THE LAND BILL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8386, 22 March 1907, Page 4

THE LAND BILL.

By Telegraph- Press Association,

NEW PLYMOUTH, March 21. Dr. Findlay opened his political . campaign in the Theatre Koyal tonight. Dealing with the.land question, he said that now it seemed to have passed the calm contraversial stages and become a fighting political creed expressed by cries and preposterous misreprentations. The cries that they sought to destroy the freehold were idle nonsense. The biggest class interested was the landless people of the colony, who were doing little or no shouting, but the effectiveness of their votes Would not be reduced by that. The question must be approached from a national standpoint. The Government Were prepared to accept advice, and,.: if necessary, to change the material clauses of the Land Bill. If the Opposition would join the. Government in sub-division they . would soon have , the sub-division of large estates. The , Government was going to breakup large estates and prevent aggregation in future. If the limitation of £15,000 was ineffective, then they could have a graduated tax. He could not support the argument to , give the freehold of land for settlement to tenants. The Government had done enough for those settlers, each of whom has cost the country an average of £1,200. It was unfair . to ask for further benefits. They were offered the land at the price of . unimproved freehold to-day. Lease-in-perpetuity tenants already had *" concessions ,in fixed , rental for 999 f years, but wanted more.; The repurchase system would soon have to be superseded. He went on to deal . with the provisions of the Bill and its inducements to settlers, and announced that more freehold would be offered in the next two years than in the previous twenty years. A motion was carried, with some dissension, thanking the Attorney-'' General for his address, and express-* irig confidence in the Ministry, but hoping that the Ministry " would modify the provisions of the Land Bill. '