MR W.C. BUCHANAN'S SPEECH ON THE LAND BILL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1139, 31 July 1882, Page 2

MR W.C. BUCHANAN'S SPEECH ON THE LAND BILL.

H.T.'a-j'i A

Me W. Bdoiunan.— feJ refnarlSß mr'efer.eiVce I jFegl that JJftjW s%' ftiiyerj: (great, disadvantage HWwJiifr th.e. a^mir^blej.speeoh : thot House lias had the privilege of listening to from the honorable member for Selwyn, ThelhoDpxable inembeti'jfor-Awifaa said that the discussion .'of fthtl question 'was like thrashing straw already very, well tlfrefßße(l/A : Seeinftp\te l:Tßpeiofi|do- - - by •tfib'*' hinora'ble member ] for Selwyn is to a large extent in accordance Sith'theopihjonal 'intefed'fo'expreas myself, the s honorabje remark. a[iplie^to';me,iiith''double force. I give iijto metpberin-;ipyije of the "importance of question-, of settling the people 1 iipnh the land in 'a aatiafaqtory manner. The subject may! h'e fflfee 1 bfatipHe^—B.ettl em'en t by cash ;and.b^means ( of ] eaß eliold j,,, d do jwill'dispute the capital as possible into, and. attracting it in the direction ,of .developing thi of the.,land. vAaj-ft'j Jjasi'jbpen well put by • the, ; speaker, the mixiug-up of, the deferred-payment :settlers with purchasers*:'who have some oapital to been witfi thfc-very, 'Another feature of oashpayment is j. this; that it would|fe Government; $ the oolony Wop?ff 4ip the various blocks of Orown-kntftlmthavs treWe'etfle'd upon recently, unlesssby.-inoney derived from ■tho salwif 1and,...1n my opinion that has, jbeen .alwayj.to. a poinP in the deferred payment syatem. 1 Accord- ' ing'toithe' pW'sent system nearly all the ■mbfaey derived from the sale oi land been devoted in the opening up of Grown" advocated that all money derived from the sale of Crown land-should bev,rflturned':in. the !of. , to ,tbe,Jand.' i;Q.f.vetf little" oaf wiU" on' tlie" lands,, unless .you .give, • them' ; the .irie&ns. oj■ turni pg .it-to, ut ntr ■ .Variolisl districts in the ooiony nive araple proof of that. >ln .the district Lrepresent £haye in my inind' several-instances in :ii wfiioli 1 that comes out very prominently. |A. aottlemeat about thirty -miles from Masterton wbb laid out- and sold some thirteen iyeara Sro, amall aeltlers. h'eihg "the 'purchasers i but theTrovinoiiitf Government, instead of opening up roads as is now doiie by'the General Goveriiihent',' failed to piy any attention to thai point, and the resjilt has been, thatjn.a ,great manyvinstanoes the settlers have disappeared, and those to turn their" lands to account in .any .'pra'dtical.waiy. l Obming to'the'de'feried

paymeHt Byatem, liiiny gay that, when it 'was under consideration, and before the 'force wa's' f 'expressed ' my doubia as.to"whether there would;not tb' j)blitipHl' qliffloullieS arising out of. the system, been referred to by the last speaker, and I think the petitions that f „kave- lately ,been., put .before, the House bffird'.ampl6?fronf/ofitiii ! oorreot{ ness of my surmise In. common with the honorable mbmbe'r fo'r'Eawke's Baji I have tho"ught that great caution; 'ttiighfWbS eitoued'ljySihv'dVyernm^li not li&duly for. if y.oa do ibis; (gigatjnwMef will be New South,by, the] (honorable member for Selwyiuas a strong] instance in point and I might also refer to the case '.otViotoriatf Bihoe 'lß6l suo-j oessive Land Ao^, ( haya; been paesod in that.oniony with tKe.objeot,of settling the pedpl&Wthe'laiid'j "but'what, had been; the result.?:"iln , .a-|reat j it hasbejM that, althougji the amount oii.t- • settrer/ia'; Wales, m » n Y.. m suoh as haa kMl",j99u"Jßaf}y/rof the very {font olass of settlers that any new oojony could possess. I naedT not point" out to The House that •iti i8 > 'of the-gi'catest importance, in opening upland for settlement, ! to Bee that the quantity offered to individujls i™ bb'lH toUhe accessibility to market. Where - small areas are offered itheJadMM)ftld> MSBSBYily>be f of the very best quality; It is simply imo'f b'bt at all inferior it means starving tlie set" tiers who oooupy. Numerous instance! ihjproof of •that;%Ve'-tstyfpWd'yr%ir the colony. when-the Bill for the relief of WmJ 1^1^) ffWlwiriiif presKon thaLunder ; ' av jrglief. I did not.mean!WrexprdM any., suoh j c j :iW(hatJ''l'3Meant jf! '.tPj oopvey, wasieth'atpcra»attemp^g 1 ; ; »8nyj relief, auoh aa p.foposed'by* L tJieni> uftder.. consideration, only to- the present-,• btJMsii'to'thei'fail tare;-thatjif 1 r el ief" ~werß a <jar rie d oil tf?a a 7.< proposed by it, we should simply, have a systeto 'of ladd-gamßling, and thjt on f?Me blooka-rbeingj offered, •intendinff , settlers woiild~oay it "did ' ~®> L 5, or 410 per-aflfor-iieoause there I' iTOS ,911$ ib ,that jeotiUi auction being repjaoed;Jyi that oFthe pa|l/)li/il5grie principle that*it flog. ; the .Statef J 'sieaily worth. The lajid-belongs to the. p^ple;

and toyha given to them, no matter MvM extern, to acquire the Jbnd at af«rpml| Beferring to the reunarke of; the fionqrabl? member in oharge M the Bill,Wgai||od|from him that it is pmainly in refer|pe (/the gold fields that jthe iy'pwposed to be applied. I hope I understood him oorreotly in saying thai, because lieel satisfied that Hub House wil,! raise wry grqat nhjantinn to its application to any other distriott." I' believe that the settlers of the against . the. leasing-of the. lands unless upoTniie RoioadiTßi^fia^uitar aatiafied ' membeftfJwiihS. very its application except to. . those Jimite'd areas. The question has ic'ourriii.to jmi .ihether. a. Bill .not. be. so. framed that at ; spcperfuturejdater it could • be made 'optional 'witli leiselioldera Xo convert their leaseholds into freeholds. Mr Maoandrew.—At any time"!" - "

Mr W. 0 .; Biiohana|{.^ §x,- r , piry of a'certdin ''time'fr6in''the date 'of throw.-, that outaa^the Bill as a leasehold Bill, but still I , think; j worthy joL.ponsidiifyaiion. Clauses 23 and*24.refer,] tq^jinb l.lv gages and the powers of tenants in refer-' ence and.,,pbjeotion has taken.®'ihe-Biilion 1 that scorj. in ' my opinion the Government..in ; pne sense. IB merely the mortgagee; and,Jhatb'eing. mpjtgagipg is, not/dpne;; : ajvajri with hold that it ts a strogg point, ; in, favor of the leasehold that, whatever capital the leaseholder'has, it?can be| laid foiil jnlm-'s proving th'e land; and that ; bis<§saU,capiv tal is not at once Bunk in ; the- ? purbhue/Another point referred to, and. whioh is well worth'ooilßiderihgii' ! Coinmitteei J is ; that there a gretjt inclination on 'the' > paft ! bf wle' L tenant-*to "oye'rbrop-^th& i land and then throw it tip.' 1 f This 'would 1 ■ not' be nossiblejji. t|e.^orJh ; Island,. f ex- ? cepc in a few" instance's, because a great ! part of the land must be welljworked; ,be-. ; fore anything, oan ; o6j got out; o£ ?; ifc.;-; Iti would, however, apply largely to the South Island,- where''there: areT-ii'ohßider-; able areaß into which the occupier has only to'jpuf-the l ' "plough * and' at ! once Beouregood crops withici the first nine .months ■&f , hte l tefiafi<jy; j that"; one-twentieth of ■ th'S' land shall*'be oulti- 1 vated. How would that apply to.huah condition. Auckland East argued, as against tfiiß Billj|l)ftt[it> would; very dargelyjinoreaße j Of present could only be true if it, was intended .to lease all the lands now remaining unsold, .and-LfeeLsure honorable-members connot;iu Ithe honorable gentleman. As to lands, I queTtion" whether" the" objection ;whioh in r a great[many caseßt jto sell theiriland could. nbfc be'fjo to ver byj ;BUoh a Bill. These who are more coniversant with tho Native mind tfian I ; am, iwould be best able to answer thai ! queationf but it is one worth considertfi'ifr " T^e ! laßt teraark I shall make with regard to the Bill is as to the Waste LandTßoardsT There a geperal, expressioniof opinipn-durihg-the last electibhs tliaPtlii presentland Boards are n-ab/a 1 hdatisfaotpcy.; With that opinion I corailly oonour 'and I feel BatisGed that elective Land Boards would be farauperiorto those( now ih;existance, ■would be found on the Boards.'. nAjjy pro.v! posal to improve the,.constitution of thjs Wasw JLa'rjd^Boardsj\this jlir^ctionY^willj meef'with niy rl hearty .approval., I elip-ilr pot objeot to tl/e aeoond r'eading' fif the. Bill, but in its pjpmmittee in gold-fields. _ 7 . "