The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, JULY 18, 3882.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4226, 18 July 1882, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, JULY 18, 3882.

Eecubbing to the Land Bill before Parliament, the question is—Will the Bill as introduced effect in any degree or satis*

factorily a system of leasingP We shall

point out some of the matters which will be fatal io its success—l. It is only pro-

posed to lease such blocks or parts of blocks of rural land as the Governor in

Council shall by proclamation set apart for the purpose, and the leasing system is to be cairied on simultaneously with the existing system of selling the freehold. The advantage of the leasing system cannot be gainsaid—it is so great and manifest that the Ministry have to admit with apparent enthusiasm, that it will " ensure; the settlement of the land." Why not ..then adopt the system entirely and solely ? The two methods of dealing with the Crown lands will hot work well together. The capitalist will of course wish to buy the land outright while it is cheap, and if the Ministry of the day should happen to hare leanings favor* able to capitalists, it would only be necessary to cease to proclaim, or to revoke proclamations of blocks for leasing, or to proclaim only blocks cf inferior value, to play into their hands. The proposed leasing system can, under clause 2, be strangled with ease whenever the emergencies of the occasion may require that to be done. The Ministry ought not to be placed in such a position, and it can be saved therefrom by limiting and strictly defining its powers. As long as pressure can be brought to bear on the Ministry, so long will the large and general powers conferred on the Governor inCouncil by clause 2 be liable to be misused. The proposal to let by tender of course means competition, and competition in the disposal of Crown Lands is objec tionable. Exorbitant rents may thus be obtained, but in a system of leasing the Crown ought not to exact exorbitant rents. .What the Crown desires; and ought to encourage, is the occupation of the land for a fair or moderate consideration, so as to ensure improvement and the ability to pay public taxes. The maximum under the bill to be passed is 640 acres, but this is made to apply to all descriptions of rural laud. But 640 acres of rich alluvial land is

far toolarge, and 64.0 acres of mountain land is far too small a quantity. The maximum area in each claaa of lands ought to be defined by the Act. A certain quantity of first class land, a certain quantity of second class land, and so on ; but this the Act refrainn from doing. Equally bad is the

proposal as to transferring sub-leases, and sales by mortgagees. The lessee by section 20 and, following sections is not lobe allowed to transfer, sublet, or part with the possession or occupation of the land or any part thereof without previous consent of the Board (i.e., the Waste Lands ' Board as presently constituted, which is by nomination), and it is provided that the board shall not have the power to consent unless the' person to whom the lease is proposed to be transferred shall make a statutory'declaration in terms of schedule first, and neither a mortgagee or trustee in bankruptcy may dispose of a lease without the previous consent of the board. This is al) unnecessary, and only calculated to increase official work and cost. There ought to be the utmost freedom of dealing. The Crown cannot be harmed if the covenants in the leases are properly prepared, and if the previous notice to the board be made compulsory, and registration within a fixed time also made compulsory. The board only requires (1) actual and certain knowledge of the occupying tenant, and (2) payment of rents. The lessee in his own interest must improve the land, and thereby the Crown's security for rent is increased.