MR BEETHAM ON THE LAND BILL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2058, 3 August 1885, Page 2

MR BEETHAM ON THE LAND BILL.

The following speech was delivered by Mr G. Beetham, M.H.R., on the second reading of the Land Billl shall not say very much on this Bill now, because, having to be referred to the Waste Lands Committee, I think that places it in a different position from any other Bill. Still, there are a I'ew subjects that I wish to refer to. I congratulate the present and the late Minister of Lands upon the way in which they have placed their views before the House. There was an evidence in both cases of careful attention to the subject before us, The special-settlement system is one which has attracted a good deal of attention on the part of the Press of the colony lately, and we are to expect from the Minister of Lands that he will increase the area available for settlement of that kind, I have cordially assisted the Minister of Lands as far as lay in my power in elaborating this system, but, at the same time, I mußt state that this is my impression of the question: that it is not the best system of settlement we could adopt in this colony. If the House would only face the question, and vote the money necessary to make the road-lines and survey extend over the whole of the colony, we should be able, through the various Waste Lands Boards of the colony, to- settle the land as quickly and expeditiously, as under the special-settle-ment system. As far as I can gauge the relative merits of the special-settlement system, and the deferred-payment and the so-called perpetual-leasehold system, I give my support to the leasehold system as far superior to all others: that.is, ,the settlers who are fortunate enough to obtain land under the perpetual-leasing system are in an infinitely better position than those obtaining land under the special settlement clauses, Mr Ballance.—They have not got their land. Mr Beetham,—The land is appropriated, and surveyors are appointed, and are now surveying the land that will be available.: It seems to me that there is a good deal.in what was said by the honorable member for Geraldine on this point: that by these regulations we are closing the land, to a certain extent, to outsiders. It is, to a certain extent, a close association. It should be provided that, before any association' should receive land, a certain amount of advertising should take place, and that such a time should elapse as to give any individual in New Zealand an opportunity to join the association, Then it would be a fair system. I do not wish to point-to any particular association; far from it. I believe, as far as I know the associations that have been arranged up to the present time, that- they have been formed by people anxious to settle on the land; but I am looking at it in this way; that it is

i quite possible it may be done in a hole . and-corner manner, and that rich block t of country may be taken up by thosi people who are not in a position to occup l , it profitably, or-who are not the righ J settlers to occupy it. If the honorabh j gentleman would take this matter inti consideration and carefully provide for i L in the regulations in future, 1 think i ' would be very much better. The special ' settlement regulations under the existini Act provide, that a certain portion o money shall be paid before any subdi ; vision of sections shall take place. Tha is the old regulation; and in the regula tions issued by the Minister of Lands ] find this clause " The price of land shall be such as maj 1 be arranged between the Minister'anc the association, subject to the said Act, and shall be payable as follows: One • tenth of the price of the whole block shall ■ be paid by the secretary prior to the allotment of the sections." Well, looking through the present Bill >: I see nothing of that kind. Of course it is quite possible for the Minister of the day to make stipulations of that kind; but it seems to me that it is an omission from the Bill, and that, in fairness to the other deferred-payment settlers, it should be inserted. There is one very important point with respeflt to these special settlements, and that is, assuming the Waste Lands Boards are of any service whatever, it appears to ine that the Minister of Lands, before granting any application whatever from an association, should in the first place, submit the application for the approval or otherwise of the Waste L-uids Board, It may be—l do not say it is not in some cases—possible' that the Minister of Lands may have some, special information, through the heads of his department, relating to the valup of land that these Boards have not ;• but, if it is so, .that is'probably owing to" the defective' constitution of' the Waste Lands Board. It is, I maintain, the duty of members of. Waste' Lands Boards throughout the colony to make themselves thoroughly acquainted with the land, and with the districts they have to adniinister the waste land laws of the Crown. The Waste Lands Boards, if they have done their duty, will have had, for some time past, the object in view of gradually extending settlement on the land in such a way that the land will become occupied as the road-works progress. In the case of special settlements it is quite possible that a whole block may be set apart in such a direction and in such a position that it will bar the profitable settlement of the land outside it. That is quite possible; and I shall be very glad if the Minister of Lands will take a note of thispoint before dealing with the Maungatainoke Block, and will let his scheme, whatever it may be, go before the Waste Lands Boards and take their views upon it before granting it to this or that association. lam quite prepared to admit that there will be a difficulty in dealing with the financial aspect of the case, and it may be quite possible that those who wish the country thoroughly settled may not feel disposed to grant a sufficient sum of money to open up the Crown lands as they should be in this district; because in the Wellington District there is no question that the road-making has been, and must be, from the natural configuration of the,country, very expensive: but the quality of the land is such, I can say from my personal knowledge, that i am convinced, if a sufficient sum is granted to the Minister of Lands and carefully expended under the direction of the Waste Lands Board and local bodies, that the colony will itself very soon recoup the expenditure. The special-settlement regulations provide that the laud shall be allocated or divided by ballot. I suppose that is the system that will be adopted; but, for myself, I do not believe init at all, The result of the ballot will be in many cases just what the honorable member the late Minister of Lands pointed out, that individuals will enter the association under the impression that they will get such-and-such a section; but • the ballot will merely provide that they get a section, and they may get sections totally unsuited to their wants. If that is the case, unless they have a chance of changing, it is very probable that the sections of land found to be unsuitable will be thro\vn on the hands of the association. By that means the worst sections in the block may remain on their hands for a considerable time; and, as under the regulations it was understood that onetenth of thepurchase-money hadtb be paid by the association, it is quite possible the association itself may be a considerable loser. Undoubtedly, it is possible under the auction system, that individuals may bid on the experience of others, and may give a great deal more than the land is worth ; but that may be also (he case under the system of tendering; and, of the two systems, I certainly think the auction) system is preferable. I understood the Minister of Lands to say that he considered it to be the correct principle that, in the event of only one person tendering for a leasehold section in advance of the upset price, he should be allowed "to get it at the upset price. I would point out that the result of that ■might be that persons intending to tender might be " bluffed." ' It is quite possible that this might be done, One person who would c;ive an advance of 50 per cent. , upon the upset price might, by hearing that another would give 100 per cent, above the upset price, be " bluffed" out of the purchase, and the result would

be loss to the revenue and the disappointment of the one who intended to tender oOpeucont. above the upset price. 1 was glad to hear what the Minister of Lands had to say on endowments, and I shall be very glad to assist him in bringing these endowments under the control of the Waste Lands Boards. I have always maintained, in this House and out of it, that this endowment question was a very serious one for New Zealand. 1 know that in my own district the education endowments liavo acted as a bar and a block to settlement for many years. It will be my endeavor to assist the honorable gentleman ni passing a law that would enable these lands to be dealt with, subject to the conditions of the waste land laws of the Crown. There are many other questions that I should wish to allude to, because this waste lands question is a very important one; but, as I pointed out before, this Bill is in a peculiar position, having first to be referred to tho Waste Lands Committee, and afterwards to come down with' the amendments of that Committee before going into Committee of the Whole. I think, therefore, it might be convenient, and save time perhaps, if my remarks were continued on that occasion. I shall not weaiy the House longer; but lam .glatl to be able to congratulate the honorable member on his efforts for the administration of the waste lands, and I shall give him my cordial assistance in improving the system as far as possible.

A chicken with .a clipped wing made several ineffectual attempts to fly over a fence, An Irishman who witnessed the efforts of the '"chick," laughingly exclaimed " Begorra, she has a defective flew." The minister stopped at a house last week, and sought to improve the time by giving an eight-year-old boy an instructive lesson In morality., "My boy," said the minister, "I have lived forty-five years, and hava never used tobacco in any form, nor told a lie, nor disobeyed my nor uttered an oath, nor played truant, nor-" "Gimminy crickets/ interrupted the lad, "yer ain't had any fun at all. have ye?".