THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1913. TRAFFICKING IN CROWN LANDS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 5 June 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1913. TRAFFICKING IN CROWN LANDS

Ai case tliaf? Was brought to light in the Auckland district has been the sxihject of considerable newspaper comment during the last few days. It appears that in July, 1911, two persons acquired a 33-years' renewable lease of 2,956 acres of land, forming part of the Matamata Estate, which' was purchased by the Government some years ago under the Lands for Settlement Aot The rental of this property was £33 a year, and £690 was paid in consideration of improvemeats. It now transpires that the lessees have agreed to dispost of their interest in 2600 acres to various purchasers for a total sum of £8875. This means that, within a few months of acquiring the property, they are in a position to make a aot profit of over £BOOO, and have over 300 acre ß of the land still left to themselves. It is hard to believe that, in the present state of the law, such flagrant trafficking in land is •possible. .. In 1901 it wag enacted that every 'applicant for land purchased under the Lands for Settlement Aot should resicle continuously on the seotion be had secured. . •So far back as 1896, tlw perioff within which, the sucoeiWui supplicant might dispose of hia leas 6 without the consent of the JjMid Board or the Minister, wag fixed at five and this provision haa been re-eMKJteil. since. Moreover, by the Amending Acts of 1901 and, 1908, as a further bar to speculation, the transfer of rural land held under fl ucH oonditions was absolutely prohibited within five years qf

obtaining the lease, except in the case of death or some "extraordinary event." It would seem, therefore, that the QnJy method by which a lessee can obtain a transfer of hia lease is to plead some "extraordinary event.?' The definition of thia term is apparently left entirely to members of Land Boards. The numbers of transfers that are approved at ©very meeting of these Boards would indioate that either the period of occupancy has expired or that some "extraordinary event" has happened. In our own opinion the defect is in the administration"of the law, rather than in the Act itself. Members of I>and Board s have been appointed in past years without any special knowledge of the values of land. Valuers, who should be experts, have secured positions through political influence,, and have made what might be euphemistically termed "an -unholyrn.ass of things." The land speculator has thrived on the ignorance and crass stupidity of the valuers and the Land Boards. Had the values of the Matamata Estate heen rationally assessed, ! it would have been impossible for speculators to make a sum of £BOOO over a comparatively small transaction in the course of a few months. The land boards, too, are possessed of wide discretionary powers in the making of transfers, and it is their duty to investigate every case and gee that the spirit as well as the letter of the law is complied with. We have reason to think that, in the North Island < f pij anyrate, the land districts are so extensive that it is impossible for members "of Boards to make otherthan a 'perfunctory examination, of the .many applications that oome before tliecn from month to month. . The evils resulting from the faulty administration of the Act are not confined alorie to the trafficking in land, whicli we know to bo carried on with reckless impunity. In many cases land is grossly over-valued, with the result that settlers are compelled either to forfeit or to seek a reduction in their rentals. We have in our mind's eye, as we write, the case of a number of settlers wlio took up bnd in the Wellington district from which- they cannot possibly cnake a living p,t the present rentals. These settlers have been appealing for months for redress, but have been unable to secure it, owing to the Valuation Department. being adamant. The Department is naturally reluctant to admit that its pffice'rg have been at fault. With a knowledge of the ramifications of Land Board business and the egregious blunders that aro being made in the administration, we are convinced that the time has arrived when there should be an alteration in the system of valuing. Members of should copsht solely of men wlio have a knowledge of .land values. These- members ,sh6uld be legally empowered to review the values of the Givernment Valuers as they may deem fit. If this were, done, and the number of land districts were increased, so that members could acquaint themselves with the details of every case,' we should not hear of excessive profits being made by speculators at tie expense of the 'State, or of losses of time and money being made by the les g fortunate settlers who take thirdclass land at a first-class rental.