The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1887. THE NEW LAND BILL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1563, 2 April 1887, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1887. THE NEW LAND BILL.

Wb learn from the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times, that Mr Ballance has prepared a Bill having for its object the acquiring of largo estates, and that he will introduce it Dent session. It haa some novel features. Before anything can be done under it 20 persons or more must associate together, and, after having framed rules of which the Govercoi must approve, they may negotiate the purchase of any estate a' not more than 10 per cent, over the property tax valuation. They must, It appears, treat directly with the owner of the estate, and when they have made their bargain with him they mast petition the Governor to enable them to acquire the land, and pay a deposit equal to one fourth of the purchase money. The petition mast be reported upon by two Commissioners, who shall also investigate objections to the acquisition of the land. If the owner shall refuse to sell, the Governor, on receipt of a petition to that effect, shall direct the Property-tax Commissioner to appoint a competent assessor to value the land, and when this valuation is made and the association has paid one»fourth of the value of the land, the matter is then referred to the Commissioners, who may or may not recommend the acquisition of the land. The Governor shall have power to refuse to acquire the land, or take it compulsorily from the owner, if he refuses to pari with it on the terms arrived at by the valuators, One thousand acres on which the dwelling house of the owner stands shall be exempt, unless such land is lying waste, unfenced, and unimproved. Disputes aiising with reference to these matters must be settled in a public Court of Record, which shall have power to determine the value of the land after the Commissioners have done with it.

And now, the mode of acquiring the land having been settled, provisions for paying for it are made. The Governor may pay for the land in cash out of moneys voted by Parliament for that purpose, or out of the land acquisition fund ; or the Colonial Treasurer may borrow from the public account money for that purpose. He may also issue land bonds to the amount agreed upon to pay for the land. The value of the bonds shall not be less than £2O; they shall bear interest at not more than 5 per cent, and shall be redeemable at 12 months notice. The land becomes then the property of the Crown, and is divided into farms not exceeding 100 acres in size. The cost of survey, etc., is added to Hie original purchase money, and the tenant who then takes up the land will have to pay rent at the rate of 5 per cen*. on the purchase money, plus incidental expenses. For instance, if land is bought at £lO an acre, and the incident d expenses amount to 10s per acre more, the tenant must pay a yearly rental of 10s 6d per acre. The allotments in each block are to be apportioned amongst the members of the Association, but no holding shall exceed 100 acres, and no person under 17 year* of age can occupy land. The Bill contains other provisions which deal with the details, but its main features are as stated above.

On reading the above precis of the Bill the first conclusion we came to was that the initiative steps were cumbersome and unworkable. We did not like the idea of forming associations for such purposes, for it appears to ua to be very difficult to reduce such schemes to practice. First of all 20 persons or more must agree upon the conditions on which they will associate together to purchase a block of land, snd it appeared to us that such a step could hot be easily taken, but on reflection we most confess that we could not suggest any better way to get over the difficulty. It is quite evident that i Government must have tenants to occupy the land the moment they scquire possession of it, for if it were to remain on their hands for any time the result would bserious to the colony. For instance, let us suppose the Government purchased 5000 acres, and paid for it, and for the next 12 months they failed to get tenants for it, they would lose the interest oh the money. The provisions made in the bill to prevent such an occurrence will prove effectual, for before the Government have taken any steps towards securing the purchase of the land they will have the members of the Association hound over to take it. On these grounds wo think the proposal to form Associations wise, although difficult to work. With regard to the payment of one-fourth of the cost of the land by the Association, the report furnished of the Bill does not say what becomes of it, but we have no doubt it will be devoted to the building of homesteads or making other improvements, and that these improvements will become the property of the tenant, so that if he desired to give up possession, an amount equal to his deposit would be returned to him. The worst feature of the Bill so far as we can see is that it limits the area which any one man may hold ts 100 acres. The time has not yet arrived for resorting to such extreme strictness, for there is more land in the colony than we can find tenants for, and 100 acres is hardly enough for a man to make a living on. If the laud is cut up into blocks varying in size from 50 to 100 acres, the result will be that those who have less than 100 acres will not be able to make a living on their own allotments, and the men of 100 acres will not be able to employ them. If the land were cut into allotments from 50 acres to 250 acres it would be far better, for then the settlers would be able to employ each other. However, we have not r ceived a copy of the Bill ye l , and we shall not criticise it further at present. Whatever its faults may be it presents to us the appearance of an honest effirt to deal with a very difficult question, and it gives further proof of the constructive genius of the Hon. Mr Ballance. So far he has been most successful iu everything he has undertaken, he is undoubtedly the best man in the Ministry, he does not appear to allow himself to be swayed by any consideration which has not for its object the good of the people, and we have great

hop, j ,B that he will yet Cirry In's present proposal to a satisfactory issue.