THE LAND QUESTION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2523, 9 June 1909, Page 2

THE LAND QUESTION.

SPEECH BY THE HON. I). BUDDO

The'Hon. D. Buddo, Minister of tho Interior, attended the annual supper of the Northern Agricultural apd Pastoral .Association, hold at Itangiora last week, and being a farmer amongst farmers, met with a most cordial reception.

Responding to tho toast of “The Parliament of New Zealand” and speaking on the question of agriculture, the Minister said that although the district had .passed through two years of drought, still the results of this season were going to form iprobably a record for North Canterbury. It was true that frozen meat had been ruling at a comparatively low price for some time, but the deficiency in this respect would probably be well made up by tho export of grain, which would probably amount to £500,000 for wheat and oats. Wool was standing' at a high price, and bade, fair to remain there, while the prospects of the iprice for wheat for next season were such as to warrant farmers in putting in an increased area. Land settlement was essential to a district which must provide opportunities for the young men to take up land. In ICaiapoi district there were very few farms over 200 acres in area, and many of them were not 50 acres, and as famines grew up it was necessary that they should have room. The Government land policy throughout the dominion was one in which small settlement must always have a paramount place. Tlio recent acquisition of a large property in the neighborhood of Geraldine wou.d shortly put on the market some really good agricultural and dairying land, which could well be cut up into small sections. Referring to the North Island lands, the Minister said that great progress had been made. One mil.ion seven hundred thousand acres had been put into the hands of the Maori Land Boards to bo dealt with, and during the past year 266,000 acres had been purchased by the. Government, much of which could be cut up into small areas for those. with little capital. .'When this was done, it would show that real progress had been made in the settlement of Native lands, and it was to be hoped that- this would bo added to year by year as fast as settlers could bo obtained. Most of tlio agitation for the settlement of Native lands at the present time was carried on by speculators. For those who really wanted land to farm there was ample at tlieir disposal in the Auckland land district, and there would be more to ollow shortly. He was of opinion that the recent stringency in the money market had no doubt been caused by the (banks advancing money to make deposits on the purchase of land very often in the suburbs of large towns. This had led to a shortage of capital with which to do legitimate banking business. Considerable difficulty had been experienced by traders in a really good position in getting accommodation to carry on business. There was not the slightest doubt that tho banks had departed from what was legitimate banking business, that is to say, they had invested in land, and left their liquid assets insufficient to carry on the business of the country. All this had a considerable bearing on the question of the valuation of land for taxation and rating purposes. It had oeen frequently asserted that there was a slump in land, but there was no evidence to show that anything of the kind was in existence. Sales were reported from day to day at prices which had been current during the last two or three years, and the thing was to make a fair and reasonable valuation of land, leaving a margin for fluctuations in value, that might be caused through a stringency in the money market, the price of av-.cl other conditions which might affect values. There had been an agitation in seme parts of the North Island for land to be valued on its productiveness. Speaking at Palmerston North recently, at a meeting of the Farmers’ Union, he had pointed out that such a system would bo most unfair. There were farmers who seemed to have luck and farmers who apparently had none, farms that always gave a good yield and others that never did, and he was certainly averse to taxing the result of a man’s ability. The present system, calculated on the basis of the selling value, was the one which he intended to carry out. In spite of what had been stated, he ventured to say that at the Assessment Courts about to be held throughout the dominion there would be far fewer appeals than at any previous Assessment Court. Farmers might, rest assured that when they appealed against their valuations every reasonable opportunity would be given them to state their case. With regard to some assertions that, had been made that a depression existed, lie would say that from inquiries he had made that day in Christchurch he believed that business was sound and labor fairly plentiful, and the only thing that militated against tho usual turnover in. property was the shortage of capital for mortgages. He believed that there was good reason to hope that money would very soon be cheaper. A West ■ Australian loan of a million and a half had just been floated at 34 per cent, on a minimum of 96A. This was certainly cheaper than anything raised for some time, and wouul put the cost at £3 IBs 7d per cent.