Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 8958, 25 October 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

THE Government has been stabbod in tho brick, exclaimed .Sir JoHopli Ward ou Wednesday, when homo of lilh followers refused to share tlio ! roHponflibility of sacrincing tho interests of"" settlement in order to pander to tlio views lield by tite land nationalises. No doubt tlio Promior was Komowiiat annoyed tiiat bin supporters should have t!ie audacity to bold opiuioiiH of tlieir own, but tlio language be used was more up. propriato to an actor ia melodrama khan to a Htntemnaij. it in to be remarked that when it. ciime to (lie iliviHion MOirio of tlio Govornmoufc followorn who had spoken against the Mill, among them MoHsrw Wllford and Remington, voted with the Ministry on the absurd ground that l;h(jy approved of the prinoiplo of ojjdowjnonfcH, though fchoy oouW uot

approve of the Government measure. Mr Duncan was more straightforward and wont into the lobby against his old colleagues. Messrs Field, Jennings and Major also seemed to consider that they must do something to maintain their reputation as freeholders, which had become a little tarnished by their support of the Government on the first two Land Bills, and boldly voted against the second reading of tho Endowment Bill. It seems probable that tho measure will have a rough passage through the House, and that if not actually rejected it will be toned down so as to be more in accord with tho general feeling of country members. Sir Joseph Ward professes to believe in compromise on land matters, and ho is likely to have to give a rather more practical exemplification of tho principle than in the Land Bill, when he talked a good deal about the concessions to freeholders although tho privilege of paying tho present value in order to buy a leaso-in-pcrpetuity, which then could only be sold to a restricted class of purchasers, did not convince freeholders that "they were gaining anytiiing.

THE Endowment Bill provides that nine million acres of Crown laud shall be withdrawn from sale, and when thrown open, be leased under the renewable lease for a term of 06 years. The income from these lands, which at prosont only amounts to £49,000 gross, will be devoted to the purposes of education and old age pensions. Of the land scheduled about five-sixths is in tho South Island, where settlement needs encouragement even more than in the North. It is obvious that the present revenue from the endowment lands is a mere trifle when compared with an expenditure of over one million on education and pensions. Tho land natioualtsers, however, hold out a prospect that in years to come the revenue will have enormously increased, and that as the GG years' leases fall in the country will benefit very greatly. It is not noted that during this period tho expenditure on education and pensions will also have vastly increased, so that tho endowment will still be unimportant. The question should bo regarded as a purely business one, without reference to theories as to State ownership, which have little practical value. In the first place, if land is leasehold it will not let as easily as if the freehold could be obtained, and will certainly not bo farmed to the best advantage. This ,'poiut would not bo of very great importance if there ■were other countervailing recommendations, but' such aro hard to discover. Tho State in any ease would receive the value ''fit tho laud if it wore sold or the rent if it were leased, and the money would go to tho Consolidated Fund, from which it could be used for tho same purposes as an endowment. The laud nationalises know this perfectly well, but they wish to commit the country to the theory that the State should own all tho land and tho deliberate setting aside of nine million acres would be a strong endorsement of their view. This is tho foundation for the proposal, and the socialists are the enemy who have to bo fought. Fortunately no member will wish, lo seo the endowment land in his own electorate, as even the leaseholders know that the tenure they recommend is an unpopular one, and therefore wo may hope to see a compact between South Island members to resist the Bill, in which they will have tho assistance of the Opposition and of tho inore honest among the North Island so-called freeholders who support the Ministry.