The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19. CROWN TENANTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 243, 19 November 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19. CROWN TENANTS.

The latest advance sulci ol the Oliicmi lear iiook contains a mole showing Llie number ol Crown tenants ill the dominion and the character of their tenure, which is ol special interest in view of the Covoriiinenl's proposal to oiler llie tenants, excepting tiiose occupying endowment lands, the option of acquiring the lrcehold on certain conditions. On Alarch 31st last there were no fewer than 2(1,184 Crown tenants in the country. There were at the time mentioned 18,500 tenants on ordinary Crown lauds, 4413 on land for settlement lands, 1583 on national endowment lands, 300 on thermal springs lands, 875 on ordinary

endowment lands, 105 on workers dwelling lands and 31:2 on the Cheviot lands. Of the total, 11,424 hold leases-in-pcrpcluity, 525S deferred payment leases or licenses to occupy with right of purchase, and 1)70 renewable leases, a comparatively new form of tenure, Perhaps the popularity of the various forms of leasehold tenure is best shown by the settlement on the ordinary Crown lands, though it must be remembered that the lcasc-in-perpetuity has not been available in respect to these lands during Hie past Iwo years. Here we lind -Hi tenants holding deferred payment leases, 104 perpetual leases, which are

I subject in revaluation, 4807 licenses to occupy nilh llie right of purchase, and 5174 leaars-in perpetuity. Only 81' renewable liases for ordinary trownlands had been granted up to tlie end of March, and apparently the extension of the loase-in-pcrpetuity has driven a large number of people to take lenses with llie right of purchase. The total annual revenue derived from ordinary Crown lands that have been leased : 's C 205.510. from settlement lands' £2(12.1)11. from national endowment lands £04,053, from thermal springs lands £2158, from ordinary endowment lands C 14.554. The land for settlement lands arc returning about 5 per cent, upon Hie-capital cost, and the capital cik'l and the Cheviot lands nearly 7 per cent.