LAND FOR NOTHING.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 January 1921, Page 7

LAND FOR NOTHING.

OPPORTUNITY FOR WORKERS. NO MONEY REQUIRED. Large tracts of land in Auckland province and elsewhere will shortly be available for men of comparatively small means under the “Homestead” scheme which the Government sanctioned in 1919. Under this system any suitable applicant may get possession of a block of land for nothing, and provided he works and improves it in compliance with the terms laid down, it becomes his own property in ten years or less. The Minister of Lands (the Hon. D. H. Guthrie), who is taking a particular interest in the proposed “Homesteads,” it is understood, has decideJ that some 6000 acres north of Riverhead and within easy distance of Auckland will be the first land in the Dominion to be thrown open. Men of comparatively small means will thus shortly have an opportunity to step in, and by their own efforts in improving their allotment, if satisfactory, they will be entitled to become the land-owners. MIXED FARMING. Admittedly, the blocks that will be available under the scheme will not be first-class land, but will be second and third rate. But, as is well known, good returns are commonly obtained from such ground, and the scheme is not expected to have . material effect either on the popularity or its success. GOOD TERMS. The scheme is a generous one, far ahead of the attractive Canadian Government land offers, for it provides for the maintenance of the worker and his family, during the early unproductive years of labor. For example, after an area has been ploughed or fenced, the Government, realising that improvements of a certain value have been made, will advance money to the settler, to be repaid with interest at 5 per cent, and these advances may be increased from time to time as the farmer requires. Therefore the system enables tlya man with very little to get “back to the land” in a luwiative way.

It was in 1919 that the Government passed the Land Laws Amendment Act, section 11 of which deals with the Homestead Settlement scheme. Under this section of the Act. the GovernorGeneral may proclaim certain areas of Crown land to be set apart for settlement. A license to occupy may be issued for a term of ten years, such license being subject to renewal for a like term. No charge is to be made for occupation. The limit of holding is 400 acres in the case of second-class land, and 1000 acres in the case of third-class land, but in special cases the Minister, may approve of the issue of a license for the occupation of areas not exceeding 600 acres of second-class land, or 1500 acres of third-class land. CONDITIONS. The licensee must erect a suitable dwelling within twelve months the issue of the license. Residence is compulsory during the term of the license, but the Land Board may dispense with it for a period not exceeding four years if the licensee is residing on any other land occupied under the section. No license may be assigned or transferred. The licensee is exempt from general rates for a period of four years from the date of issue of the license. At any time after the expiration of seven years from the commencement of his license, and before its expiration, a licensee who has complied with the conditions laid down is entitled without payment to a certificate of title to the land. He is not, of course, relieved of the obligation to repay advances made to him. The regulations governing the scheme will shortly be published. These will prescribe the improvements to be effected by licensee and the conditions on which advances may be made and secured.