Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5131, 3 September 1877, Page 2

Difficulties, it lias been said, loom larger at a distance than they really are, and sometimes vanish altogether when boldly faced. But like many other phrases' commonly received as axioms this one is singularly open to exception. In fact, as often, as not the difficulty that seemed trifling when viewed from afar, assumes gigantic dimensions when fairly grappled with. No bettor illustration of this could be found than that afforded by Mr. Donald Reid’s Land Bill. Who does not remember the popular antiabolition cry for one uniform land law for the whole colony 1 Has anyone forgotten the terribly pointed denunciations of the evils of “nine different land laws, and the more than corresponding number of variations in price ? At that time, to the more enthusiastic at all events, nothing seemed easier than a complete unification—than the reduction of chaos to such a state of order and simplicity as to enable the intending emigrant or the new arrival to understand exactly how and at what price, he could obtain land for a. home anywhere in New Zealand. There was something very attractive about the_idea —there is yet—but its realisation, has■ proved anything but the easy task anticipated. Last session, we need scarcely remind our readers, it was not-faced at all. Provision was made merely, to ‘carry oh the then :existing machinery for the of waste lands,. pending further legislation, .Until recently, indeed, it, seemed by no, means improbable that things would be allowed to remain in statu for another year, for although there was some kind of promise to bring down a Land Bill, the Government might very

well have.pleaded that their time had been so fully occupied in warding off the irritating attacks of the “mosquito Opposition’’—as it has been termed—as to leave little or no leisure for the maturing of a measure of such an important character. Hence, we were agreeably surprised on receiving early last week the draft of “an Act to regulate the sale or other disposal of the lands of the Crown in New Zealand,” issued under the sponsorship of the Hon. Mr. Reid; and but for the exciting parliamentary events that have since taken place, we should have sooner dived into its pages to find out how nearly the problem of “one land laxv ” had been solved. Without offering any further apology for delay, it may be at once 1 said that, starting on a sound basis, considerable progress has been made. Assuming the leading features of the Bill to be the work of Mr. Reid, we shall pay him no great compliment in saying that his work displays indubitable evidence of ripe experience, industry, and power of concentration. So far as regards the South Island, its provisions—with such amendments in matters of detail as will not affect the principles involved are of a kind that xvill meet the expressed wishes of the people, while even for the “anomalous North” it offers the prospect of escape from a state of things of which everybody complains, and for xvhich no end of fallacious remedies have been proposed by empirics. Let it be clearly understood, hoxvever, that it is by no means a revolutionary measure, for in nearly every case the “provincial districts” are permitted to retain existing regulations as to classification, price, &c., that have been found to work beneficially. It simply superadds to these the power of making such alterations in the direction of selling land on deferred payments, the sub-divi-sion of runs, conditions of survey, &c., as the altered circumstances of the colony under the development of the Public Works policy appear to justify. The weakest point about the Bill, in the estimation of some, is the part having special reference to the Canterbury runs. The tenure of these it is proposed to extend for ten years from 1880, subject to a rental to be determined by the carrying capacity of the country, the lease thereafter to absolutely cease and determine. Against this it has been urged that the runholders have no real claim to occupation after 1880, and that the colony is virtually asked to confer special privileges on a particular class. To this it has been replied that, admitting for the sake of argument the non-existence of any legal right, the Canterbury runholders were led to expect that they xvould be allowed to continue in occupation until the land was actually required for agricultural settlement, and that on the strength of this understanding many of them have entered into engagements xvhich require longer than till 1880 to fulfil. Or, to put the matter plainly, they claim that indeterminate thingcalleda “vestedright;” and hoxvever strongly several logicians of the Stout school may argue to the contrary, there seems some foundation for it. With regard to runs in Otago this does not occur, the tendency of land legislation for that province having alxvays been of a kind to inspire anything but a sense of security on the part of the runholder. Whether or not an extension of ten years from 1880 will be too long a term to grant, is really the question at issue ; and on this point there is little doubt that the good sense of Parliament, noxv that party strife has nearly burned itself out, will discover the xvay to a compromise at once satisfactory to the claimants and conducive to the best interests of the colony. ~.