The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 1929 THE LAND BILL.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 September 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 1929 THE LAND BILL.

The Land Laws Amendment Bill which was introduced in the Lower House recently, is one of the most important measures submitted to Parliament for many years, and if it realises successfully the expectations of its promoters it will deseiwe a place in our annais, says an Auckland paper, beside the epoch-making land legislation of the Ballance-Scddon, .era. llie Bill, which is an extremely comprehensive measure, is an attempt to encourage settlement by making provision against all the settler’s most serious needs—tlie want of land and capital and the difficulty of financing the necessary operations during the long period that must usually elapse before the land becomes productive. The first two sections of tlie Bill break what is virtually new ground in' regard to the promotion of , settlement. Realising the immense difficulties that of necessity confront the' ( settlers who locale themselves first on unbroken and unimproved lands, far from markets, and without cheap and easy means of transit and communication, the , Government proposes to spend large sums in im 7 proving areas of Crown lands or unimproved lands already classified as suitable for development before throwing them open to settlers. The Minister of Lands may offer such holdings for selection at less than actual cost, where it is evident that the tenants could not work the land profitably on the basis of the full capital expenditure. In regard to undeveloped settlement land ,the Minister may authorise the complete preparation of the land for immediate use, by surveying, draining, roading, fencing, clearing and grassing, and the erection of suitable buildings, and may purchase tlie tools, machinery and equipment required. All this important work is to be carried out by a Land Development Board set up for the purpose, and the Minister of Finance is to be authorised to borrow, up to £0,000,000 a year for “purposes of land settlement, including development of unsettled lands and promotion of settlement thereon. An important aoncess'on to settlers is made by a clause which empowers the | Minister, on the recommencin'ion of the Development Board, to dispose of settlement lands at n price less than the actual cost of acquisition, roading, survev and general improvements. As regards the acquisition of lands already improved, the B'll makes special provision for compulsory purchase on new lines. Two separate Land Purchase Boards are to ho set up for the North and South Islands, and the process of securing such improved land as mav be required for settlement is to bo simplified through the operation of the Public Works Act' of 1928, which enables the value of the land, improved and

unimproved, to be fixe<l by a Compensation Court. A number of other interesting clauses deal with the claims of applicants eligibly for land, the payment of rent and rates, and the limitation of areas. But the points already noted are sufficient in themselves to render this Bill one of the most noteworthy pieces of, legislation submitted to Parliament for many years, and to commend it to the approval of the whole country.