THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1910. SELLING LEASES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10032, 30 April 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1910. SELLING LEASES.

Discussion tending to show the hollowness of the position assumed by leaseholders who oppose the freehold tenure, took place at the meeting of the Wellington Land Board on Thursday last. The Commissioner, 6lr J. Mackenzie, said that applications were frequently reeived for permission to transfer leases at prices greatly in excess of those originally paid for the land. Of course in cases where a settler had worked well for ten or twelve years upon his holding, the Board would always be inclined to look favourably upon an application for transfer, so that the outgoing man could reap the benefit of the improvements effected. But the position was entirely different when a man paid perhaps £450 for the lease of a certain block, and then, after holding it for a short term—say, three, six or twelve months-tried to dispose of it for £ 1,000 or £1,500. Tnat was the sort of thing which would always meet with the disapproval of the Board, for the members would ii-

variably set their faces against such I exan pies of land trafficking. It J meant loading up the incoming man* | who naturally required every shill- 1 ing he could get to develop the property, with pome hundreds of pounds for which the outgoing lessee gave no consideration at all. If the Board takes the view of the Commissioner, | and it seems that it does, it can only be said that such an attitude is illogical, mere or less farcical, and likely, on occasions, to be the cause of con- ! sidersbie injustice. The purchaser of I land, freehold tenure, derives hi? grant fr„m the Crown sometimes directly, and, in all other cases, indirectly. There is no such thing as holding land independently of the Grown, and if the feasehulders could only cram this fact into their political cranium the better it would be for all those v;ho are connected with the land. ia only one plea that ; can be urged in justification of the Land Board's attitude, and it is that the unearned increment of the Cro*n | tenants' holdings helongs to the Crown. Theoretically it does, al- I though 999 years is rather a long 1 wait before coming into an estate. » Of course, instead of interfering with ! the liberty of those who buy and sell Crown leases in the ordinary course . cf land dealing, it wouM be very much better if the Land Board advised the Ovcrn,nent that the Crown tenants should be allowed to acquire the freehold cf their sections. Freehold tenure-, witn strictly limited area, haa been proved again and again to be j tha best; form of land tenure that is I known,and Denmark furnishes a strik ] ing example of the success of the l I system. Only the other day the Hon. Dr. Find lay pointed with no uncertain finger at the success of the Danish land system, and. perhaps, we may therefore expect that before long Dr. Findlay will be endeavouring to persuade his colleagues to do a work of real national utility by bringing in a Bill to allow Crown tenants to acquire the freehold of I their sections.