Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1905, GOVERNMENT LEASES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3537, 22 June 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1905, GOVERNMENT LEASES.

At the sitting otiiie Latid Commission in Wellington, Mr A. R. Lvons gave some valuable evidence with regard to the Government pastoral runs. He stated tha f hardly any of these had the carrying capacity which they ought to have* Or which they formerly had. Settlers MVe apparently exceeded the proper limit of slocking, and the rekult had been to reduce the value of the runs. The California thistle, fm, had been allowed to spread, and had become a vftj-v serious pent’. Altogether t'hh pjtsl.m'vi i tins dt the colony were very tar trom their former state of productiveness, and the remedy was to be found in imposing restrictions and taking care that the settlers farmed their land in a propel 1 and intelligent manner, and with dub regard to the interests of the State. This, the Hawke’s Bay “ Herald ” observes, is an interesting commentary on the leasehold system. It will hardly be maintained and had these properties been freehold, the owners would have been so careless ot their interests, or so anxious to squeeze the last farthing’s return out of the land regardless of the damage they were doing to its productive capacity. The pastoral run system is an old system which has been in working for more than a generation. The land for settlements system is new and yet unproven. But if we may argue from one to the other, we shall not find much reason to believe that the leasehold principle will work satisfactorily, as far as the interests of the State are concerned, on smaller areas than it has on larger. There is at present a movement against the cropping and other restrictions imposed on settlers. These are pretty harsh in their operations in many cases. But in the pastoral runs we find a system practically free °* limitations, and it cannot be said to have worked out well. The moral of Mr Li ■o.ns’ evidence it is easy to discover.