The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1912. THE LAND QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 127, 16 October 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1912. THE LAND QUESTION.

The Land Bill has emerged from the 'jLands Committee in an entirely different form from ■which it entered, and, on the whole, the changes will not, we think, prove unacceptable to the progressives of either political party. It does not go as far as Mr. Massey and his friends promised when at the hustings, but that fact is not surprising in view of the acrobatic exercises that have characterised the short reign of the present Government. One of the chief departures is the granting of the freehold to L.I.P. tenants at the original valuation plus compound interest on the one per cent, difference between the O.R.P. and L. I. P. rentals. The effect of the amendment was made quite clear by the Premier in explaining the Bill to the House last week. If the tenant had in the first place taken up his land on the occupation wMi right of purchase system, he would have had to pay a rental of 5 per cent, on the capital value of his holding; >vhereas the rental on L.I.P. holdings is calculated at 4 per cent, on the capital value. Mr. Massey considers that if the lessee desires the fee-simple of his land now, he ought to pay the difference between the two rentals and compound interest upon it at 4 per cent, for the full period of his tenure. On these terms he may purchase either for cash or by instalments extending over nine years. We have no fault to find with the proposal to grant the freehold to L.T.P. holders. The bargain has proved a good one for the lessees, and not too profitable for the State, though it has to be remembered that at the time the provision was made special inducements had to be given to get people to take up the land. Just whether the lessees will take advantage of the new proposals, should they become law, as no doubt they will do, remains to be seen. L.I.P. tenants, of course, have already the right td convert, but on different terms from those proposed, namely, at "present day" values, but up to March of this year only 183 out of 5000 of them had exercised that right. A holder would need to possess a particularly strong affection for the freehold title to convert even under the proposed conditions. Compound interest has a way of surprisingly mounting up, and it will be found that the amount over the original valuation which the would-be freeholder will have to pay will probably run into a substantial sum. Then nowhere eould a holder obtain money at the present cheap rate of interest, viz., 4 per cent. It has to be remembered also that at present he escapes a good deal of the taxation the land would be subject to were it freehold. Taking everything into consideration, the L.I.P. holder is on a very good

wicket, and, unless lie wishes to dispose of his property, it would be against his interests to change his title. Mr. Massey and his friends promised the freehold to holders of Land for Settlement leases, but the Premier now says that he is unable to extend the concession. When at the hustings he also conveyed the impression that he would grant the freehold to National Endowment leases, were his party in power, but he has now seen fit to go back on his promise, except to permit exhangas of Endowment lands when such are found to be desirable in the public interest. We are not sorry that lie has changed front on this question. The Endowments are a national asset that are yearly becoming more valuable and will in time substantially ease the taxpayers' burdens. The Endowments should be regarded as property held in trust for the benefit of posterity, and 110 interference tolerated. Mr. Massey also proposes to effect improvements to the present Land Settlement Finance system, under which the owner of a private estate may have it roaded and surveyed by the Crown on the understanding that it will be subdivided and settled, the State holding a first mortgage on the land for the amount of its outlay. He also proposes to extend the system to native lands. This extension he puts in the forefront of the Bill, stating that it is the most important proposal in the way of land legislation submitted to Parliament in the last 20 years. Mr. Massey thinks the proposal will prove the solution of the native land difficulty, and says he has already had offers from Maori chiefs of 250,000 acres to be dealt with according to this scheme. We hope' that his optimism will be justified by results. If it is, then -the . cop try : will have reason to feel deeply grateful to him. In his speech last week, the Premier explained that it might be necessary to place the proceeds from the sale of the native lands in the hands of a board of trustees, who would use the ' money in the best interests of the natives. Provision for this is made in the Bill. The general principle, he further explained, was that the land should be sold, but there might be exceptional eases in which it was required for the maintenance of the natives, in which case it might be desirable to deal with it on the leasehold tenure. Another departure proposed is that a native possessing the necessary educational qualifications may be declared a European and have the same rights over his property as the pakeha. The importance of.these proposals cannot well be over-estimated. There are over seven million acres of native land in the Dominion, and if this land can be made productive tl?e country should develop by leaps and bounds. But there is other land, and good land at that, which is lying in idleness or not producing to its full capacity. The speculator and monopolist are in posses- ; sion, and to these gentlemen the Government should pay more attention than is proposed. To ' f get at" them should not be beyond the powers and ability of our legislators. It is a task worthy of the best and closest attention of every patriot. The hunger for land has never been more pronounced than it is at the present moment, despite all previous efforts to appease it, and we only hope the proposals now before Parliament will effect that solution of the problem which Mr, Massey so confidently anticipates. The debate 011 the question promised for this week will no doubt be followed with considerable interest.