Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, JUNE 14th, 1920. LAND TENURES.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 June 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, JUNE 14th, 1920. LAND TENURES.

To entire settlement and more se;dement in this country, the people must needs devote some .attention to land tenures again. Parliament has pronounced very definitely for the freehold but since then much has transpired to show the fallacy of the freehold. r ! he country is in the predicament of buying back its orignal crown lands nr.'v to provide land for the settlement of the soldiers. This wa« so largely, under the Lands for Settlement Act, but it is more markedly the case now, when the Government is advancing huge sums on mortgage for freehold lands to satisfy the earth hunger. The land so mortgaged was orignally crown land and is being passed on to the soldiers by the vendors at large advances in prices. The Government holding the mortgages is actually the holder of the freehold, the soldiers by reason of their interest, payments being virtually the lease holders. Despite this striking example, and exposure of the 1 socalled freehold tenure, there is still a call for the extension of the freehold in respect to lands other than Cr.owi lands purely. There is an agitation going on to make National and Education Endowment lands also amenable to the freehold regulations, and ,so would pass people more of their i heritage, while those securing the land would continue to make their profit out of the peoples’ heritage. The rcaaim of the freehold agitator is to place himself in possession of land which he can sell at a larger profit. This is not the trend of th© country’s desire for true settlement. The question is drifting' into a serious position and the people cannot do better than wake np and take jin intelligent interest ]n what concerns them more vitally than any other national jpsue of the hour. As to the latest attach on the peoples’ birthright, Air John Anstey ex-51.P., has written very pointedly to the Dunedin “Star” tu enlighten the average reader on the issue at stake. We cannot do better to-day than conclude by quoting portion of Mr Anstey’s statement of the case, and hope to refer again to the subject in a later issue of the paper He writes

This question of maintaining under- a leasehold tenure the National and Education' Endowments for education and old age pensions has two main features: (1) The earmarking of the revenues for the stated purpose; (2) Tlie fullest possible development and economic settlement of these lands. The first of these is probably whatmost appeals to the educationists. The second is what most strongly appeals to me. Regarding the first, I have for many years persistently advocated—both in public speeches and iti correspondence with public bodies controlling these reserves that the securest tenures should be given to- the occupiers! of these lands. These appeals have been unheeded, and with few exceptions, and then only to a partial extent, most of these bodies have refused to give any but tbo most insecure of tenures, with the result that thousands < f acres, much of it the finest land ;n New Zealand, remains under-de-veloped, under-improved, ill-cnltivat-

ed, and much of it held in aggrega- ] tion with other lands owing to ’ho impossibility of building homes on land under these insecure tenures. Tlie rents received ce less than could be obtained under a secure tenure, and the production much below its possibilities, involving loss to State. T have pointed out that the time must come when the public would rebel against these conditions, and that, while we all agree that the best possible must; be done for education, there is not the slightest need hr the requirements of education io block settlement and the developnient of any production from the land; and* I want to say here that if the present agitation for handing' over these endowments to- the private freeholder to aggregate, profiteer with, and to trade in is successful, the parties mostly to blame arc the educational and other bodies who control those endowments, nnd persistently refuse to recognise their responsibilties as landlords and the rights of those v T ho are prepared to do the strenuous work of development, improvement and production from these lands. Regarding the second, I think that the administration of all these endowments should be taken out of the hands of Inc education authorities. They are and have proved themselves incapable of properly administering them. An educational board is composed of educationists and can hardly be expected to be experts in land administration, and I think all these ~n -dowments dowments should be anministered by the Land Boards under the Land for Settlement and Land Acts, the rentals being earmarked for the df - sired purpose. In most cases the?e Acts to provide a secure tenure and much genuine settlement and increased production have taken place under them. Among other things they provide for limtation of area, residence that is bona fide settlement(tlio only effective safeguard against aggregation), a minimum of improvements, etc. I am aware that these Acts do provide a secure tenure and present administration much to be desired; but these faults should be corrected by the Legislature.