PARLIAMENT

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 8955, 22 October 1907, Page 2

PARLIAMENT

Mouse of Representatives. Per Press Association. Wellington', October 11. The House mot at 7.30. Amendments made in the Land Laws Ameudment’Bill were reported. On the motion that tho Bill bo ■ read a third time, ' Mr Massey expressed regret that tho Minister had not explained his attitude in regard to the Bill, •which, lie thought, would now go on tiio Statute Book without much amendment in another place. Ho deprecated the substitution of tho renewable ;lease for the Ica-soiu-perpetuity. Flo contended tluiu _ a 33 years’ lease was too little under tho lauds for settlement, but a majority of tiro members of tho House know nothing of the conditions that a now settler .had to contend with, and they consequently did not caro. Settlers under this Act would never bo satisfied that they would bo allowed to enjoy the reward of their labour iu carrying out improvements. Tho tendency "was to think that'those who followed him would reap the great benefits of the original settler. Ho contended that a private individual, if ho had leased laud to a tenant for 5)99 years, would jump at the chance to obtain tho original capital value with 1 per cent added from the beginning of the lease; and if he did not ho would bo a man who had more mouo3 T than sense. Proceeding, ho contended that it was absolutely impossible for settlers of the country to have confidence iu a Minister for Lauds who had introduced the Land Bill of tiiis year, and tho Bill of last year, as, if Mr McNab was the author of tho Bill of last year, who, ho asked, “was tho author of tho Bill of this year? He regretted that tho homestead clause proposed by Mr Duncan was not agreed to, as there were thousands of men on the gumfields of the north who would have been glad of an opportunity to make homes for themseslves, and it would have been a good thing for these workers and for tho country generally. Tho Premier said it was misleading to say that any party could put through a freehold policy pure) and simple. He had said so before, and he reiterated it. It was a most difficult subject to deal with iu every country in the world, and a compromise could only ho arrived at by a jiolicy of give-and-take on the part of supporters of the respective tenures, and ho contended that when the farmers had considered tho Bill dispassionately they would bo satisfied that the Government had done a good work. Referring to Mr Massey’s charge that Mr MclSTah had taken up a different position iu regard to the Bill this year as against the Bill of last year, ho reminded members that it was usual for good generals to do a certain amount of skirmishing, and the fact was that the Minister had now come out on top. Ho said that Mr Massey had found that the original proposal to grant the freehold at the original value was not popular iu some parts of the country, so he then advocated the original value plus 1 per cent, and as that was not acceptable at all lie advocated a system of actuarial value. He defended tho renewable lease and the conversion |of tho lease-in-perpetuity into the freehold at the present value, which, he said, w T as the honest course to pursue. Mr Bucldo deprecated tho idea that the Socialists had influenced Ministers, but he considered it was the moderate people who influenced public matters, aud it was the moderates who would place tho laud legislation ou the Statute Book. Mr Malcolm urged that the Government should have adopted his elf-;.;), which would have enabled 1.. ■ Government to sell land for I cash. Tho Government would theu hayo secured the profits, and iu other ways have added to the advantages of the country, instead of allowing land syndicates to [secure enormous profits.. After tho Telegraph Office closed the Hon. McNab continued the debate, and said that if Laud Boards

were wholly elective Ministers would be no longer held responsible for the work of the Boards. In that casp Land Boards would be very ready to tell the Minister to min'd his own business, and when that timo arrived the country would have to ’ face the position that the administration of Grown lauds was .no longer in the i>ands"of file Minister-. The Government policy was to have one member elected by tenants, and! he thought in this connection more consideration might have been given to members of the Boards having regard to the fact that they did a large amount of very important work. He contended that benefits had been conferred on small grazing ran holders and to lease-in-perpetuty holders in regard to the value of improvements aud the option of changing tenure. • Mr Massey called for a division on the thM v'.v.-’lri.-T.-which was agreed to by 42 to hi. The Bill thus passed. The following voted against the Bill—Massey, J. Allen, Lang, Jennings, Malcolm, Lewis,- Mandor, Groenslado, Houston, Harden, Eeid, Lethbridge, Boss, W. Fraser, Herries. ■ . . . The House rose at 3.80 a.m.