Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1907. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8844, 21 June 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1907. EDITORIAL NOTES.

AT this time when the whole of our ' laud legislation seems likely to be once more thrown in the crucible it is of interest to note what results have already been attained iu the direction of breaking up largo estates under the Land, for Settlement Act. The value of the land paid for on March 31st, 190(5 (including expenses) was £4,408,394, and 16 esi fates, which cost £239,99(5, laid not been opened for selection, and in 40 estates land valued at £BIB2 per annum was unlet. The rental received was at the rate of 4.57 jjcr cent on the expenditure. The laud was iu the bauds of 355(5 tenants, who occupied an area little short of a million acres. The fact that 158 estates have been divided among this large number of settlers is satisfactory, but we have to ask whether the country ought to afford the expense of the process. The average capital expenditure to place each settler on the land lias been £1340. When it is considered that a large number of the estates bought have been cut up into small areas for workmen’s homes it is clear that the cost of putting a settler on anything worthy of the name of a farm must be somewhere about £2OOO. The question to be decided is not so much whether a single settler is worth this expenditure of public money as whether the money could not have been more profitably used. We think there is uo doubt that four and a half millions spent iu opening up and reading new country, either Crown lauds or laud purchased from Maori owners, would have produced far more lasting benefits to the country. The whole policy of laud for settlement lias, m fact, been conducted rather as a moans of inline- 1 diately securing votes than as a- far- , seeing policy tending to the ultimate ( advantage of the colony as a whole, j:

THE news tlvafe the Duma Ims bet'll dissolved came as somewhat of a surprise as it seemed that the first difficulties which the Assembly had to meet had been overcome and that the distracted country was setting down under a form of representative government, certainly restricted at present, but capable of further de velopment in the future. The Czar had received a number of the members in private audience and had shown his willingness to support the prestige of the newly-elected body. Suddenly it was stated that owing to the discovery of a revolutionary plot in which some of the deputies were concerned the Duma had been dissolved. The Czar, in a manifesto, made no reference to the plot hut hinted that the present Duma, was not sufficiently representative of purely Russian interests. The more recent news that the number of members for Poland, the Caucasus and Siberia will ho reduced by one half seems to warrant the assertion of the Daily News that the real cause of the dissolution was the fear of offending Germany by making concessions on the language question to Poland, for without the support of the Polos, which was withheld with a view to making a bargain, Government was unable to pass the Budget. Our knowledge of Russian affairs is limited to the small amount of cabled intelligence supplied us and changes take place so rapidly that the English papers received by mail arrive too late to afford any of the information we desire. The brief note that English papers take a pessimistic view of the situation entirely 'agrees with the conclusions to which our restricted knowledge would point.

THE Wellington Ministerial journal continues through absolute ignorance or wilful misrepresentation to endeavour to prove that the aggregration of estates is going ou in this country. With this object it quotes figures from the year hook to show that tho number of estates of 5000 acres and over has increased from 733 in 181)0 to 811 in 1000. In the year hook it is carefully stated that the figures iuclucio Crown pastoral leases and the significant remark is made, “the plan of excluding government' leases from the table, showing tho holdings in classes Jins its advantages, though not now adopted.” Every one knows that the pastoral leases arc often ovqr areas exceeding 5000 acres and it is really those leases which cause the advance in tho number of large estates. On reference to other figure's iu the Year Book wo find that iu 180(5 there were. 8.38 pastoral runs of an area of 10,054,350 acres and iu 1000 there were 885 rims with an acreage of 11,45)4,37(5 acres. From these figures it is apparent that the average area of a pastoral run is 153,000 acres, so that clearly most of the largo estates are not freehold at all and second that during tho last ten years 57 new Government tenants have, taken up 840,000 acres, an average of 13,000 acres apiece. It should also ho noted that out of 37 million acres of occupied laud Government, holds more than 17 million acres. In fact laud nationalisation is nearly half accomplished.

OUR remarks as to the burden of the graduated tax wore quite necessary, if wo may judge by the opinions expressed in some of the city ■journals as to the slight [effect of the present system. The Evening Post jauntily remarks ;“The present graduated tax is a comparatively tamo affair, beginning at onc-six-teontb of a penny in the pound when the unimproved value is £3OOO, and reaching a maximum of oil in the pound when the value reaches £210,000.” The fact that there is also a land tax of id in the £ is not mentioned. Country settlers know that a ‘tamo’ little comity rate of a few .sixteenths of a penny may produce a very unpleasant account for rates and they will do well to sec that the inhabitants of the cities who regard those taxes so lightly arc not permitted a free hand in imposing burdens on landholders. It is some satisfaction that the graduated tax on land falls on country and town properties alike. The original Bill excluded town properties for no valid reason except that t]io £15.000 limit was impossible of application, hut the new proposals will fall with equal harshness on town and country alike. Farmers may therefore look for assistance in the struggle before them to the large town proprietors who were unaffected by former proposals.