Land Tenures as affecting Motueka.

Motueka Star, Volume I, Issue 21, 22 October 1901, Page 3

Land Tenures as affecting Motueka.

[contributed]

The Mibjest matter of your leader in your last issue should undoubtedly interest a large number of the burgesses of this borough, the majority of whom are lesseses cf two Trusts, the Native and Whakarewa. Greymouth apparently is concerned with only one and that known as the native reserve. That the lessees of Greymouth are bestirring themselves is not to be wondered ; :.t the v onder rather should be why some movement has not been made before. It must have been patent to all that when raising the large amount of loan money recently, some =£42,000, for town improvements, that the owners of the land in the borough would ultimately benefit largely" "as the result of the speculature enterpr'se of their tenant-;. 1 am told that the matter was discussed at the time but that it was not made a public question as it is evidently being done there now. The object is to secure, if possible, leases in perpetuity. This, of course, would mean a fixed reilt for ever, instead of the present system of re-valua-tion every 21 years. As compared with the present system this would greatly advantage the tenants, and if the re-assessment, prior to granting a lease in perpetuity, were made on the present capital value of the land, the landlords, the native owners, could not complain, seeing that their investment or endownraent had, say, 42 years ago a capital value of =£lo,ooo, and afterhaving undergone two 21 years' valuations, the last one to date showed an increase in v.due to the extent of =£3o, 000, as compared with the original value, =£lo,ooo. It must be admitted that the Europeans have been responsible for the advanced values, and if the new leases were in perpetuity, based on the present capital value, the tenant of course takes all risk of anv

decrease, as well as benefitting by any increase, while the native owners have an assured permanent income. The tenants under these conditions would have practiealy a freehold, and I have no hesitation in saying that a much greater incentive would be given to native reserve tenants to support progressive movement than there is at present under the re-valuation tenure. The whole of the foregoing, though having reference to the position in Greymouth, applies with equal force to the lessee burgesses of the borough of Motueka, and if this community is alive to its own interests both now and in the future (for I believe we have a future before us), it behoves it to take advantage of the movement, apparently on fcot on the West Coast, and inter change ideas of reform with those responsible ; also, to co-operate with them in securing, if possible, a better and more satisfaciory tenure than that we have at present.. It will be seen that the proposals of the Mayor of Greymoutn, in moving in the direction of securing leases in perpetuity, was that the lease of the whole of the native land in the borough should be given the municipality, and presumably the idea was that as far as the tenants were concerned they would still have to submit to revaluations, that the unearned increment might thus become the property of the borough, rather- than the native owners. In principle this may be alright, but as the freeholders would still be allowed the benefit accruing through the expenditure of public money, the tenants individually would be at a disadvantage. Compared .vith those holding freeholds, we may assume that by this system increase in rents would supplement the borough finances, and a reduction in rates may result proportionately as the land revenne increased, the tenant thus paying less rates than before, but the freholder would still have the . greater benefit, as his rates would be less, and the whole or the increment on his section would be his individual property, while as a burgess he would be pai-t proprietor of the unearned increment accruing on the property of his neighbor, a tenant of the municipality. The freeholder would thus be on velvet. If the freehold cannot be obtained by individual tenants, the next best tenure they could secure would be the lease in perpetuity granted to each in dividual! v..

The land question is a very live one, and there is reason to believe that the line of demarcation between political parties in the future will be distinctly drawn and determined by their attitude on that question of all questions, the individual ownership of land. With your permission, Sir, I propose to deal further with the present system of land tenure, as affecting the future of this borough, and am glad of the opportunity given me through the medium of your paper to draw attention to the necessity of moving in the direction indicated by the people of Greymouth.

W. J. Moffatt.