GOVERNMENT'S LAND PROPOSALS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 137, 19 September 1910, Page 3

GOVERNMENT'S LAND PROPOSALS.

j DISCUSSED BY FARMERS' UNION | EXECUTIVE. I At the meeting of the Taranaki Executive of the New Zealand Farmers' | Union on Thursday the new Land Bill l ® i was placed before the members for con- '' sideration. The clauses were takenje seratim. Clause three provides that the le lessee of land seld on the lease-,in-per-!S petuity system, whether settlement land lor ordinary Crown land, may at any n time during the currency of the lease, H acquire the fee simple; but there is a Jj suib-clause which reads: Provided that ® where the land is subject to any encumbrance, lien, or interest, the right 3 "i of purchase shall not be exercised unI less the person entitled to the encumd ibranee, lien, or interest agrees in writinigj that».the purchase-charge in favor d of the Crown hereinafter mentioned shall e have priority over the same. " This sub-clause giving the Governe ment priority in the case of a second e mortgage caused a desultory discussion, in which there was a diversity of opina ion revealed, and eventually, on the mon tion of 'Messrs Sergei and Allhusen, the 8 clause as a whole was approved by l " 16 to 4. 9 On the proposition of Messrs Allhusen 1 and Hunter, clause 5, dealing with the Y purchase price, was altered to read:— 3 '"The jpurchase price shall be the Y original value of the land, meaning s thereby • the value on which the rent ■ reserved by the lease was computed and '■ in addition the payment of the difference ' between the 4 per cent, now charged ' on the lease-in-perpetuity and the 5 per - cent, changed to tenants with right to e purchase." 1 In the Bill itself the clause read after 0 the words "and in addition": One-fourth - of the sum (if any) by which the unimf proved value at the date of the pur--3 chase exceeds such original value." I'' In the course of discussion on clause ■ 15, Mr. Sergei stated that it was a chance ■I which the ' lease-in-perpetuity people 1 j should not throw away. . -] 'Mr. Thomson: Question. •j Mr. Sergei: That is what I think. He 1 added that it was not very much for 3 what had been asked. He thought it ■ was better to accept the clause, which • gave an opportunity for the L.I.P. e people to get the freehold, and they 3 could go on fighting for what the resolution stated. , Mr. Davidson: Is not there a probai bility of giving too much for the freee 1 hold? (Mr. Thomsog argued that it was not ■ right of the Government to take what J did not really belong to them, referring e to the unearned increment. They should 3 etick to their platform. l Mr. Virgin said: he was not entirely i with the olamor for the freehold for the 1 lease-in-perpetuity settlers. The L.I.P. , was a very good form of settlement; he y was quite satisfied about that. They f got land for 4% per cent, for E>99 years' f lease. They were not subjected to any 3 land tax and that was the weak point 3 of the system. It was the single-taxers' ; loophole for re-valuation. ' r Mr. Allhusen pointed out that the i land would be subjected to land tax » when the fee-simple was given, t • Mr. Virgin: 'lt is almost as good as - freehold. His opinion wa3 to let the 3 lease-in-perpetuity be a lease-in-perpetu-l ity and it should not be interefered with, i The president: That is going against - the platform of the Union. tj Mr. Hunter opined that holders of leases-in-perpetuity should be encouragt| ed to get the fee-simple of their proper- , i ties. He thought the lease-in-perpetuity : system was one of the worst bargains j the country had ever made in land set. . tlement. The president: Hear, hear. Mr. Hunter added that the lease-in-perpetuity owners should contribute their fair share to the upkeep of the country. Mr. Lambie: We don't hear anything of a Fair Bent Bill. Why is that? . The president: It is not dead, but ' ; sleepeth. (Laughter). > Mr. Lambie said once thev admitted ' the right of the Government to take any • part-of the increment they would be ' making a big mistake. They allowed a i principle.to be worked upon them that ■ | was not honest. It was a principle which ■ j he would not admit, land never would, ■he hoped, as long as he lived. ' ;i r _ 'Mr. Rogers asked what was the prin- > ciple they were working upoa;, Was it , for the protection of those who had i taken up land on the L.LP. system? Was their principle to wotk for the I; State or the people? He thought the ' j problem for them to solve was which M would be best for the community as a } whple. -| Mr. Lambie: We want a fair deal for -1 both. 7 1 Mr. Cleaver considered the Government , | was entitled to some of the unearned i| increment, because it had spent millions >'. in benefiting the country, si The president said they should recog- | nise that since the Union had been a r | Union the principle which they were a I working upon was that the Govern- !, ment should give the freehold to every r Crown tenant desiring it. A number e of people had migrated to New Zeay land and taken up leasehold land with n I the idea of some diay getting a bit of 'f | land which would' be their own. -1 Owing to the lateness of the afternoon r- further discussion was dropped. It was [decided Uiat sub-section 3 of clause 5 j which reads: "The unimproved value at the date of the purchase shall 'be ascertained toy the Board by valuation," be struck out. The members were all in agreement that the clauses in the Bill giving the Government power to take land (whet ther European or native) for settlement e by way of lease* compulsory should be s struck out. e. It was decided to forward the resolute P assed t0 Taranaki members „ i of Parliament.—Hawpra Sf-a»