Manamatu Herald. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1895. Family Homes.

Manawatu Herald, 11 July 1895, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1895. Family Homes.

The Bill introduced by the Hon. the Minister of Lands for securing homes for the people will probably become law this Session, as the principle seems to be in favour with the people. In carefully reading the Bill there appears want of precautions so that the persons outside of the family arrangement may also be protected from the careful, but, perhaps, not too honest " settlor." The Bill suggests that any home, of any area, not exceeding £1000 in value may be set aside. There are provisions that before the land is secured creditors shall be informed by public notice, though the details are to be left to the Governor in Council to prescribe. We may accept the fact that the Settlor will not get his Certificate without some precautions having been taken that he is fairly entitled to it. But afterwards ? In a few years' time it ii possible that many properties will

thus be tied tip* and tradesmen may find, to their cost such to be the fdct. If, as it would be ojteh tb tneiii, they are ttt sfe'arcn the titles ot their customers, the tradesman will conceive a dislike to trust land-owners, and thus those who have not created their lands into Family Hottte* Will experience a difficulty wbibh is hot at present liiet with. If the Sill is to discourage credit then 1 , the ehd* could be nluch more easily accomplished by the abolishment tf all laws relfttitijg to tne i ; efeß.Vei'y of debts j but if It is simply, as it purports to be, a measure to insure a home to a family, some consideration might be shown to tha trader) and the notification annually id the Gaßettee, of all holdings registered under this Bill might be part of the conditions of registration. By some such means the trader would be -annually warned of the risks he ran and' -could act accordingly* If the one public notice is only givebi it is bound to get lbsfc sight of in a few years, and if the " settlor " got into difficulties he might be very inclined to |use the position he held, to his advantage, which might result in disadvantage to the trader. Thti fact that a home .Was secured is no discreditable fact and no honest person eould possibly object to the fast being made knbWn annually. There is one other point worthy of consideration in the Bill, and that is the number of applications that niay be made to register a home by one person. A thrifty person may choOse to ootttuience when he has £100 worth gathered together, and in the course of a year or two may make further additions. This is nothing to ohjeel; to id itself, aHvays provided thaUue-applicant is working hone3tly. It is easy to conceive a man working his possessions up bit by bit without any capital, but by spreading his liabilities over a large area in small amounts, which might tempt the trader to believe it hardly worth while to enter a eaveat.^Care Will have to be taken that persons leaving one portion of the colony in debt do not stow themselves quietly away in another portion and register" a claim. The period, six months, is short, for the notice required, and if the settlor succeeds in getting registration what procuednre is there to oust him ? It certainly appears that an honest man framed the Bill with a conviction that all were like unto him. Unless the regulations can compass these objections they should be embodied in the Bill, or there is little doubt many " Family Homes " will be secured at the expense of the storekeepers of the colony.