THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1891. LAND FOR SETTLEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2229, 18 July 1891, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1891. LAND FOR SETTLEMENT.

A Bill has been introduced by the Government which has for its object the purchase and settlement of large estates. It is entitled " The Land for Settlement Bill," and its leading features are that £50,000 shall be set aside each year for the purpose of enabling the Government to purchase large estates ; that the land shall be selected by a Board of Commissioners ; and that no land shall be purchased until the bargain has received the sanction and approval of Parliament. It is not necessary to go into the details of the machinery of the measure to any great extent. All we desire to say is that these provisions appear to bear the imprint of honesty and earnestness, and will shut up the mouths of those who never fail to scream "that any such movement would lead to jobbery. It can be seen at once that jobbery is out of the question. The Government have nothing to do with the purchase. A Board of Commissioners looks after that, and then the whole matter undergoes Parliamentary review. ,In that/ respect it must be satisfactory to those whose only objection js jobbery, but while admitting that it possesses excellent features in those respects we have pointed out, we have no hesitation in saying that it is not nearly so effective a*s the Land Acquisition Bill introduced by the present Premier. It would be difficult to improve on that as a measure for acquiring land. It provided against jobbery, and secured tenants for the land before it was purchased. Its main features were that 25 or more intending setlers selected the land themselves, then lodged 25 per cent, qf its yalue in the hands of the Colonial Treasurer, and then the Government negotiated the purchase of the land on their behalf. Strictly speaking, the functions which the Minister of Lands performed in the transaction was to act as the mutual friend or agent of both parties. Nothing could be better than this, beI cause the settlers selected for themselves, and the Government could not make a loss, as 25 per cent, of the purchase money had to be deposited before any expenses were incurred. The provisions of the Land for ♦Settlement Bill are a long way behind this in effectiveness and practicability. There is a " grass" sort of tediousness about it. First the money must be voted, say this session, and the Board must be appointed, and then there will be no Parliament until next year to sanction the purchase, and theu there will be :

survey and subdivision, so that it will take the best part of two years before anything is done. And then what can £50,000 purchase? Merely 5000 acres at £lO an acre; just enough to make the teeth of those who desire to settle on the land water. If the Minister of Lands could only realise the longing ■vith which thousands are looking to him to do something in this matter I his is not the measure he would have introduced. We have to warn him that if he dashes to the ground the hopes iie has raised a revulsion of feeling will set in against his Government, and those who now have implicit faith in the present Administration will be soon heard to say : " This measure is only a sop to shut our mouths: we are not to be gulled in this way." Let him understand fully that there is an inexpressibly intense desire on the part of the people to settle on the land, and that unless he satisfies that desire he will find his popularity diminished.- This he could easily do if he were to adopt the suggestion so frequently set forth in these columns. Let a law be made compelling large landowners to lease their estates in suitably-sized farms, and the whole tiling is settled, No money need be borrowed ; no financing is neeesssary ; no confiscation, no spoliation, no bursting up; nothing except honesty. Let the Minister of Justice act as an honest agent, holding the scales of justice evenly between landlord and tenant, and the whole thing will be done peaceably and quietly, and to the advantage of all parties. We have so frequently explained this proposal that it is not necessary to go further with it. All we desire to say is that no better means for settling the land can be devised.