THE LAND FOR SETTLEMENTS BILL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4805, 21 August 1894, Page 2

THE LAND FOR SETTLEMENTS BILL.

The following is from the report of Mr A. W. Hogg's speeoh onVfl the above Bill: . ; ":k.jv?ks-^M Mr Hogg: The Minister of I think, is to he congratulated on tti^H favburablecrifcioismJwhifeisM has received,,, I peroeiyf from Otdki, that he lias bMomoa'; to the" pimple>' of this Bill, wd think his is not ; an. isolated an" (.'honourable become a convert to the Bill during the last election. _ '^ rMrWilson: I was not a converfcat "4l the last election;; ,; 'T '£■ •Ml I MrHogg^: ; Well,;'i. amWglad ','fi! to see he has acknowledged' that at ,-J the last election the people of N<ul ; '!ty Zealand/who jiayo lmitheiill in.. <>;, front'of .them,' have generally been ■so strongly in favour.oflit.. I quite ''s \ agree with some of-tlio lionouvable members who.;haYe'criticised the ■•s Bill, honourable r /¥ Member who spoke \' ;| to the Board. I sliould'like' very '/i? much indeed to see they Mid Pur- - '\f> chase Board'' was >""'* originally proposed in tho Bill sub- ' think that would be a much moro \- j independent Board thantho Board \" now proposed. Ido not say that tho .'' member for the district in which the land is likely to be purohasediwould ' iV be at all likely to interforo with any "if'j reasonable proposals that might bo '<" made,' bnt,at thesametime,itniußtbe t recollected that the member for tho district.-and.'thei,Chairman-of the County .Council are likoly to be sub* ject to local influences, and I thinka Board of the kind should beas much as possible above influences!of that character, Now, Sir, I notice that a number of members who on the: Bill' hold - yeiy ; 'differeoMjPS opinions,with ; regajJj|^^^ajj»fe,'\ whiaiTthis Some membe'is of private property*whosesland is about to be token from him should

be amply compensated for his im> : provemonts; .while,othei-s say that' he should bo practically 1 paid in<his own coin—that he should-he taxodto such an extent that he'would be willing, to .(jive up ; <M landfk 1 ... ■t is : ' ion-' He xer.; iake aity .'■ his' pro- : , revmains in his present pb'sitidh v l-have ; no doubt he will continue, to be aif" unflinching single-taxer j but'j wait ■ until he is in the position of. the Minister of Lands, and in the 'position which I in common witha great number.of memberß:bf;,this House enjoy—wait till he is married and he will find lwwill.have a veryformidable double tax to payj,and by-and-by, as tho years roll 'round: he will have an annual accumulation., .of taxes which, will entirely..alter his. opinion; ujiless I am very much mistaken, " Then, again', we haVe one of J the honourable.members: for fDuhedin city (Mr Earnshaw) who pip his faith'on the efficacy of the graduated tax as a means of Mrstiiig up the large estates. Well, lam neither , an anarchist nor an iconoclast, I do not believo in burstiiigup or.inpull. down where there is a possibility of reconstruction,,. The aimof this: Bill is not to accomplish any* thing by violence- that,-may. bo achieved by a simple and peaceful method, a method by whidh no possiblo injustice can be dono to the individual, .landlord. : ,l" should like thein to .contemplate 1 for a moment what are the merits of this eternal lease. : We have had already an examplo of what can be done with the perpetual lease,. The originator of the perpetual lease, Mr Rolleston, intended that the land should be subject ; to periodical ., revaluation. But what was fcresult under this j perpetual lease ? "A large number of lessees wero continually agitating for their right to be removed from the position they occupied j and by-aniJ-by tho' inevitable happoned,— aiid it will happen, again, • Theilin. ister of Lands had to grant them leases with the purchasing clauso,' Sir R. Steut—They had that originally. - : ., : .''■■:..;

1 ■■ MrHogg.—Whatbasbecomeof the perpetual leaseholders ? Tlieyaro ! freeholders at'the present timo. The 1 honourable gentloman's memory is ' defective, orelso.it is very convon. ! ient—one of the two.. Butlromein-' ». herthatwhon this perpetual.lease , was introduced by Mr. Rolleston ifc ; contained" no "■■ purchasinij clause, c The freehold, although it was not given originally, has been conceded, and'tho perpetual leaseholders have 'been enabled to becomb freeholders; X 1 and thisfawe would'be perpetrated [ over again if the, honourable gentle- ' man wero allowed to have his will, ; What are tho merits of the eternal ] lease? That it gives tho landowner a good secure tenure. "If he enjoys tliat tenure lie is not likely to ask 1 for anything better. Then, it pro--1 tocts the State, because .it provents 1 depopulation.- It enables tho Stato 1 to say that if one man leaves a cer« tain section of land another man ' lnusttakoitup, The eternal lease 1 also provides that families Bhall not be turned off theland-jthat.tho land ' shallnot be turned mfcyeehold and 1 aggregated in the'term of largo estates.' That is tho benefit of tho eternal lease, Then, again, if tho State' wants increased rovenue from the land; I should like to ask those .who..are advocating tho perpetual lease, why should hot the land tax suffice for all purposes? Under the present land tax wo have periodical re-valuation, I think every three years, and the land tax is proportionately' increased if tho land has increased in value; if it diminishes |n value, thenthelandowner receives a certain amount of relief, and his land tux decreases,- If the revenue requires that the land tax should be increased from year to year, the propessis simples the representatives of the people in Parliament can increase that if they find it necessary to do so. . But, .1 say, unless you Intend to. create a number of territorial slaves in this country, unless you intend to reduco the number of settlerswho : aro taking up the land -and in many cases taking up inferior land too—you will riot introduce this perpetual lease, .for the simple reason that you would havo one c'lms of: settlers bearing nearly all :,the burden of .taxation; and the freehp)d/erß bearing comparatively no taxation at all,: ;I> say' ihi;. such a system as that would bo most.urijust. ' Any systom of.,the kind would bo ' ibst' Tou ! would' have ;one, cja'ss. ;of' nife; whose, taxation, would Tie clecreage.'d; because you had ireatedariumberof \ Ifind'sjayes :whdiyp!njdbeai;n^ad^:: : the huviden : (ifv'taxatibii, "while.;';' ,th^ ; pM^Sfprtujl^yf,

'to'have'acquired a freehold would escape scot free.. I maintain that, if tins' House is going to tako tho unearned increment, as the .honourable member for Inangahua and tho sonlor member for Wellington propose —if wo are going, to lay our hands > on thatj we ought to treat everyone alike. Those who havo acquired large possessions, and havo picked out the eyes of the country should bejpited in precisely'the saino way' as wo are treating, the new { . settlers. Woll, Sir, what should bo the object of tho State ? I „,; maintain that the objectof,|theState $: should bo to increase production and facilitate distribution, We want tho land to be placed in the best hands; and in order that the best possible nse may bo mado of it, wo must have the very best security of tonnro. Tou must toll a man that so long as he pays reasonable rents and taxes to the Crown and makes tho best use of tho land, his possesion will nover bo disturbed. Undor tho perpetual lease that will not bo the case; undcrtho system of periodic valuation that will not bo tho will have a population thoroughly discontented, becauso tho peoplo will bo liablo to be rackranted like tenants in anothor part cfthe world, who have almost been driven into rebellion in consequence, I admit that this Bill givos very largo powers to tho Board and also to the Crown, and I hope that if tho poworis exercised at all it will not be abused. It is a power that should be exercised very cautiously, Although this is called a Land for Settlements Bill if I understand its nature it is rather a Bill to meot the okigoncios of the labour-market at the present timo—to provide homes for the homeless, It is not as likely to affect my district as districts of tho South Island. In tho neighbourhood of largo centres thero is a considerable number of the population who have to suffer very severe priRations when employment is scarce, dull times, and when H^^Hkßßn^tatttflttlaboiir wcro only located in th» country, would bo in comparatively comfortablo circumstances. Tu-show what is happening in another Colouy, and what will also happen hero if the cry of theunemployedisnotattendedtoand land provided for poor families, I should like to read here a brief extract from a Melbourne journal in roforenco to tho state of affiairs that . exists there at the present time, A Melbourne journal has been investi- ! gating the condition of some of the families in" that city; and hero is the description that is given: !

"The accounts of the tonible misery and poverty metwith on every hand read like a horrible dream, Here is an instance: A family of six was found almost famishing. Tho husband had only dono a few odd days' work during the past two years, The woman said that some. ; times for two dayssheand her children would be quite without food; and ofton for four or fivo days at a time fchoy never tasted a cup of tea, The furniture consisted of one bed, 'We walked,' says the writer, 'from doortodoor,streettostreet.Thesamo heart-breaking tales-no work, no food, no clothing, no furniture, in some cases not even a bed to lie upon, only the bare boards, There is one ease of a woman who lost her husband in a recent shipwreck, Sho is quite destitute, but for a bit of food obtained from the depot she would be starving, and her landlord has given her notice to quit her cottage, as she cannot pay rent, Another womaa told us her husband had been dead fivo weoks. She had two young childron and was daily expecting a third, Sho was Is 6d short of her rent, "If I can't make it up I will be turned out," she said, "No one will give me work on account of my state of health. My furniture consists of three chairs, one tablo, a bed, and a small quantity of bedding. All the clothes I possess I stand in," In another houso thoro were a woman and five children. Her husband was away looking for gold. She received a letter, in which he stated that he had had nothing to eat but potatoes for foui 1 days. If he were even able to earn a shilling he would sent it to her. The man didn't care about himself, but be did feel that his wife and children should want. " I had to wait some time to answer the lotter," said the wifo," till I could beg a stamp. I have received two loaves ;of bread from tho depot to-day." "How long will ■ that last you?" " Not more than ono day, fori have • five children," " Hayo yon any furniture?" "That is all," and she pointed to a bed, " and there is not a blanket on it, for I have not one." It is appalling to thinkthat in a new country there should be all this wretchedness, suffering, and destitution Ago cannot help asking the are these unfoitunato people to livo ? Their ono cry is not for monoy, but for work. How this sad state of affairs can be remedied is puzzling tho greatest minds of the day, and the problem seems to bo too difficult for any one to solve."

Now, Sir, I amnofcgoingtodetain the House any longer. An Hon. Member; What did you wad'from?' Mr Hogg: A Victorian journal. I simply state that this Bill contains a principle which appears to me to be the true solution of the problem which is.referred to by this newspaper, and if .wo are only able to adopt that principle, and to give it a fair trial in this young country, it must bo productive of good. I do npt for one moment say we should do anything to injure our old settlers, because I am ready to admit that! they have done good work in the uettlement of the country; but I say, if this Bill will only enable us to avoid the scenes which are depicted in this extract, and if it will enable us to prevent the occurrences of crisis of that description, it will have done a very good work, I can assure you that, if, by a Bill of this sort, we can preserve our large centres of ' population in New Zealand from the, appalling poverty and distress pictured 'to usin tfeis newspaper article, it wi}l fie obo of! the greatest pieces of statesman'sljip that have ever been (fchie'yeti in a young equally. It will jiQtimerely be! offering anexamplo to Australia, (jut an example "to the whole / worjjd,-< by showing, ;how ■wretchedness and poyovfcycan be

Btemmed and eradicated, Ihaye had instances brought undor my knowledge in my own district where tho fathers'of families, without food and work, and yet most willing to work, were gotting into that holpless condition j.bntno sooner were they ablo to get small pieces of land than thoy have been able to provide against destitution, and to obtain food for thoir families, Nothing can appeal more directly to the mind of a reasonable man than tho fact of young families—helpless women and children—crying'out for food, while the fathers nro travelling all day looking for work and unablo to find it, If honourable members are only true to themselves, and true to tho population around them, they will support this Bill most heartily. I intend to give it my support, I intend, at the same timo, if it can be improved or amonded in Cominittoo, to do what I can to improvo it there; but I say the principle of the Bill is ono of a most valuable character, and, in my opinion, it will do moro than any other measnro has yet achieved in the way of preventing the poverty which I have described from assailing this splendid country.