The Daily News THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1905. THE LAND COMMISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7746, 23 February 1905, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1905. THE LAND COMMISSION.

The first sitting of the Land Commission at Invercargill has produced j already varied expressions of opinion among the witnesses examined. The evidence of the Mayor of Invcrcargill, who is a matt of long business and administrative experience, is that the? lease in perpetuity finds general accepUmce, being practically as good as the freehold ; but, nevertheless, he thought that people who desired it should have a right to nc- 1 quire the freehold. A loan on leasehold was not to be got on any- I thing like the same terms as on a freehold. He did not think theoper-'j ation of the freehold would lead to the re-aggregation of big estates. I It seems to us that there is some- 1 thing of a non sqftuitur about Mr Scandrett's, conclusion, even though it is supported by the statement , that a graduated laird tax would be be the means of preventing this ( result. It is clear that the chief reason of the present outcry for the 1 freehold arises from the desire of the 1 holders to escape from the super- 1 vision of lumi boards and Govern-'' liient inspectors, and more largely still from a wish to be able to mortgage their holdings as reasonable rales of interest. This is the crux i of the whole question, and there is 1 so much to. be said on both sides I that tnere can be no doubt as to 1 the sincerity of those who hold positive /opinions in either direction. The matter was put in a nutshell by Mr J. McQueen, (ja subsequent witness, who described the leasehold as "a splendid system for people with capital." , There can be no doubt about that fact, and such is really What was contemplated by those \vho devised that system of tenure. There is no question about the difficulty experienced by those who wish to obtain loans on leaseholds. The security is hampered with so many

| conditions and possibilities that it • cannot be regarded as too good, and bad security .means high interest every time. The position of the poor leaseholder, desirous of obtaining a loan on his holding, or rather on h'is improvements, was well described by Mr G. H. Hilton, and there aro scores of men in Taranaki to-day who could replicate his expel iencc. IJut that does not neces-1 sarily mean that the leasehold is a ,bad system of tenure, but only that Jt is bad for men who start without sufficient 1 means to carry on. As the professed purpose of these holders, in crying out, for the freehold, is in many cases that 'they may laise loans and bind themselves body and soul to finance and -mortgage companies, it seems to us that they hope to gain relief by stepping from Government restriction into private bondage. It is hardlv part of the Government policy to encourage this condition of enslavement, but it seems- to us that it would be practicable i enough to grant to those who took up leaseholds the option of purchase, on the pavment' of such arrears, with interest 'thereon, as would complete the freehold and leasehold payments. To pre-| vent the re-aggregation of large, estates, it should be prohibited to any ! mortgagee by any device to hold land foreclosed on, and to any per-. son to hold more than a small and safe area according to quality. Mr I Scandrett's opinion to the contrary notwithstanding, we are of opinion that the present maximum area—64o | acres—of first-class- land is abundant for any one holder, and quite large | enough for the safety of the colony.