SMALL GRAZING RUNS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10681, 30 July 1912, Page 6

SMALL GRAZING RUNS

Til E BI'X FAT IMPUTATION. Mr A. V.'. Hogg ivi:trr- as follows to j tlic New Zealand,'! imes. — At a time when there is a pressing arid constantly increasing demand lor land in. tihe Masterton district, and homesteads are unobtainable tor reasonable love or money, the deputation i.r small grazing ruiiholder.'; tnat waited on the Prime Minister a day or two ago is of .'.'time, interest. The deI titationists, according to your report, were 'Messrs Kose, Heckler, and Dagg, and they were accompanied by -Mr W. 0. Buchanan, M.P., and J)unciiil McGregor, both well-known landowners. 'l'he grievances of their representations was that the leases of "their .small runs having expired, the 'Wellington Land Board refused to re- * new tlie.ni, and had given them notice j- to quit. The case of Mr Rose is not of much concern, because apparently ail that the Land Board .proposes to do is to re-submit tlie land under new terms and conditions.

But the case of Messrs Hei'kler' and Dagg is entirely different. For twenty years they have occupied targe areas .of hvnd in. the heart of fanning country in the Mauricoville county on terms that tney nukt have found eminently satisfactory. Against their characters as settlers J. liave' not one word to say ;they deserved to prosper, and I think they .must have prospered. .But they were not the only pioneers W.io faced tne bush «i:d took up land before roiuh were made to their sections, and tin fact that they have been occupying uplenaid country on exceptional It favourable terms can. hardly entitle tlieni to special privileges or consideration. Mr .Heckler, apart from his freehold, is a tolerably large landowner, and if I mistake not, Mr Dagg h also comfortably situated. At .al'l events they liave had twentyone years of a very soft tiring in the way of l<ai:d occupation, i call it a "soft thing" iHeeauwo the terms were srtcb as to .make the teeth of the surrounding settlors water, .and for years I have listened to their complaints. The rents the\ .paid to the Crown and the rates they contributed to the lecal authority niiight be termed nominal. While the settlers on .femaller areas of similar land had to pay 1 and 5 per cent, on the unimproved value of their sections, the rental of the small runs was based on per cent. Most of the land, in this locality wa.s val-

Ned at 20s to 30s per 'acre, so that Messrs Dagg awl Heckler had these j runs at an arr.vd rental of Gd to 9d per acre, while their neigh-hours, for similar country, were paying just double. J have not the figures rf the Lande Department beside me, but I am endeavouring to be as accurate as possible. Of course, roads had to be made and-metalled, and settlers in providing access to their holdings had to allow themselves to be heavily rated. Not only general rate:;, but special rates on Joans had to he paid, and, if I mistake not, are still being paid. Under the Bating Act siria.ll 'grazing runs are practically oxeiijpted. The leasees are treated, in the same way as the big 'ninhoklers —they can only be assessed on the ai?m:-n 1 value of their property t/ho small grazing runhokler therefore, is rated on the rental value cf his property, while the ordinary settler is rated on the full value. The MaiiMcerille settlers, unlike their neighbours in Ekc-tahuna and Castlepoint. bavo not adopted the rating on unimproved value system, hence the f.i-r::v;:- who t v:rides upon and improves his holding is lieavPv taxed. Assuming the capital value of his property to be £2OOO, and bir. rates came to sixpence in the pound, his payment to the !".-;-a! authority would he £SO. lint on the seme amount of property the small grazing nivho'ders would only contribute £2 10s annually. Between the sef-fr-r: a"d the Government a good der-1 w.-s expended in forming and-niotalli'g the roads required by Moiars Heckler nr.d Dage. but the contributions cf the fry.all grazing runholders iinve never been proportionate to tho beiveiit they re-

cilvcd. In fact, Mr Heckler is understood to have received a ootyidevable amount in rovalty for the limestone taken f r-c-ni his property to rectal the roads he needed. . . .Xow that the leases cf tkese runs luiv-> t'-rminate:l the I.c"d Beard hivr-, I thir.V. very wisely decided to cut | i.\\~.n\ mi so that a few families may be provided with hemes. Messrs l)a<-g | and Hcc-kl:r witi'rsM.T c'.;j»ct to 1 th j A. good anany would do the salve, but '::'••?■:eideal'interests must not.'stand in the way of public policy. Tho I-nrd Board Iras, no doubt, very fullv considered the roprcsentatiers a."d chvirs j ■of these I'liuall grazing runholders. The members have vid ted the properties, ; and only aftor a pereonal inrpeoticn j have they determined to open n--* the [ hn>.l for closer .settlement. The i tat ion urged that it was unfit for t.Ms | ourpose. and they were assisted by | Mes-rs Buchanan and Durcniii j Gre-gor in their representation.*;. But j Mr Buchanan iwcdieted at one time, as the result of an ins-icetion. th- 1 " ( the Ghev-ot estate wou'd prove a'fail- I ure, and mark the result. T venture to say that whem this hi ml is opened up in moderate pi zed areas there will be quite a rc-amble for it, and eventually it should gladden the hearts rf Mess-s Buclnnan arad if thev find that they have not been succe'."'f" T in" kecp'i'iig this country unoc-' cupied.