THE LAND BILL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8340, 24 January 1907, Page 5

THE LAND BILL.

MR McNAB AT CARTERTON. (Special Reporter.) The Hon. R. McNab, Minister for Lands, addressed a public meeting in the Victoria Hall, Carterton, last > evening, in explanation and in support of the land proposals of the Government as embodied in the Land; Bill introduced last session. The Mayor of Carterton (Mr Jas. i Brown) presided, and Mr J. T, M. Hornsby, M.H.R., also occupied a: seat on the platform. The audience was a large one, and the various points ' of the speaker were applauded. The Mayor, in introducing Mr McNab, said he had come to speak on a subject in which they were all interested. It was the first town in the Wairarapa that Mr McNab had come to speak at, probably because Carterton was the most important town in the Wairarapa. (Laughter.) It was a district of small farms, and | he hoped they would not allow the Minister to go away without extorting from him a promise to cut up more of the large estates around Carterton, He hoped they would give the speaker a patient hearing. Mr McNab who, on rising, was greeted with loud applause, said that he had opened his campaign in this ! part of the colony in Carterton—the stronghold of Liberalism. Some had said that there was not enough fighting in the Minister's speeches up to the present, but the time for fighting had not yet arrived. The Government had had the platform to itself on the land question up to the present, but as the time for the re-open-ing of Parliament drew near, the opponents of the Bill would appear on the public platform, and then there would be enough fighting to please anyone. He hoped that by the time Parliament again assembled the electors would have a "clear-cut" idea of the land problem. He would commence his remarks by explaining the position the Ward Administration found themselves in when faced with the land problem, and he would then, lead them on to the efforts the Government made to cope with the difficulties they experienced. He referred to the movement dealing with Crown lands which was realised as commencing when the late Sir John McKenzie assumed the portfolio of Minister of Lands in 1892. It was then thought that all the Crown lands in the colony should be opened up not only to the wealthy but also to the poor, and that a principle should be introduced on the Statute Book that would enable men of small means to get as much land as they could use profitably to advantage. Sir John then found himself besieged with applications for Crown lands, and he found that there was not enough land at the disposal of the Government to satisfy the demand. He then obtained power to purchase land from private individuals to the exent of £50,000 per annum. He introduced the Land for Settlement Bill, but the £50.000 was soon found to be insufficient for the purpose of purchasing lands. The reason was because the landowners were given the option whether they sold theirland or not. The amount of money at Sir John McKenzie's disposal for the purchase of land was increased from £50,000 to half a million in a very few years, and the late Mr Seddon when he came into office found that the half-million at his disposal was insufficient for the purpose. Mr Seddon wanted three-quarters of a million at his disposal, but legislation to that effect was neverjput on the Statute Book. Unless some other policy for the purchase of land was put into operation, declared the speaker, the country would have to go on borrowing year after year to satisfy the ever increasing demand for land, and this he thought the colony could not do when there was no respbnsibility ca3t on the landowners to part with their lands. The Ward Government had gone thoroughly into the matter, and the result had been the introduction ,of the Land Bill. The Minister of Lands, said the speaker, was the largest buyer of land in the colony. He had £500,000 p£r annum at his disposal for the purpose. He went into every market in the colony, hut when the large landowners saw him coming they stood off. Tl\e delay in purchasing lands meant more expense, as land was rapidly , increasing in value, and had not yet reached the limit. He contended that the same conditions which forced the Minister of Lands to go into the markets of the colony and get lands, should force the large landowners into the market to part with their lands. The policy of the Ward Government was to accept the responsibility of getting the money to obtain the land, and they wanted the same obligations put on the landowners to sell their lands and satisfy the demand of the people of the colony who desire the land, not for speculative purposes, but to obtain a living. Mr McNab then went on to say that the policy of the Government was' to say to a man who possessed land, in excess of £50,000 unimproved value, that he would have to sell the amount in excess. ( They would be given ten years to sell that excess. He de- . nicd that he had to sell his own { land privately to bring his holding under the £50,000 limit. He would like to explain the provision in the Bill that was absolutely necessary to secure that the provision relating to the £50,000 limit was not evaded. If they were to bring down legislation and say that a man was to reduce his holding to £50,000 — well, if he had .£90,000 worth of property, all he had to do was to cut it in two and give £40,000 worth to his wife and keep the other £50,000 worth to himself, and laugh at the legislation of I the colony. That position was seen | by the Ministry. The Government i said that any person who owned land —whether it was £20,000 or £30,000. worth or more —whenever he pur- | chased a piece of land should make a declaration that the value of the land he owned, added to the value of the land purchased, shall not exceed I in value the sum of £15,000. The man who owned large quantities of land should not be allowed to'compete in the open market for further land with the man who wanted land for the purposes of a living. He cited a case in Canterbury where a man who wanted to purchase a piece of land for the purposes of a living, had bid I

up to £22 per acre in the open mark % for the land. He then droppe out of the bidding, and the land was acquired . for £26 per acre by a man who already had three or four times the amount of land he knew what to do with. He asked those present if they thought that was a fair position for the people of the colony to be put into. The Ward Administration said, as one of the foremost planks of their platform, that such a position of affairs ; was going to cease. The result of ; the large landowners being allowed • to compete in the market for land was to force the value of land up. At ; the present time"the demand for land was very keen, as was shown by the number of applications the Government had received for lands recently offered. In Hawke's Bay there had been 441 applications for a section of 1,100 acres, and 293 applications for i 888 acres; in Taranaki 184 applications for 242 acres, and 124 applications for 512 acres; in the Wellington district 302 applications for 700 acres, 285 applications for 800 acres, and 285 applications for 815 acres; in Marlborough 251 applications for 1,000 acres, and 375 applications for 2,000 acres; in Westland 203 applications for 300 acres. The Minister then went on to speak of the lease-in-perpetuity, and to explain what the Government intended to do in this connection. The [Government proposed having no more leases-in-per-petuity. They were not going to interfere with the (present leases, but they did not intend to give out any more leases-in-perpetuity. They proposed to treat the present lessees under the perpetuity system handsomely by allowing them to pay off the value of their holdings up to 90 per cent, in annual sums as small as £5. It was further 'proposed to reduce the rent of the holdings proportionately as their value was being paid off. After 50 per cent, of the value of the holdings had been paid off, the Government proposed to allow the lessees to sell their holdings. Some who held leases-in-perpetuity were opposed to these proposals and they wanted the|freehold at the original value of the land. He knew that it was absolutely impossible in the House of Representatives at present to carry any proposal that would give the freehold of their land at its origi--1 nal value to lessees under the perpetuity system. Let those who considered that the lease-in-perpetuity lands l should become freehold at the originaljValue, hold to that argument until the vote on the question was taken in Parliament, and then when they found themselves in the minority, he asked them to give consideration to the Government's proposals in the matter. He thought that the new lease proposed by the Government was the most attractive ever submitted to the 'people of the colony. The speaker also dwelt on the question of setting aside 16£ million acres as national endowments, for the people of the colony for all time. In conclusion he hoped they would consider the Government's proposals favourably, and strengthen the arms of their member so that he might give his support to the measure when before the House. At of ,the pddress the Chairman stated it was not usual for Ministers of the Crown to be asked to answar questions. A motion in sup- , port of the 1 Land Bill, ; was then proposed, and before it could bs seconded, Mr C. Phillips rose to a "point of order." He differed with the Chairman's ruling as to Ministers not answering questions. The Chairman said that was no "point of order," and said he had merely stated what was a fact that Ministers of the Crown, after an address, did not answer questions. Mr Phillips thereupon sat down, and the motion was seconded and carried on ai show of hands, with only two dissentients — Mr Phillips and another. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chair on the motion of Mr McNab. DEPUTATIONS. After the meeting the Minister received a deputation, consisting of prominent Carterton residents, with reference to the cutting-up of the Carrington Estate of 6,000 acres, and the alteration of the railway timetable so as to allow passengers on the Featherston-New Plymouth line .to complete the journey in one day. Mr McNab stated that it Was his intention to inspect the Carrington Estate the next day, and with regard to. the alteration in the time-table he would refer the matter to his colleague, the Minister for Railways. Messrs Ross - (chairman), Considine and Kershaw, members of the Martinborough Town Board, intro-' dueed by Mr ' Hornsby, asked the Minister to set aside a reserve of 5,000 acres in the Featherston County forj the benefit of the town, and as a water catchment to supply the town. They, also, urged the Minister to acquire the Hautotara Estate, belonging to Mr Harris, for close Settlement. Mr McNab promised to give the matters consideration and reply through the member for the district. The Carterton deputation also asked .the Minister to bring before the Minister for Justice the fact that a grant for a new Police Station at Carterton had been placed on the Estimates, and no steps had yet been taken to have the money expended. The Minister consented to I the request.