The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, JULY 30, 1910. LAND TENURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 30 July 1910, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, JULY 30, 1910. LAND TENURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

Tim victory of the Government, by an attenuated majority, in the test :>f strength which terminated the No Confidence debate initiated by the Leader of the Opposition on Tuesday last, is a cause of mingled joy and

orrow to many Government Slipperierl;. Primarily tlie.v are glad because the Government has not been compelled to give way to supphtnters whose general policy would be too reactionary for .tho good of New Zealand; but in. a secondary sense they are sorry because the victory -though by ten votes only—may give the Government some inducement to persevere in a land tenure policy which needs remodelling. There are various side-tracks and narrow bv-wiiys surrounding these problems of land tenures, along and in which the most skilled of political travellers may become lost and bewildered but when all has been said, tho residuum of the problems boils down to this incontrovertible fact: that the actual owner of land works it to the best possible advantage and with a.n eye to the distant future as it affects himself personally and his children; while tho lessee of land has before him only the desire to get out of that land as much as lie can get in a limited period. With feelings of satisfaction we have noticed in tho last year or two a gradual broadening of the Government land policy, but we are forced to admit that there will bo need for still further widening before tin* desires of the majority of the population concerning this matter of land tenure will have been met. If the Government would plmige boldly into tho freehold river, and wash away from itself tho worst stains of the_ leasehold disease from wliich it has been suffering throughout its existence, it would put itself i,n a sure w.ay to go on increasing in popular favour, and thereby establish for itself a, political longevity that would make it long immune from Opposition ttacks.