister said at Curtor ton the other night that when the Ward Administration came into office it found the Colony drifting down the stream. This is surely a poor compliment to have paid a giant Premier like the late Hon. H, J • Soddon. But how was the Colony drifting? According to Mr McJNab tho demands for land wore so great that it would soon require a million of money a year to satis!” them. And it was tp arrest this borrowing that the present Bill was designed. N ery well. But was it not the contention of the late Premier that borrowing for re-productive works was more than justified P Assuming, however, that our borrowing operations were unjustifiable, did not tho Tanners Union suggest a reasonable alternative in the granting of the option to Crown tenants to purchase tho treehold of their estates? Hut no, the Hon. Mr MeNab must have Ins own way in these matters. And so he comes along with the proposal that private individuals shall share the responsibility with the Stato in meeting tho demand for land. He conveniently omitted to tell his Carterton audience that, if the SO.IiOO limit were possible (and be candidly admitted that such a proposal would only result in a division of the estates affected among relatives), only about a score of holders would be concerned. He also omitted to tell his audience that, once tho principle were adopted it would naturally extend with the increased demand for land, until the limit to bo hold by any one person was reduced from thousands to hundreds, and, possibly, from hundreds to tons. The Minister told the Carterton folk that the compulsory acquisition operations of the Government had caused an appreciation in values, and that owners made excessive demands when they were asked to sell. Why did ho not tell those present that there is an Assessment Court which protects tho interests of the Colony ? Mr MeNab, in dealing with the mortgage aspect of tho question, made the astonishing suggestion that money-lending institutions should not lie allowed to become land-owners. Would the Minister, in bis private capacity as a lawyer, seriously sug-j gost that a client should lend money j without the right of foreclosure in 1 the event of default? Would the Advances to Settlers’ Office lend money on such conditions? Of course it would not. The suggestion is absurd on tbe face of it. Tint it is on a par with other extravagant utterances made by tile Minister in defence of bis impotent case. Let ns briefly analyse, his remarks concerning the CO-vears lease, 110 argued that this lease was better than a freehold at present values, because the lessee might transfer his interest and pocket tho unearned increment, if such there was. Now, if this lino of argument i„ sound, why the opposition to the granting of the freehold option at the original values? Mr MeNab admits tiie right of the tenant to acquire nine-tenths of liis freehold, but i>• denies tho right to the other tenth. He offers absolutely no reason however for this denial, excepting the flimsy excuse that “Parliament will not grant the freehold _ option at tlio original values.” Why will Parliament not. grant the freehold option? Because- Mr MeNab and his colleagues in the Cabinet will not afford it the opportunity. The Minister made a point at Carterton with the illustration of a large owner outbidding a landless man with a fami'y. Ho did no tell his hearers that the man who was selling had also a family, and that it was his duty to got as much as he could for his estate Neither did he say that his own pet measure contained a - provision that if a lease-in-perpetuity owner were foolish enough he could surrender his lease, to be outbid at. auction by bis neighbor. These entradictory positions must at once present themselves to the thoughtful reader. Tin why pursue the discussion further? Mr MeNab is clutching at straws throughout. In his effort to “educate” the people, he has become inextricably involved. His endowment proposals are nothing more nor less than a bait to tbe city electors; but they are not likely to be swallowed. His new lease is almost as big an insult to the late Premier and ex-Ministor of Lands as it is to the intelligence of .those whom it is sought to placate. His limitatio* clauses are bad in principle and almost impossible to bring into effective operation. The whole Bill, indeed, is ill-con-sidered and impracticable. It lias neither been asked for nor endorsed by the country. It is a blunt effort to smother the agitation which is spreading from one end of tho colony to tile other. But its object is so transparent and its defects so manifest that one can hardly conceive its being seriously preceeded with.

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